Senate GOP leader submits resolution to suspend state Sen. Yee

SACRAMENTO — Senate Republican leader Robert Huff of Diamond Bar said Thursday he has introduced a resolution calling for the immediate suspension of Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) a day after Yee was arrested by the FBI on public corruption charges.

The resolution comes a day after Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) called on Yee to resign or face a Senate vote to be suspended with pay.

“We need to act decisively in order to begin restoring the public’s trust,” Huff said in a statement.

“Sen. Yee’s indictment details intolerable actions of public corruption,” Huff said.

He also called on the Senate Rules Committee to act on previous motions to suspend Democratic Sens. Ronald S. Calderon of Montebello and Roderick D. Wright, who represents the Inglewood area.

Steinberg allowed Wright and Calderon to take leaves of absences to fight the separate criminal charges they face.

Calderon was indicted last month on charges of accepting nearly $100,000 in bribes in exchange for official actions, and Wright was found guilty by a jury of felony perjury and voter fraud charges that involve lying when he declared he lived in his Senate district.

“While I appreciate Sen. Steinberg’s assurances that ‘neither Calderon nor Wright are coming back,’ we must treat all three equally,” Huff said. “Only then can the Senate move beyond this dark cloud of ethics violations and corruption.”

Steinberg said he was deciding what action to take against lawmakers individually on their merits and said the allegations against Yee are “appalling.”

“And the nature of those allegations creates a huge cloud over the institution, obviously,” he said. “If he’s acquitted, he can come back.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer joined the chorus of those calling for Yee to quit.

“The allegations against Senator Yee are shocking,” Feinstein said in a statement. “It has become clear he has lost the confidence of his colleagues and for the good of his constituents should step down.”

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