Governor : Bills Signed:

Sales Tax: SB 142 by Sen. Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Chula Vista) allows counties to ask voters to increase local sales taxes up to 1 cent to finance road construction or transit projects. Los Angeles County, which already imposes an additional half-cent sales tax, would be allowed to seek an increase of another half-cent, to 7 cents for each $1 in sales.

Mayhem: SB 589 by Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno) creates the crime of “aggravated mayhem,” punishable by life imprisonment, in instances where a victim has been permanently disabled or disfigured by an attacker.

Transit: SB 1554 by Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco) elevates all robberies committed on public transit to first-degree robbery with increased penalties.

Rent: SB 692 by Sen. Barry Keene (D-Benicia) outlaws local commercial rent control ordinances in California. The bill voids laws already on the books in Berkeley and San Francisco but does not affect local residential rent control ordinances.

Mailers: SB 1311 by Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside) requires groups of individuals sending out political slate mailers to fully disclose the name of the sender, the candidates who paid to appear on the mailer and whether the mailer was prepared by an official party organization. The bill also requires producers of slate mailers to file campaign statements with the secretary of state. Bills Vetoed:

Migrants: AB 983 by Assemblyman Robert Campbell (D-Richmond) would have required school districts to make buses available at cost to children of migrant farm workers during summer months. Gov. George Deukmejian said the bill would expand an existing law that he said is “overly punitive” to school districts.

Arthritis: SB 674 by Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) would have created a 15-member California Arthritis Council to develop a state plan for combatting arthritis. Deukmejian said he vetoed the bill because it would establish “open-ended state support” for arthritis programs and because the federal government and private groups already finance research into the disease. Miscellany

Senator Senator: Former Democratic State Sen. Omer Rains, who had asked a court to make “Senator” his first name, has dropped his petition amid objections by the Senate Rules Committee. Rains, a 45-year-old lawyer who represented a Santa Barbara-Ventura district from 1974 to 1982, said he was “a bit shellshocked” by the negative reaction to his request. He initiated the name change, he said, in an effort to avoid legal problems resulting from his longtime practice of signing documents as Sen. Omer L. Rains.