As the leader of the Assembly, the Speaker not only represents their own constituents, but also the people of California and the chamber as a whole. The Assembly Speaker plays a significant leadership role because of their ability to appoint additional leadership roles such as policy committee chairs, which are critical positions that can make the difference between a major climate policy passing or not.

In 2020, the Assembly passed AB 345 by just one vote, a major win in overcoming fierce opposition from the oil industry. This bill would have required the state to establish a minimum distance between oil and gas drilling and sensitive places such as homes and child care centers.

The failure of the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (SB 54) in the Assembly by just four votes, ended the 2020 legislative session on a disappointing note. T This bill would have established a comprehensive plan to reduce plastic waste through source reduction, recycling, and composting.

One of the reasons why the Assembly Democratic Caucus’s overall average score (85%) for 2020 is lower than the Senate Democratic Caucus average score (94%) is in part because the Assembly voted on a larger number of pro-environment bills than the Senate. Out of the total list of 2020 Scorecard bills, 14 pro-environment bills were introduced by Assemblymembers and 9 out of 11 total legislators who received a 100% Environmental Score in 2020 were Assemblymembers.