Robinson Maneuver Imperils Measure Seeking Bond Financing for Child Care

A parliamentary maneuver engineered by Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) has jeopardized an Orange County-sponsored bill to permit low-interest bond financing for child care, backers of the measure charged Wednesday.

Barring an unexpected rescue by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), the bill by state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) cannot be enacted this year because it did not meet deadlines for approval this week by two key committees, including one chaired by Robinson.

On Monday, Robinson adjourned his Public Investments Committee--which was scheduled to consider the child care bill--as Bergeson was walking down the Capitol hallway toward the hearing on her proposal.

Robinson said he could not have allowed a full hearing on Bergeson’s bill anyway because of a longstanding legislative rule against taking votes on measures that have major last-minute amendments.

Significant Deletion Cited

He explained that a significant portion of the child-care measure had been deleted less than one hour before the scheduled hearing.

However, the bill’s backers, citing the old Sacramento adage “rules are made to be waived,” suspect that Robinson had other, more partisan motives.

Bergeson’s bill, which was suggested by the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women, was one of three bills pending in the Legislature to address what has been called a critical shortage of California child care facilities.

The Democratic leaders of both houses of the Legislature--Brown and Senate President Pro Tempore David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles)--are authors of the other two proposals.

However, both of those bills call for $50-million appropriations. Republican Gov. George Deukmejian vetoed a bill similar to Roberti’s last year and he blue-penciled budget language similar to Brown’s approach earlier this year.

‘Urgent’ Issue

Because of that, some observers suspected the governor might embrace Bergeson’s approach, which would have provided tax-exempt financing for private child-care providers under the state’s industrial development bond program.

Bergeson said she did not consider her bill to be a rival of the other two, saying, “I think we need every option. . . . This issue is an urgent one. These facilities are needed. It is a major issue facing the state.”

Robinson defended his action, saying he has no philosophical differences with Bergeson on the need for child care facilities. If Brown suggests that he (Robinson) waive the legislative rule, the Garden Grove Democrat added, “I am willing to give the bill a hearing.”

But he stressed, “You can’t come in the day of the hearing with major amendments. . . . If it had been minor changes, not drastic amendments, I would have let the bill go.”

Robinson said his staff only learned an hour before the hearing that Bergeson wanted to strike a provision in the bill making bond financing available only to child-care projects that had already qualified for industrial development bonds.

Special Session Sought

Bergeson said Assemblyman W. Robert Naylor (R-Menlo Park), who had amended the provision into the bill at an earlier committee hearing, had agreed to its removal after learning that it would have severely limited her bill’s application.

Since Monday, Bergeson has been trying to persuade Brown to order a special session of Robinson’s committee so the hearing on the bill could be held.

On Wednesday, however, Bergeson said she got word from Brown’s staff that no such special meeting would be held. Bergeson said she still hopes to make a personal appeal to Brown himself, adding that child care “is too important to jeopardize with whatever political maneuvering is going on.”