Senator Bill Monning will become the California Senate Majority Leader in 2015 

Central Coast constituents may get a little bit more pull in the California State Senate’s upcoming 2015 session.

Sen. Bill Monning will start the year sitting as the new senate majority leader; he was appointed by President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon in December.

Monning, a Democrat, represents California’s 17th Senate District, which encompasses all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties and parts of Monterey and Santa Clara counties. The majority leader typically serves as the floor manager for and the chief assistant to the president pro tempore.

Monning served in the state assembly prior to being elected to the state senate in 2012, during which time he introduced a long list of legislation that addresses a slew of issues that include public health and safety, worker protections, veterans’ services, and insurance laws. Two separate pieces of legislation that passed in 2014 and received attention locally deal with increasing boating safety through education (SB 941) and providing sexual harassment prevention training for farmworkers (SB 1087), respectively. Monning also authored a bill that would have mandated a warning label on sugary drinks (SB 1000), which was killed in committee before receiving a final floor vote.

“I look forward to serving in this leadership position and supporting the pro tem, as well as working to engender collegiality on the senate floor,” Monning said in a statement.

-- Melody DeMeritt - former city council member, Morro Bay