Portantino punished

Looks like I got it wrong when I predicted Anthony Portantino, the freshman Democratic assemblyman from La Canada Flintridge, might actually benefit from his short-lived run to become Assembly Speaker.

According to Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee, Portantino was stripped of his chairmanship on the Assembly Higher Education Committee on Thursday. He apparently angered Speaker Fabian Nunez - who is being termed out - by launching his bid for the leadership post. That seems to have screwed up Nunez's plans to hand the reins to Speaker-elect Karen Bass.

Sometimes these rebukes are temporary in nature, aimed at sending a message to the rank and file. We'll how long Portantino is made to stand in the corner.