GOVERNMENT : Martinez Withdraws Bill on Legalized Euthanasia

Assemblywoman Diane Martinez has withdrawn her bill seeking to legalize euthanasia in certain circumstances.

The Monterey Park Democrat said the measure, Assembly Bill 1080, could not be amended in time to meet last Friday’s deadline for bills requiring fiscal consideration. As a result, the bill cannot be introduced until next year, she said.

“This is a fiscal bill and we have a deadline,” Martinez said. “Either the bill is in shape to be heard or its not.”

But Frank Venti, an influential businessman and a former Martinez supporter, claimed the assemblywoman bowed to pressure applied by him and others opposed to AB 1080.

Venti, a self-described “observant Catholic,” owns the offices in Alhambra that the state had rented for Martinez and her staff over the past three years; he contributed $13,000 in rent and other services to the assemblywoman during her last two campaigns.

But the two had a falling out over AB1080, and in March Martinez gave notice that she was moving out of Venti’s building.

“Without a doubt in my mind, I have to say she bowed to the pressure and thank God, thank God, thank God,” Venti said.

Martinez scoffed at Venti’s assertions that she pulled the bill because of his pressure tactics. Venti had launched a letter-writing campaign in Alhambra and Monterey Park, urging his friends to contact their respective legislators to voice opposition to the bill. Venti said he also contacted members of the Assembly Legislative Committee in an effort to kill the bill.

Martinez said her staff worked over the Easter holiday to amend the bill and make it acceptable for introduction. She still wants to winnow down the bill’s language so it applies only to people suffering great pain as a result of a terminal illness.

“We had been working to amend the bill because there were legitimate concerns,” Martinez said.