Outgoing Speaker Anthony Rendon made California Assembly more democratic

Anthony Rendon will be stepping aside as Assembly speaker on Friday after more than six years on the job. 

Just two people have held the position longer in the modern full-time legislature – Jesse “Big Daddy” Unruh, who ruled the Assembly for more than seven years in the 1960s, and Willie Brown, who earned the nickname “Ayatollah of the Assembly” for his nearly 15 years at the helm.

But unlike those two larger-than-life figures with nicknames to back it up, Rendon leaves behind a legacy that isn’t centered on a singular cult of personality. Instead, he’s done something you rarely see from politicians: He relinquished his own authority and put into the hands of his colleagues.

For those who know Rendon, this leadership style isn’t too surprising. Unlike many politicians, he has a general disdain for glad-handing lobbyists and donors at evening receptions, instead opting to spend his limited free time with his wife and young daughter, reading or watching an obscure European soccer match.

But these characteristics don’t mean he isn’t as effective of a leader. In fact, it has made him – and the Assembly as a whole – even stronger.

By not seeking the spotlight for himself, he’s created a more democratic system of governing within the Assembly by empowering committee chairs to own their domains rather than rule top-down. That’s allowed more legislators – each with their own life experiences and perspectives from the districts they represent – to lead in the lawmaking process and shape policies to benefit the people of California.

A good example of this took place last year, when Rendon tapped Natural Resources Committee chairwoman Luz Rivas to be the Assembly’s lead negotiator on legislation to enact regulations on plastics pollution. 

With simple instructions from Rendon to get the best deal possible for the environment, Rivas successfully ironed out details with both environmental advocates and plastics industry representatives and shepherded the bill through the legislative process on a tight deadline – ultimately passing first-in-the-nation rules to limit pollution from single-use plastics.

Future leaders should resist attempts to once again centralize authority in the speaker’s office and give a single person the power to determine whether legislation lives or dies. That’s a recipe for abuse of power and corruption that Californians don’t need from their legislature.

Facilitating more opportunities for women lawmakers has also been a key result of this philosophy. 

Over the last six years, the number of women serving in the legislature has grown to its largest in the history of our state, and Rendon has appointed more women to lead policy committees than ever before. Rendon’s advocacy was also key to the Assembly achieving pay equity for women employees for the first time.

But Rendon’s style didn’t mean there weren’t things he cared about and fought passionately for. 

Rendon first ran for the legislature in 2012 because of his outrage at devastating budget cuts to child care and early childhood education during the Great Recession. He wanted a seat at the table in Sacramento to be a voice for the kids and parents who relied on those programs.

In the last six years, restoring these cuts and expanding opportunities for more young people to have a better start in life has been a key priority for Rendon. And he’s been exceptionally effective in delivering: State support for child care and preschool funding has more than tripled from $2.5 billion in the 2016-17 budget to $8 billion in 2022-23.

That’s what true leadership is – not chasing TV cameras for the sake of becoming famous or chasing legislative victories for the sake of self-promotion. It’s about getting the job done and truly not caring who gets the credit.

Rendon leaves a legacy those coming after him would be wise to learn from, both his style and his successes.