Here's hoping new speaker represents all of California

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There's another Assembly speaker from Los Angeles about to take office and those of us out here in California's heartland wonder if state government will continue to cater to the Golden State's biggest cities at the expense of the rest of the state.That's been the pattern, as funding formulas for state programs favor Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the San Joaquin Valley scrambling for what's left.In politics, the money goes where the clout is, so getting shortchanged isn't something new for our region.But that doesn't justify an unfair system. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been giving the Valley more attention and that has helped. But this region is still mostly an afterthought in state government.Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, thinks things might improve under Democrat Karen Bass, who will succeed Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. I'm willing to give Bass, even with her Los Angeles roots, the benefit of the doubt.She hasn't even taken over yet, and she decided to zip into Fresno to get a firsthand look at the world's richest farmland. She viewed Friant Dam and the San Joaquin River from the air and then met with farmers to discuss their water needs. She asked all the right questions about water policy. She later met with business and community leaders to get their take on the region.In between, Bass came by the newspaper to talk to the editorial board. She said she came to the Valley to learn about its issues and wants to factor them into her vision for the state.Bass even said she's open to possible construction of a dam to capture water during wet years. She cautioned that she's not ready to sign onto dam construction, but said she understands the need for above-ground storage, and how that could help the state's water shortage.Dams are opposed by most of the state's environmental community. Because Democratic leaders are very cozy with environmentalists, the idea of building storage facilities is usually waved off by Democratic leaders as a wacky proposal. But at least Bass says she's willing to listen.To meet the needs of cities and farmers and to protect the environment, California must have a comprehensive water policy that includes increased conservation, underground storage and dams. These three tenets aren't always embraced by all sides in the water wars, and that leaves a stalemate on water policy.I asked Arambula if he had prepped Bass about our water concerns, and whether she was just telling us what we wanted to hear. Arambula said Bass is sincere in her commitment to give water storage a fair hearing. She is too smart to not investigate the possibility, he said.Bass said the Valley will get its fair share of state resources because the minority leaders in the Legislature are from the region: Sen. Dave Cogdill of Modesto is the Senate minority leader, and Assembly member Mike Villines of Clovis is the minority leader in the Assembly.The operative term is "minority leader." They have little clout except to block the budget and tax increases because a two-thirds vote is needed in both cases.Bass and the new leader in the state Senate, Darrell Steinberg, control policy because they control the Democratic-led Legislature. That means Bass' trip to the Valley is important. This region must build a relationship with the Assembly speaker.The old model of whining about our problems isn't working. We spend way too much time complaining to those who agree with us and ignore those who don't understand the region. Steinberg also should be invited. Even though he is from Sacramento, the issues here aren't always the same as 180 miles up Highway 99.In fact, there should be a "Los Angeles Day" in the Valley and a "Bay Area Day." Bring lawmakers here and let them see the region firsthand. It's always easier understanding an area when you are actually there.It may turn out that Bass was just being a good politician, and not much will come from this visit. I hope that she becomes a different kind of a speaker -- not one beholden to the majority Democrats who put her in office, but an Assembly speaker for all of California.She must move quickly because she terms out in 2010. As the first black woman to hold this post, she has already made history. Now Bass, 54, has the opportunity to reach across this huge state and say it's time to break down the political barriers that have stood in the way of fixing health care, making legislative elections fair through an independent redistricting commission and reforming the state budget process.Her trip to Fresno could be the beginning of something big -- but not if she returns to the same old partisan bunker that has held her predecessors hostage.(Jim Boren is The Fresno Bee's editorial page editor. E-mail him at jboren(at)fresnobee.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)