Speaker Fabian Núñez (D- 46th District) was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002 and sworn in as the State's 66th Speaker on February 9, 2004. Now in his fourth year as Speaker, he has served longer than any other Speaker since Californians adopted term limits in 1990.

Speaker Núñez has fought to protect and nurture the “California Advantage” -- our innovative industries, our entrepreneurial spirit, our research universities, our environmental beauty and our greatest resource -- the most productive workers in the world.

In 2007, after nearly a year of negotiations with the Governor, legislative leaders, and a diverse coalition of labor, business, health care, and consumer groups, the California State Assembly approved the largest state expansion of health care coverage in the nation’s history. That bill, AB 1X, authored by Speaker Núñez, will soon be up for a vote in the California State Senate.

Last year, the Speaker also authored AB 118, an important bill that will fund alternative fuels research and promote cleaner air.

In 2006, he presided over what the San Francisco Chronicle called “…one of the most productive legislative sessions in decades.” (8/31/06)

That year, the Speaker authored first-in-the-nation legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from California industries. This law, AB 32, has become the gold standard for other states and the U.S. Congress to tackle what has quickly become the leading  challenge of our times. Speaker Núñez has testified before Congress in support of national greenhouse gas legislation and was invited to the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland this year to discuss the law with the world's leaders in business and government.

In addition, Speaker Núñez crafted legislation to raise California's minimum wage to the highest in the nation as well as a bill to make prescription drugs more affordable to low- and middle-income families. Working with the Governor and legislative Republicans, he also led Assembly passage of the first on-time, balanced budget in nearly a decade.

Speaker Núñez also led the successful fight for more than $4 billion in infrastructure investments for California, including funds for school modernization and construction, affordable housing, and traffic congestion relief.

In previous legislative sessions, Núñez authored bills to curb pollution, aid small business, help the homeless, discourage predatory lending, improve working conditions for hotel attendants, and offer solutions to California's long-term energy needs.

These accomplishments led Governing Magazine to write of Speaker Núñez “… [he] … is drawing comparisons with legendary Speaker Jesse Unruh, most crucially for his clear belief that the speakership is about forging alliances and getting things done.” In 2007, Speaker Núñez was named Governing Magazine’s “Legislator of the Year.”

In April of  2007 Speaker Núñez was named by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as a national campaign co-chair.

Prior to being elected to the Assembly, from 2000-2002, Núñez was government affairs director for the Los Angeles Unified School District. In this capacity, he tackled a broad range of education issues and secured millions in funding for school construction projects, children's health insurance, and low-performing schools.

From 1996 to 2000, he served as political director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Speaker Núñez, 41, earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and education from Pitzer College in Claremont. He resides in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Maria, have three children: Esteban, 19, Teresa, 16, and Carlos, 7.

Updated: January 11, 2008