Legislator Spending --Chalk One Up for a Citizen Reformer

Citizen reformer Ralph Morrell, a World War II sailor who has crusaded for a decade against what he sees as the Legislature’s unrestrained spending on itself, finally celebrated his own “V-Day” on Thursday.

“Morrell beat the Legislature,” one veteran lawmaker muttered as the Senate voted unanimously to pass a Morrell-sponsored bill subjecting a legislator’s spending to detailed public audits.

For instance, the amount of taxpayer funds spent by individual legislators on meals, repair of their official cars, first-class air fare, office remodeling and “ceremonies and events” would be made public for the first time.

Audits Required

Likewise, the state controller would be required to audit expenditures by lawmakers before the controller could authorize payment.

The bill went to Gov. George Deukmejian, who has taken no position on it.

“This is my V-Day,” declared the brusque 71-year-old former Navy chief warrant officer, who for the last 10 years has been an unwelcome fixture at the Capitol, righteously railing against legislative excesses to anyone who would listen and even to those who wouldn’t.

Morrell was regarded by most lawmakers as a nuisance, an outrageous busybody and worse. But he persevered and on Thursday secured a victory from the very institution he had been attacking.

“He kept knocking at the door and finally knocked the door down,” said Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who agreed to carry Morrell’s legislation in an era when the Legislature is trying reform ethical standards for its members.

“Once he got inside and realized that things are not quite as mysterious as he had thought, he compromised. And we compromised,” Roberti said.

For a decade, the citizen activist has demanded more accountability by the Legislature in the way it spends taxpayer money, detailed information that has been fiercely guarded from the public.

At one point Morrell raised such a ruckus about the Assembly providing taxpayer-financed ice cream bars to its members that the lawmakers agreed to pay for the treats with their own money.

In the early 1980s, Morrell zeroed in so relentlessly on the Assembly’s practice of ghost voting that the practice was officially abolished. However, remnants of ghost voting still persist.

Under ghost voting, an Assembly member activates the electronic voting button of a colleague who is temporarily absent but is signed on the daily roll as present.

On occasion, Morrell has sued the Legislature, but lost. He even tried to reform Assembly voting by ballot initiative, but his proposal failed to find a spot on the ballot.

Finally, Morrell--supported by scores of local taxpayer associations, city councils and county supervisors throughout California--targeted the Legislature’s own budget, currently about $200 million, for his most determined reform.

The bill chiefly removes a long-standing set of barriers enacted by the Legislature that inhibit the state controller from fully auditing legislative expenditures before payment. Although audits now are made of lawmaker spending, the categories are broad and there are no deadlines for public release of the audit.

New Categories

Morrell’s bill adds detailed new categories, such as money spent on meals and first-class air travel, and requires the annual audits be made by Nov. 30 of the following year.

The bill also places under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Parks and Recreation what Morrell calls the Legislature’s “jewelry shops,” two small stores that sell items such as wine glasses, tie tacks, rings and money clips stamped with the official seal of the Senate or Assembly.

Lawmakers often purchase these items as gifts for friends and campaign contributors, supposedly with their own money. Morrell said that since no audits of the expenditures have been made, no one knows for certain whether public funds are involved.

“It’s unseemly for legislators to be engaged in the jewelry business,” he said.

Morrell clearly was savoring his victory on Thursday. And although he has no specific additional reforms in mind, he vowed: “I’m not going to fade away like an old soldier.”