California Politics: Speaker Rivas talks housing, human trafficking … – Los Angeles Times

Twelve days into his new job as California Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas sat down with the Sacramento Press Club on Wednesday for a conversation with me and Sacramento Bee reporter Mathew Miranda in front of a sold-out lunchtime crowd.

The biggest surprise came during the brief “lightning round” segment of the interview when we peppered Rivas with a mix of personal and political questions and asked for one-word answers. More on that in a minute.

Rivas, a Democrat from Hollister, is treading cautiously as he takes the helm of a fractured caucus that has been in a state of turmoil for more than a year amid a heated fight over who should be speaker. He largely spoke in general terms, stressing his desire to build unity and listen to his colleagues as he establishes his priorities for holding one of the most powerful positions in the state.

But reporters aren’t big on generalities. We like details. So in the course of the conversation we worked to illuminate where Rivas stands on some key issues.

I’m Laurel Rosenhall, The Times’ Sacramento bureau chief, back in your inbox with some highlights from the interview with Rivas and a quick wrap on the week’s news in California politics.

Rivas is starting to show how he splits from Speaker Rendon

A hallmark of the previous Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) was his decentralized approach in which he gave committee chairs a huge amount of power to decide the fate of legislation.

While Rivas has appointed a new leadership team and named a couple of new committee chairs, he so far has avoided a massive shakeup, instead leaving most panels with leaders appointed by Rendon.

Cracks are starting to show in that arrangement. Two comments Rivas made in our conversation showed he may take a more hands-on approach than Rendon.

On a contentious bill meant to spur more housing construction, Rivas said he disagreed with Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood), who attempted to neuter the legislation this week in the Natural Resources Committee that Rendon appointed her to lead. The bill passed despite her opposition — a rare occurrence — because a few Democrats joined with Republicans to override the chair’s position. Rivas threw his weight behind SB 423 by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and told us he wants it to pass the Assembly.

The speaker also told us he’s getting involved to potentially revive a bill that would stiffen penalties for people convicted of trafficking children, which was voted down in the Assembly Public Safety Committee this week that is led by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), also a Rendon appointee. Although Rivas didn’t say specifically if he wants the bill to pass the Assembly, he said he is exploring options and has already gotten in touch with the Republican senator from Bakersfield who wrote the bill.

“I reached out to Sen. [Shannon] Grove and to my colleagues. It’s something that we are addressing and it’s something we are going to get right,” Rivas said.

“Stay tuned.”

The result became clear the next morning when the bill was sent back to the committee where it had died and passed with no debate.

Rivas describes the boundary from his politically connected brother

Rivas’ brother Rick Rivas is a vice president of the American Beverage Assn., which lobbies for the soda industry, and advises a donor network called Govern for California that tries to counter the power public employee unions have in California politics.

“I certainly appreciate all the political advice my brother has ever given me. But you know, he has a job to do and so do I,” the speaker said, pointing out that he has voted against positions that his brother’s employers lobbied for.

“I’m always going to represent my values and be a voice for people who have entrusted me with this job.”

Political action committees funded by Rick Rivas’ clients spent millions to help elect new Assembly members in last year’s election, many of whom supported Rivas’ bid to become speaker. In a highly unusual move, Assembly members who backed Rivas in the speakership fight also pooled donations to support candidates they hoped would support him as well.

I asked Rivas how he responds to critics who say it looks like his supporters bought him the powerful post.

“How I won the speakership was through engagement and through the relationships I have built up and down in this state with candidates that I had known before they even announced their candidacy for Assembly,” Rivas said.

“The transactional nature of politics will never go away. But that’s not who I am. I have a very strong and solid record of being someone who is always engaged and treats people the right way. And that’s never going to change.”

The surprising question that stumped Rivas

Back to that lightning round I mentioned at the top of this newsletter. Rivas surprised me by quickly answering a question I expected him to hedge, but stalling on a question I thought was a softball.

“Should California legalize psychedelic drugs?” I asked, referring to a bill that has passed the Senate and now faces votes in the Assembly.

“Yes,” Rivas answered without hesitating.

“Best place for Mexican food in Sacramento?” I asked.

Pause. Long pause. Longer pause.

Finally, after about 20 seconds, Rivas answered by naming a fellow Democratic Assemblymember: “Sharon Quirk-Silva’s house.”

Surprise of the day: Talking tacos was harder than taking a position on magic mushrooms.

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