Bill Moving Up Presidential Primary Date Is Back on Track

Legislation changing the date of California’s presidential primary got back on track Thursday after the Senate’s Democratic leader gave the green light to negotiations on the long-stalled bill.

The legislation would move the state’s primary for President from June to the second Tuesday in March, something supporters say will give California considerably more clout in the 1992 presidential selection process.

But the bill would represent a monumental shift, not only for California but the nation as a whole, and it has been moving through the Legislature in fits and starts since last year.

After being stalled for more than a month, Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) got the bill moving again by appointing three Senators to sit on a two-house conference committee that will conduct negotiations.

Roberti had been holding up the appointments until the Assembly author of the bill polled Senate Democrats. Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) said his poll of Senate Democrats showed that most would support a March presidential primary and a second primary in June for state races.

Some lawmakers want to consolidate the primaries with the presidential contest in March. Others want the state primaries to continue to be in June--or even as late as September, just two months before the November general election.

The bill, as it was approved by the Assembly last year, would have split the primaries between March and June. But then the legislation, in accordance with Roberti’s wishes, was amended in the Senate to consolidate the two primaries into one. Now, however, Roberti says the one- or two-primary issue is “negotiable.”

Costa said he views appointment of the Senate members of the conference committee “a positive sign” but said it is still too early to predict the ultimate success of the legislation.