Speaker John A. Pérez has begun his first term with quite a bang. Not only is his ascension to the Speakership historic, but he made some brave commitments on his first day.  Committee chairmanships for Republicans, the elimination of the 2/3s vote for the budget, and a promise to open up the budget process to the public are bold first steps.  He even promised to ban lobbyist text messages – a rule to surely save the battery life of many members’ cell phones.  He possesses all of the necessary qualities of a leader and California will be in good hands with John at the helm over the next 5 years. We have a tough year ahead full of difficult discussions and decisions. The Chinese have a saying “in crisis, there is opportunity” and with John Perez, I see an opportunity to bring us all together and to do what's right for Californians.