Press release from Assemblymember Jim Wood’s office:

Assemblymember Jim Wood.

Sacramento, CA – Today, California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) appointed Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) as Speaker pro Tempore, effective immediately. 

“I’m honored and humbled that Speaker Rivas has appointed me Speaker pro Tempore and thrilled to be working closely with Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry in her role as Majority Leader,” said Wood. “I will work hard to do my best work in the Assembly next year so that I may live up to the trust the Speaker has in me. I look forward to working alongside the Speaker to make sure the voices of Californians are heard in Sacramento.” 

“Californians want their Assembly to run with efficiency and transparency, and Assemblymember Wood has the experience, temperament and ability to exceed their expectations,” said Speaker Rivas. “Jim is a strong leader who I know will work collaboratively with our caucus to get this body’s important work done.”

Wood has chaired the Assembly Health Committee since 2016. In this role, he has taken on the almost every entity within the industrial health care complex and worked to improve the quality of health care for Californians everywhere.

He took on a leadership role, working closely with Governor Newsom’s administration, to make the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) a reality one year ago. OHCA will guide the development of policies that will promote affordable, accessible and quality health care for Californians.

Wood has also supported the communities ravaged by wildfires and has fought to protect communities from dangerous wildfires, by improving statewide home-hardening standards and continues to fight for access to affordable insurance options in wildland urban interface areas. In addition, he continues his efforts to expand broadband access to rural communities across the state.

“This new challenge means a lot to me and I look forward to doing what I love, bringing my colleagues together to make the best policy decisions for Californians,” said Wood.