150 Bills Stalled : Work Bogs Down Amid Assembly Power Struggle

The time-consuming power struggle being waged by the rebel Democratic “Gang of Five” and some Republicans against Assembly Speaker Willie Brown has resulted in a frustrating slowdown of regular legislative business and a big logjam of important bills, lawmakers and aides are complaining.

The escalating battle to topple Brown, particularly in the last week, has monopolized most of the time that the Assembly usually devotes to acting on bills. Consequently, more than 150 bills are stalled on the Assembly floor awaiting votes and another 150 are headed that way, having been sent there in the past two days by various lower house committees.

“The backlog is worse than it’s been in years,” said one veteran Assembly staffer, who asked not to be identified. “There is very little floor action these days, but the committees keep cranking the bills out. It’s a little like force-feeding a goose. People are emotionally drained at the floor sessions. They just want to get out of there.”

Assemblyman Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), chairman of the Finance and Insurance Committee, complained that “we spend too much time debating motions to vacate the (Speaker’s) chair.” Johnston, a Brown ally who also frequently is mentioned as a potential replacement for the Speaker, said he has been waiting for two weeks for enough “calm” to take up a bill to increase unemployment insurance benefits from $166 to $186 a week.

“Nothing but the most innocuous and non-controversial bills are moving on the floor,” said another longtime Assembly staffer. “And, in committee, members are reluctant to try to move controversial bills if they are worried about votes on the floor.”

Brown himself denies that the normal flow of legislation is being slowed down by the speakership fight. “If we have to work at night around here, we will produce what we need to produce,” he said.

But lobbyists who work the Capitol are grumbling about the amount of time legislators are devoting to the power struggle instead of trying to work out compromises on bills. “They’ll be lucky if they get anything done over there this year with all this speakership stuff going on,” said lobbyist George N. Zenovich, a former state senator and Assembly Democratic floor leader.

Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Hawthorne) said he has about 20 measures, some relating to worker safety and state contracts, awaiting action on the lower house floor. The pressure is on now “to get them out of our house” and over to the Senate for more screening, Floyd said. “You can’t operate if you don’t move something along.”

One veteran consultant to a key committee, who asked not to be identified, said: “Nobody’s making any deals. Nobody knows if they push, if Willie will back them up, or if he’ll even be there next week to back them up. Everybody’s paralyzed. The feeling is that change is inevitable--it’s just a matter of who and when. Everybody’s waiting.”

A Gang of Five member, Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos), acknowledged that not many floor votes are being taken on bills these days. But Areias argued that the revolt is necessary to try to overcome a liberal bias in the Legislature’s policy-making process. The gang, composed of self-described moderates, charges that the liberal Brown “stacks” committees to pigeonhole measures that he does not want approved. The Speaker denies the charge.

“The process has stagnated,” Areias said. “There are important issues out there, such as campaign contribution reform, health care, insurance, transportation and workers’ compensation that are not being dealt with.”

Areias cited more than 30 citizen initiatives proposed for this year’s ballot as evidence of the people’s “frustration” with the legislative process and major issues “being buried” in liberal-oriented committees.

“To say there is a 250-bill backlog isn’t the problem,” he said. “We’ll resolve that if we have to stay here all night, all week. We’ll get it done. The real question is why major issues aren’t being dealt with effectively.”

Last Monday, the “Gang of Five” lost a floor move to oust Brown after more than three hours of parliamentary maneuvering and closed-door caucuses. Very little other Assembly business was conducted.

In an indication that unrest also is spreading in the opposition party, five Republicans joined the gang in voting against a motion to replace Brown with Assembly GOP Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale.

It was the second time in five days that a coup attempt failed. The first move occurred last Thursday. It also reduced other Assembly floor action to a minimum. More attempts to try to unseat Brown are expected, possibly today.

Nolan accuses the “Gang of Five” of playing a “headline-grabbing game” because they refuse to specify who they would like to see be Speaker instead of Brown.

Assemblyman Bill Jones (R-Fresno), one of the rebel GOP members who reportedly would like to become Speaker himself, said: “We’re going to get the business of the people done. There’s no question in my mind about that. We don’t want the bill backlog to get too big.”

Jones suggested that the lower house could conduct longer floor sessions or start meeting on Fridays. The Assembly generally recesses Thursday for three-day weekends so members can go back to their home districts to campaign for reelection.

“You can’t go through these (speakership) drills day after day,” commented Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-La Habra), “without an enormous impact on our workload, not to mention the emotional divisiveness. And, if you take the five at their word, that’s going to continue.”

Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles), who usually presides over the lower house, said, “We’re not bogged down yet, but we’re moving there very quickly.”