The road to road laws goes through Lowenthals

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If you want to change transportation laws in California, you better get to know a Lowenthal -- or two.

Sen. Alan Lowenthal is the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. And his ex-wife, Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, is the newly appointed chairwoman of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

The former spouses are on friendly terms – he helped her navigate the Sacramento establishment in her first bid for office in 2008 – so don’t expect any heated rivalries across the Capitol dome.

Both Lowenthals are Democrats representing the Long Beach area, including the Port of Long Beach, one of the West Coast’s major transportation hubs.

Not surprisingly, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster was pretty excited about Bonnie Lowenthal’s new gig, saying in a written statement that it was “tremendously important to have a Long Beach person who understands the intricacies of these issues in this key post.”

Make that double.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento