The Big Five is an informal institution of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
state government, consisting of the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, the
Assembly speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
, the Assembly
minority leader, the
Senate president pro tempore, and the Senate minority leader. Historically, members of the Big Five met in private to negotiate California's state government budget. These meetings were held under governors
George Deukmejian
Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (;
June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also served ...
,
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
,
Gray Davis, and
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In 2010, California voters passed Proposition 25, which reduced the threshold to pass a budget from a 2/3 supermajority to a simple majority. As a result, the votes of legislators from the minority party were no longer needed for the legislature to pass a budget, reducing the impact of the minority leaders on budget negotiations. However, a 2/3 supermajority was still required if the budget contained tax increases.
Current members
*Governor:
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...
(Democrat)
*Assembly Speaker:
Robert Rivas (Democrat)
*Assembly Minority Leader:
James Gallagher (Republican)
*Senate President ''pro tempore'':
Toni Atkins
Toni Gayle Atkins (born August 1, 1962) is an American politician serving as the 51st and current President pro tempore of the California State Senate since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 69th Speaker of th ...
(Democrat)
*Senate Minority Leader:
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
(Republican)
GOP 5
During budget talks in 2011, five Republican
state senators broke with their party and were willing to negotiate with Governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...
about placing
propositions on the ballot to extend tax increases. The five senators, known as the "GOP 5" as a tribute to the "big 5", were
Tom Berryhill,
Sam Blakeslee,
Anthony Cannella,
Bill Emmerson, and
Tom Harman
Thomas George Harman (born May 30, 1941) is an American politician. He is a former Republican member of the California State Senate who had previously been a three-term member of the California State Assembly. Both seats represent portions of ...
.
References
Politics of California
{{California-poli-stub