Resolution on Persian Gulf Is Introduced in the Assembly

An advisory resolution asking President Bush to take no offensive military action in the Persian Gulf unless Congress declares war has been introduced in the Assembly.

Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco), author of AJR 6, said he believes the resolution “makes an important policy statement for those of us who are concerned with the President’s headlong rush into war.”

Burton failed to persuade his colleagues to debate the resolution just before the Assembly recessed for its customary three-day weekend.

Assembly Republican Leader Ross Johnson of La Habra objected, saying debate would be inappropriate because the lower house has no foreign policy committee to screen and recommend action on the resolution.

GOVERNOR

Opened a San Diego gubernatorial branch office at 1350 Front St., Suite 6054. The telephone number is (619) 237-6131.

ASSEMBLY

Bill Introductions

State Budget: AB 222 by Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) would make appropriations for the support of state government for the 1991-92 fiscal year.

Drunk Driving: AB 219 by Assemblyman Dan Hauser (D-Arcata) would double the fines for drunk driving or traffic violations if they occur within highway construction or maintenance zones. The purpose is to help protect workers from possible death and injury.

Air Pollution: AB 212 by Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park) calls for a state plan to determine the public health risks posed by exposure to indoor air pollution and recommend corrective action to reduce it.

SENATE

Bill Introductions

State Budget: SB 160 by Sen. Alfred Alquist (D-San Jose) would make appropriations for the support of state government for the 1991-92 fiscal year.

Assault Weapons: SB 155 by Sen. Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield) would extend from Jan. 1, 1991, until Jan. 1, 1992, the deadline for people who owned military-type assault weapons before June 1, 1989, to register them with the state without facing criminal penalty.

Marijuana: SB 139 by Sen. Bill Leonard (R-Big Bear) would allow law enforcement officers to seize the assets of anyone caught cultivating or harvesting marijuana and use the proceeds to help finance the war against drug abuse.

MISCELLANY

Television: The Assembly’s ambitious efforts to televise itself in action are swiftly gaining momentum, but an attempt by the Senate is off to a fitful start. Senate Rules Committee Chairman David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) received the votes of only two fellow Democrats in favor of spending $23,000 to study the engineering and architectural costs of establishing gavel-to-gavel television coverage of the upper house. One Republican committee member voted no and the other abstained. Roberti warned that unless the Senate proceeds with its own television coverage “the public will tend to think the Legislature is (only) the Assembly.”

Garamendi: Patti Garamendi, wife of newly elected Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, says she will run for the Assembly seat vacated by Democrat Patrick Johnston, who was elected to replace her husband in the state Senate. She lost to Johnston in a special election for her husband’s state Senate seat.

Capital Fact

An estimated 19,000 Californians have died of AIDS since 1980, according to an Assembly Ways and Means Committee report.