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Monday, December 5, the California State Legislature met for its biennial swearing-in ceremony in the wake of a General Election that saw 30 percent of all legislative seats turn over. Notably, the newly sworn-in Assemblymembers formally voted The Honorable Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) to the position of Speaker-Elect; he previously earned the support as Speaker-Designee from his Democratic colleagues at a November 10 caucus meeting. Given the significant number of newly elected legislators, it is critical for special districts to build relationships with their local delegation of lawmakers.

In total, voters elected 10 new State Senators to the Upper House and 23 new Assemblymembers to the “People’s House.” Download CSDA’s guide to Take Action: Engaging with Your Community and Legislators for guidance on building relationships with the new legislators serving your area. Visit CSDA’s Map of Special Districts to learn which legislative districts overlap with your special district. If you have a relationship with your new legislators, please let us know by completing our brief Grassroots Mobilization Survey.

Despite the significant turnover in legislators, the November 8 Statewide General Election resulted in little change to the partisan balance of power in the State Capitol where the Democratic Party continues to hold every Statewide Constitutional Office from Governor to Superintendent of Public Instruction and maintains supermajority control over both houses of the Legislature. While at least one race in each house remains too close to call, and the California Secretary of State has until December 16 to certify the election, it appears the Republican Caucus will shrink from 19 down to 17 or 18 seats in the 80-member State Assembly. Meanwhile, the Republican Caucus will either lose one seat or maintain its current number of nine out of 40 seats in the State Senate. Complete results from the election are available at electionresults.sos.ca.gov.

Speaker-Elect Rivas is now slated to become the 71st Speaker of the California State Assembly on June 30, 2023. Speaker-Elect Rivas spoke at the 2022 Special District Legislative Days in Sacramento, where he was honored as CSDA's Legislator of the Year.

A life-long resident and former County Supervisor in San Benito County, Speaker-Elect Rivas will become the first Speaker of the State Assembly from an Assembly district outside of Southern California since Cruz Bustamante who served as Speaker from December 1996 through February 1998. Seven of the last eight previous Assembly Speakers represented Los Angeles, with now-Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins having represented San Diego.

Speaker-Elect Rivas will succeed Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) who was elected to the State Assembly in 2012, chosen Speaker in 2016, and will be termed out of office in 2024. Speaker-Elect Rivas was first elected to the Assembly in 2018 and terms out in 2030.

CSDA has enjoyed a strong working relationship with the Office of Assemblymember Robert Rivas. He authored CSDA-sponsored Assembly Bill 361, which was signed into law last year as urgency legislation to allow local agencies to conduct remote board meetings during declared emergencies in a safe and accessible manner. He was also part of a 46-member bipartisan legislative coalition that helped CSDA to secure $100 million in COVID-relief funding for independent special districts in the 2021-22 State Budget.

Speaker-Elect Rivas has met one-on-one with special district officials during multiple recent CSDA-organized virtual roundtables and participated as a keynote speaker at the Special Districts Association of Monterey County.