Assemblyman Anthony Portantino says he's been stripped of a committee chairmanship and singled out for deep cuts to his staff because he refused to toe the party line.
Others in Sacramento say everyone is facing staff cuts and that the Pasadena pol is grandstanding in the runup to a possible Congressional bid, a charge he denies.
The trouble began, Portantino said, after he opposed the suspension of Prop 98.
"As a result of my principled stand against cutting education, they did take my chairmanship away," he said. "My budget at the beginning of the year had not been cut. It was threatened to be cut. Because you know what? I was told I better behave better."
He didn't. In June Portantino cast the lone "no" vote on the governor's budget deal
Assembly Speaker John Perez "told me that he didn't like my outspoken nature and he said he hoped that these warnings would repair our relationship," Portantino said. "It's wrong."
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Portantino denies that his actions are related to a potential Congressional bid, saying they have "absolutely nothing" to do with one another.
"I don't do anyting now that I didn't vote the same way five years ago, four years ago, three years," he said. "The only difference is, we have leadership now that wants 100 percent voter turnout on every single bill."
