With budget signed, Senate Republicans change leaders

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Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) has taken over as Senate Republican leader. Dutton was scheduled to take the job from Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) on Sept. 1. But the two senators opted not to transfer the reins of power as long as the state’s budget stalemate continued.

With Friday’s passage of the budget deal, Hollingsworth handed the proverbial gavel over to Dutton, as expected.

‘Sen. Hollingsworth has been a strong leader,’ said Dutton in a statement.’He successfully navigated the Senate Republican caucus through this budget storm by negotiating a spending plan that includes no new taxes’

Hollingsworth was elected to the post by his colleagues in 2009. He assumed power in the middle of an acrimonious budget fight in which Sen. Dave Cogdill (R-Fresno) was stripped of his post for supporting a budget that included massive tax increases.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento