Assembly OKs Bill for AIDS-Testing Prostitutes

The Assembly on Monday passed a bill to require convicted prostitutes to be tested for the AIDS virus after a coalition of Republicans and dissident Democrats came within one vote of embarrassing Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) by withdrawing a similar measure from a committee.

By a 65-8 bipartisan vote, the lower house approved the legislation, which was hastily drafted on the floor when it appeared that the coalition might succeed in withdrawing from a committee a similar bill that had been pigeonholed.

If it had been successful, the withdrawal move would have been a political embarrassment to the powerful Assembly Speaker and eventually could have led to a more serious attempt to oust him from his post. A forced withdrawal of a bill from committee is considered an affront to a house’s leadership because it violates the committee system, which is regarded as sacrosanct.

Afterwards, both parties claimed victory, but it was clear that the challenge was not over. The GOP served notice that it will try to pry other controversial bills out of committee--with or without the Speaker’s help.

Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale said, “We got the policy through that we wanted.” Asked about the possibility of continuing efforts to embarrass Brown, Nolan said: “There are certain policy issues that are bottled up in committee and we want to explore the possibilities of getting enough Democratic votes to get those out.”

In a characteristic boast, Brown declared: “They’re interested in the speakership and I still have it. I’ve always been safe. Nobody surprises me. I’m full of surprises.”

Meanwhile, in a related AIDS matter, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 8-0 approval of a bill by Sen. John Doolittle (R-Rocklin) that would require every new convict entering the state prison system to be tested for exposure to the AIDS virus.

In addition, the measure would authorize the Department of Corrections to conduct such testing on the existing prison population and to develop a plan to hold those who test positive in segregated housing.

The same committee also endorsed a second Doolittle bill that would require physicians to test pregnant women for exposure to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, unless the patient refuses in writing to take the test. Refusal would become part of the woman’s medical record, but would not apply to future pregnancies.

Results of the test would remain confidential, but if a physician failed to offer the test, the doctor would be subject to a misdemeanor charge. Both bills were sent to the Senate floor.

However, the committee rejected a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would allow businesses and individuals to claim a tax credit of up to 55% on contributions made to a special fund that would have been created to finance research into the prevention and cure of AIDS.

Extremist’s Initiative

The measure, opposed by the Deukmejian Administration, was aimed at providing June primary election voters with an alternative to an initiative sponsored by supporters of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. Among other things, the initiative would provide for the segregation of people exposed to the AIDS virus. An Administration spokesman objected that the tax credit legislation would cost state coffers $33 million a year.

Monday’s floor action on the bill requiring AIDS testing for convicted prostitutes capped two weeks of skirmishing between Brown and the so-called “Gang of Five” Democrats, who say they want the Assembly reorganized so that controversial bills with strong public support don’t die in committee.

Success Claimed

“It worked,” said Assemblyman Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres), a Gang of Five member. “We won the policy issue on the floor.”

In the last two weeks Brown has stripped four of the five dissidents, including Condit, of key committee posts to punish them for not going along with all his leadership decisions.

The Speaker claimed that he was just making committee reassignments in order to streamline the work of the Assembly.

The AIDS testing bill, now sponsored by Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan (D-Fresno), would require people convicted of prostitution to be tested for the AIDS virus. If the test turned out to be positive and the tested person subsequently was convicted again of prostitution, it would be a felony rather than a misdemeanor offense.

Similar Measure

It is similar to a measure by Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista), one of the dissidents, that was bottled up in the Public Safety Committee, primarily because of opposition by some liberal Democrats who contended that it unfairly singled out a group of politically powerless people.

Nolan, who made the motion to withdraw the measure, called AIDS a “modern-day plague that stalks our streets.” If a person contracts AIDS, he added, that person “faces certain death.”

Brown defended the merits of the committee bill screening system and accused Nolan of “playing political games.” He said the same result as withdrawing the bill could be accomplished by amending its substance into another measure already on the lower house floor. Thus a showdown vote over his authority could be avoided.

“Let Mr. Nolan play his political games and fail at it,” the Speaker told fellow Democrats. “I will cast the only no vote and the rest of you can remain silent and not insult the committee work of this house.”

Motion Fails

The motion to withdraw failed by a 40-1 vote with 41 votes required for passage. Thirty-five of the 36 Republicans and the Gang of Five voted for it; Brown voted no. One Republican and 38 Democratic members abstained.

The lone GOP holdout was Assemblyman Stan Statham (R-Oak Run), the new chairman of the Governmental Efficiency and Consumer Protection Committee, named by Brown last week to replace a punished Gang of Five member.

Statham denied making any deal with the Speaker in exchange for the chairmanship. “I’ve made no deals,” he said, “but if that perception persists, I will voluntarily resign.”

Nolan and Statham earlier clashed during the 1986 election campaign over the financing and endorsement of GOP primary Assembly candidates.