Grading Sacramento: Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins

Ask colleagues and observers in Sacramento about Toni Atkins, the speaker of the California Assembly, and you are almost certain to hear that she is approachable, amiable, intelligent, and honest.

You will be just as likely, however, to hear that she doesn’t have adequate control of her caucus, and that in the legislative session that just ended, she gave the members in her house so much autonomy that her leadership was undermined and that she allowed important legislation to stall — including her own signature bill.

The selection of Atkins 17 months ago was clearly a swing of the pendulum back from former Speaker John A. Pérez, known as a particularly strict leader who kept a tight rein on his caucus. The trains ran on time, but they ran on his schedule, and some Assembly members chafed under that.

Atkins, a third-term Democrat from San Diego, came in promising to support and protect her colleagues. She wanted to democratize the ranks and give more authority to members. There’s nothing inherently wrong with empowering legislators as long as the leader is able to effectively wrangle them to come together on key issues when the time comes. That’s the job of a speaker in a rough-and-tumble legislative setting where resources are limited, not everything can be accomplished and priorities need to be set. Atkins wasn’t able to do that on the bigger challenges this year, such as transportation funding, climate change and affordable housing.