As part of Dean Florez's promotion to Majority Leader of the state Senate, he will give up his chairmanship of the Senate's Governmental Organization Committee. The powerful committee takes up bills involving horseracing, casinos, alcoholic beverages, state disaster response and state-controlled lands.

Somewhere, Schwarzenegger administration officials are smiling. Florez often called the governor's staff before his committee and grilled them hard.

Florez supporters praise his aggressiveness, but his detractors say he loves to grandstand. It will be interesting to see how Florez, the consummate outsider, adapts to the ultimate insider role of Majority Leader.

"I'm certainly not changing for the position," he said in an e-mail. "I'm not tempering my views or outspokenness."

The Majority Leader job makes Florez the top deputy to incoming Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. One of Florez's main duties will be to run floor proceedings.

Florez, the Valley's most experienced state lawmaker, terms out in 2010. He plans to run for lieutenant governor.