Lowenthal Named Chair Of Transportation Committee

2:45pm | State Assemblymember and former Long Beach City Councilmember Bonnie Lowenthal was appointed to the position of Chair of the California State Assembly Committee on Transportation over the weekend, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez announced recently.

The Transportation committee has primary jurisdiction over the Transit Authority, California Highway Patrol, vehicles, aircraft and vessels, as well as licensing and registration. It also means that Lowenthal becomes a member of the California Transportation Commission, which oversees public investment in highway, passenger rail and transit projects.

“Transportation means everything,” Lowenthal said in a released statement. “For the people in our area, it’s not just how you get to work or school, it’s how you make a living, how you link to the rest of the world. Transportation is our life’s blood.”

Lowenthal’s appointment creates an interesting situation; her ex-husband State Senator Alan Lowenthal is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, as this L.A. Times article cleverly points out.

Assemblymember Lowenthal will oversee the 14-member committee – which includes Assemblymember Warren Furutani, whose jurisdiction also includes parts of Long Beach.

Speaker Perez also appointed Lowenthal to the following committees: Accountability and Administrative Review; Aging and Long-Term Care; Health; Water, Parks and Wildlife; Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management; and Assembly Legislative Ethics.

Likewise, Furutani was appointed to positions on the following committees: Budget; Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration (chair); Labor and Employment; Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security; Utilities and Commerce; and Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education.