SACRAMENTO – California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) released the following statement regarding Senator Barbara Boxer’s announcement about her retirement in 2016:

Senator Barbara Boxer’s leadership is one of California’s greatest renewable resources – a boundless passion that extends into almost every avenue that helps Californians. She exemplifies everything you would want a public servant to be by putting everyday folks ahead of herself.

SACRAMENTO – California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, has announced the following appointments by the Rules Committee:

SACRAMENTO – California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) has announced nominees for Senate standing committee membership. Designated committee chairs and members will be formally adopted by the Senate Rules Committee when it convenes on January 7, 2015.

Agriculture:  
Galgiani (Chair), Cannella (Vice Chair), Berryhill, Pan, and Wolk.

Appropriations: 
Lara (Chair), Bates (Vice Chair), Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, and Nielsen.

SACRAMENTO – California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) today announced the appointment of Sister Michelle Gorman, as the 49^th Chaplain of the California State Senate. Sister Gorman is a Roman Catholic nun and a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM).

SACRAMENTO – California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) has announced his leadership members and nominees for Senate standing committee chairs, forming a legislative team focused on job creation and long-term economic growth.

Designated committee chairs will be formally adopted by the Senate Rules Committee when it convenes on January 7, 2015. The full list of Senate committee membership assignments will be released in the coming weeks.

Majority Leader:

Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel)

Climate change is a top priority for me as the new leader of the Senate.

Last week, I had the honor of being part of the California delegation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru. There was an incredible energy there to achieve a world climate change agreement by next year.

After our meetings with representatives from different states and countries, I can tell you one thing: California has a lot to be proud of. California leads the world enacting policies that address climate change, reduce carbon emissions and help build the economy of tomorrow.

There’s nothing like the start of a good conversation. This week, as state lawmakers gathered for a new legislative session, public higher education became the talk of the town at long last.

In the wake of University of California President Janet Napolitano’s threat last month to hike tuition if the state doesn’t give UC more money, the Capitol suddenly is alive with long-overdue questions.

A new twist in the long-running saga of UC tuition emerged this week, as the state Senate unveiled a plan to increase higher education funding.

The proposal, SB15, is generous — it would cost between $342 million and $434 million through 2018. By providing enough money to eliminate the need for tuition hikes, funding more Cal Grant scholarships, and funding more spots for students at both UC and CSU, SB15 is an answer to many of the state’s long-running concerns about the high cost and low capacity in higher education. But there is, as always, a catch.

Our public universities have long been the cornerstone of what is known and celebrated worldwide as the California Dream.

Not only does our higher education system represent a reliable pathway to professional opportunities for our people but it also delivers a dramatic return on public investment by preparing a skilled workforce to propel economic growth.