Becomes just the third woman, and first out lesbian, to hold the post

by Brian Leubitz

The pictures on twitter are a bit grainy, but standing next to her spouse, Jennifer LeSar, and all the usual notables, Toni Atkins was sworn in as the 69th Speaker of the Assembly. Gov. Jerry Brown is just to the right, holding something up and outgoing speaker John Pérez just behind. Thanks for the photo, @KevinMullin!

That’s not the only mention of twitter, as @ToniAtkins is now getting another account, @SpeakerAtkins. Follow them both, I imagine the latter account will gear up over the next few days and weeks.

Atkins has been waiting for the official transition for a few months now, and she’ll need to get the ball rolling straight away in the budget process. While Atkins made a nod to the rainy day fund, which will need to be wrapped up soon, she focused on housing the homeless and protecting California’s most vulnerable.

“We must work to ensure stability, and that includes an adequate reserve for those rainy days when the economy again takes a downward dive,” Atkins said, “and yet we must also realize that where we have our greatest challenge is at the same time expanding opportunity and lifting up the most vulnerable who have suffered a great deal and need us not to forget them now. While we have made difficult decisions during the recession, they have held on with white knuckles.”(SacBee)

The new Speaker has a long history of building coalitions and fighting for housing and vulnerable populations. She’ll need to call on a lot of that for the next two years to make the Assembly run smoothly.