State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) showed effective leadership when she pulled Senate Bill 50, which targets single-family zoning and would lead to greater housing density, from the chamber's appropriations committee, giving it a fighting chance at passage.
A big part of effective legislative leadership is knowing when and how to exercise extraordinary power. The answer is rarely but emphatically.
Senate Bill 50 by Sen. Scott Wiener would spur high-density housing near transit and where there are lots of jobs. The goal is to produce much more housing and a lot faster. But there’s strong opposition to the details. The final measure narrowed the circumstances in which officers can legally use deadly force. Atkins’ rescue of the bill provided the author, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber , an opportunity to craft a compromise that law enforcement didn’t oppose.
Asked about going around the committee chairman, whom she had appointed, Atkins told me: “It’s a thing we seldom, if ever, do. It’s not something I want to do. But balancing all of the issues, I felt I needed to. ...
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