CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Deukmejian Fails to Pass NOW Test

Gov. George Deukmejian earned an F grade from the California National Organization for Women because of his positions on feminist issues in 1989. Sixty percent of the 120-member Legislature received A or B grades on an annual report card by California NOW, slightly more than received high grades last year, NOW lobbyist Kate Sproul said. “The Legislature and the voting has improved to some extent. I think it will improve more in the next couple of years. It’s my opinion that feminist issues are becoming more mainstream, particularly issues affecting women and employment, because there are more and more women working,” Sproul said. “Democrats do better than Republicans, but Republican women clearly do better than Republican men,” she said. “We would give California NOW an A for having a political agenda that is clearly out of touch with the majority of voters in this state,” said Tom Beermann, a spokesman for the Republican governor.