Legislators Look to New Session With Optimism

The time between election day and the start of the legislative session in Sacramento is kind of like spring training for lawmakers--a time of fresh starts, restored psyches, ambitious goals.

For members of the Valley delegation returning from a four- month break, hope has nudged out the cynicism and weariness that come at the end of the session. Newcomers to Sacramento are excitedly planning their first legislative agendas.

Enthusiasm and a can-do mentality pervade. You can hear it in the voices of local lawmakers as they eagerly set forth their plans for Jan. 6--the day they are due in Sacramento to begin legislating.

Consider, for instance, the goal set by Assemblywoman Sheila J. Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). She has taken it upon herself to restore decorum and dignity to the raucous Assembly sessions, over which, as speaker pro tem, she will preside.

“That’s my biggest challenge,” Kuehl said.

After two years of arguably infantile political infighting, it would seem easier for Kuehl to bring peace to Bosnia. But she insists the climate is ripe for more civilized discourse.

Like other legislators whose districts fall all or partly within the Valley, Kuehl is convinced that the public is fed up with partisan shenanigans and wants action, not antics, from public officials.

Another general theme being sounded among Democrats is a call for moderation. They see it as a message of the fall elections and therefore the key to holding on to their newly restored power in the Assembly and continuing control of the state Senate.

Expect that call for moderation to be sorely tested next year by debates on the subject that will probably dominate the session, the state’s response to federal welfare reform, a polarizing issue that can easily degenerate into polemic.

In addition to welfare reform, there will be numerous other contentious matters to raise hackles, particularly the reprise of some controversial proposals made by Valley legislators last year.

Sen. William “Pete” Knight (R-Palmdale), a former assemblyman, for instance, said he will bring back a bill to prevent gay marriages performed in other states from being recognized in California.

“It’s a policy issue that has to be decided by the whole country,” Knight said.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) has already reintroduced the bill (AB62) that would make it possible for the Valley or other areas to secede from Los Angeles, by removing City Council veto power over such a move.

McClintock was one of several Valley legislators who couldn’t wait to get a bill in the hopper. He rushed up to the clerk’s desk, bill in hand, immediately after being sworn in Dec. 2.

That first bill (AB19) would create a commission fashioned on the federal military base closure commission to cut obsolete state bureaucracy.

Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill that first day too. It would codify the eight-hour day and require employers to pay overtime beyond that. Knox said the bill (AB15), which makes an exception for a flex-time schedule, seeks to thwart efforts by the governor to eliminate the eight-hour day.

“It was a huge issue in the elections with working people,” Knox said.

Another Knox proposal in the works seeks state funding to help pay for crash courses in citizenship for refugees. Many of them are elderly and non-English-speaking, Knox explained. They were encouraged to seek asylum in the United States, but now they face being cut off from public aid because they are not citizens.

On yet another front, Knox is consulting experts all over the country as he formulates policy bills on middle-class job issues and criminal sentencing reform.

“This is a wonderful job,” said the enthusiastic Knox as he ticked off his plans for the session.

Another legislator brimming with ideas is Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster), who replaces Knight.

Runner was one of those who put in a juvenile justice reform bill immediately after taking the oath of office. The bill would allow 16- and 17-year-olds charged with committing violent crimes to go straight to adult court, where, Runner said, most of them end up anyway.

He said he is also looking into ways to help make school bond issues more palatable to voters. “I’m committed to the two-thirds vote requirement, but there are some things we can do to make the public feel better,” Runner said.

One such idea: give local school districts control of the bidding process.

Two new Assembly members, Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) and Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) are seeking advice from constituents about what they want done in Sacramento.

“They look puzzled,” said Cardenas, because no one has asked them before. “Times are changing,” he tells them.

The Valley’s first Latino state legislator said he has discovered the need for state law providing oversight for consumers in managed health care plans.

Another issue he may address is the emergency credentialing of untrained teachers to fulfill the mandate to reduce class sizes.

“We’re putting kids and educators in a bad position,” Cardenas said. “Even a four-week crash course would help.”

Struck during the campaign by the struggles of small business owners in his district, Hertzberg said he will fashion legislation to create gap funding for existing small businesses needing loans.

Hertzberg is also forming a local committee to advise him on public safety measures and will push to combine the Franchise Tax Board with the state Board of Equalization for a more efficient, less costly operation.

But the new Assembly member said he is going to keep his bill list short, less than 15 in 1997.

That way, Hertzberg said, he can concentrate on getting them all enacted and manage the heavy bill load in the Public Safety Committee, which he chairs.

Starting out with a limited number of measures also is in keeping with new Assembly rules that limit legislators to 30 bills in the two-year session, excluding bills written in committee.

There’s a loophole, though: a waiver from the Rules Committee.

“My guess is there will be a lot of requests for waivers,” Knox said.

The Senate bill limit is 65 measures per two-year session.

The Valley’s newest senator, Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), said he will follow through with his campaign pledge to concentrate on reforming the juvenile justice system.

Although no specific legislation has been formulated, Schiff said he wants greater consequences for first-time offenders, in hopes of intervening when it can do some good. Other ideas include opening Juvenile Court proceedings and releasing the names of juveniles charged with crimes.

Veteran lawmaker Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) is concentrating on his expertise in insurance policy and has two bills already filed that would provide funding for consumer protection.

While deciding whether or not to run for mayor, Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) has two bills already going--one on endangered species and another on making gamma hydroxybutyrate, a dangerous hypnotic drug known on the street as “cherry meth,” “liquid X” and “scoop,” a controlled substance. The drug has been associated with date rape.

None of the Valley legislators, several of whom could not be reached for comment, however, comes close to matching the early bill production of Assemblyman Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles) or Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno).

A recent tally shows Murray with 12 bills, while Maddy has 11.