IN FINAL ACTION

This rundown on noteworthy bills receiving final approval in the last hours of the legislative session was compiled from Times wires services and staff reports. The measures now go to the governor for his signature or veto.

19.2% Credit Card Rate OKd

Stores could charge up to 19.2% interest on their credit cards for another three years under a bill sent to the governor Friday. The bill, by Assemblyman Charles M. Calderon (D-Alhambra), was given final approval by a 48-12 Assembly vote. Current law allows stores that issue their own credit cards to charge up to 19.2% interest a year. When that law expires on Jan. 1, the maximum rate would drop to 18%. Calderon’s bill would extend the 19.2% maximum rate until Jan. 1, 1991. The interest rates were increased during the time of high inflation in the early 1980s and consumer groups argue that the maximum allowed should be decreased now that inflation is less. But Calderon said the inflation rate is not related to the cost of doing business. If stores were not allowed to charge the higher rate, they might stop offering credit to many customers who can’t get credit elsewhere, he said.

Blue and Gold Licenses Reprieved

California motorists could still buy non-reflecting blue and gold license plates under a bill given final approval Friday, 71 to 4, and sent to the governor. A law that took effect Jan. 1 phased out these plates and required the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue only reflecting plates. The new plates are plain white with blue letters. Formerly, motorists who wanted reflecting plates paid $1 extra for a white plate with blue letters and the picture of a sun. The sun plate is no longer available. The bill by Assemblyman Eric Seastrand (R-Salinas) would allow motorists who want the blue and gold plates to pay $35 extra, with the money going to the Environmental License Plate Fund.

Bills Aimed at Road Shooters

Two bills aimed at cracking down on people firing guns from motor vehicles received final legislative passage and were sent to the governor. The Senate approved, 38 to 0, a bill by Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) to appropriate $950,000 for Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies to increase patrols to apprehend freeway shooters. The funds would be divided between the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles City Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The bill would also allow the governor to offer rewards for information leading to the arrest of anyone who brandishes or fires guns on public roadways. The Assembly passed 76 to 0 a bill to add five years to the sentence of anyone who shoots a gun from a car and injures someone not in a car. Under the bill by Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), the sentence would be added to any other sentence imposed. The bill would also allow police to seize a vehicle used in a crime related to shooting from or into a car. Waters introduced the bill this year because of gang-related “drive-by” shootings in Los Angeles.

Security Sought for Animal Stars

The Assembly passed and sent to the governor a bill aimed at preventing aging movie and television animals from being left out in the cold once their day in the entertainment limelight has passed. Without debate, the measure by Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-San Marcos) passed 48 to 19 to establish an animal trust fund in the state treasury and to authorize the Department of Fish and Game to seek grants and donations from private sources. The department could then give grants to individuals, private groups or local governments who operate retirement homes for mammals that have been used in the entertainment industry. Animal groups supporting the bill say that exotic animals in particular are bred for the entertainment industry but then become a burden to taxpayers and humane societies when their careers are over and they are abandoned.

‘Pay Now, Study Later’ Bill OKd

A final Assembly vote, 52 to 21, sent to the governor a bill by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) to set up a prepaid tuition state trust fund for parents who wish to send their children to the University of California or a state college. Dubbed the “pay now, study later” bill, the measure would create the California Education Trust to guarantee tuition for families who invest money with the state in an advanced tuition payment fund. When their child reaches college age, the trust would guarantee that the undergraduate tuition would be paid in full. The bill would not guarantee admission into college. Parents would invest in the education fund an amount based on a child’s age and estimates of college costs in the future.

Blood Donors Given a Choice

Donors could pick who would receive their blood under a measure, generated by concern over AIDS, that the Senate sent to Gov. George Deukmejian on Friday. The upper house approved Assembly amendments to the bill by Sen. John Doolittle (R-Rocklin) on a 29-3 vote. The bill would enable all blood donors to earmark their donations for any individual, if prescribed by a physician. Current law allows only parents to direct blood donations to their children. Any additional costs that blood banks incur due to the system would be passed along to the recipient, under the amendments added to the measure by the Assembly.

‘Medigap’ Regulation Passes

A bill to regulate the “medigap” health insurance policies that consumer groups say are often oversold to fearful elderly people is on its way to the governor’s desk. The Assembly gave final approval Friday to the bill by Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly (D-Sacramento) by a 48-25 vote. The federal Medicare program provides health care for people over 65. But it provides only about 46% of the average person’s health costs. Therefore, most senior citizens buy supplemental “medigap” policies to pay for the balance, which backers of the bill say leads elderly people afraid of catastrophic illnesses to buy unnecessary, overlapping or inadequate policies. The bill would establish minimum standards for policies, regulate sales practices and create penalties for violations. It would establish a Seniors’ Bureau of Investigation in the state Insurance Department to oversee such policies.

U.S. Constitution Draws Praise

The Assembly voted Friday to praise the U.S. Constitution on its 200th birthday, although Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) reminded lawmakers that the document condoned slavery. The vote was 72-1 for the resolution by Assemblyman Phillip D. Wyman (R-Tehachapi). It expresses the Assembly’s “unqualified and wholehearted praise and support” of the Bicentennial anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. But Brown pointed out that the Constitution contained four clauses that condoned slavery, a compromise that he said amounted to a “pact with the devil.” Brown said what should be celebrated is “the evolutionary nature of the Constitution,” which allowed it to be changed to prohibit slavery and extend rights to blacks and women.