Diverse Group of Legislators to Start ’99 Session

An eclectic group of California legislators will start their 1999 session Monday with family celebrations, a scramble for choice office space and a new $99,000-a-year salary.

The mostly ceremonial meetings of the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to last only an hour or so, just long enough to swear in newly elected members, officially put them on the payroll and get their first bills introduced.

The heavy lifting of the two-year session will begin Jan. 4, when lawmakers return to confront such major issues as enacting a new state budget, intensifying education reform, overhauling managed health care and changing the state’s assault weapons law.

In the meantime, outgoing Gov. Pete Wilson and other elected state officials will join legislators in receiving paychecks that will be 26% to 34% bigger.

The raises were approved in March with the barest of public notice by the independent state Citizens Compensation Commission. The hikes cemented the California governor and legislators as the highest-paid in the nation.

The commission boosted the governor’s pay to $165,000 a year from $131,041. Wilson will receive the higher pay only during the final four weeks of his term, but the new sum will have the effect of increasing his state pension by about $1,200 a month, to approximately $5,500.

The $78,724 salaries of senators and Assembly members will rise by 26% to $99,000 a year. Lawmakers also will continue to receive one of their most cherished perks, $833 a week in tax-free living allowances. Over a typical nine-month session, that totals about $30,000.

Wilson’s pay increase has drawn heavy criticism from state employees, most of whom have not received a raise since 1995. But the salary commission defended the boost as appropriate for the chief executive of a state whose economy is bigger than that of all but six nations in the world. In the past, Wilson and a handful of legislators have refused to accept their full salaries. Recently, state Controller Kathleen Connell asked all newly elected legislators and other officials if they want to take the full amount or something less. Only a handful have replied so far and their responses are private, a spokesman said.

At noon Monday, all 79 Assembly members (there is one vacancy because former Assemblyman Don Perata of Alameda moved up to the Senate in a special election) and 21 newly elected senators, most accompanied by their families, will crowd into the ornate legislative chambers to recite the oath of office. Later, they will scatter for a round of receptions and set up their temporary offices until permanent space is assigned next month.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, who led Democrats to substantial gains in last month’s elections, are expected to be reelected leaders of their houses.

Democrats will outnumber Republicans 47 to 32 in the Assembly. In the Senate, Democrats will prevail over the GOP, 25 to 15.

Next month, when Democrat Gray Davis takes the oath as governor, it will be the first time in 16 years that Democrats have controlled both the legislative and executive branches.

Also reflecting the changing face of California will be one of the most diverse collections of lawmakers ever sent to Sacramento. Among them is Democrat Nell Soto, a 72-year-old great-grandmother whose late husband, Phil, served in the Assembly in the early 1960s.

Soto, a Pomona city councilwoman, is fully aware of the Assembly’s reputation as an unruly house of bickering partisans whose behavior can block compromise solutions.

But Soto, who will be the oldest member of the Legislature, said she believes her wisdom and senior status may have a moderating affect on some of her colleagues.

“Sometimes, people get so carried away with themselves that they lose their perspective and common sense,” she said. “I hope my common sense and experience help to influence some of them. But I’m not naive enough to think it will have much influence over all of them.”

Soto also is part of a steadily expanding Latino contingent in the Legislature that includes 17 members in the Assembly--an increase of three from last session--and seven in the 40-seat Senate, up from four.

The number of African American members remains unchanged at four in the Assembly and two in the Senate. The number of Asian American members also stays at two in the lower chamber. There are no state senators of Asian ancestry.

More Political Punch for Women

Four of the Latino senators represent Los Angeles County districts. Four are women. The Senate’s senior Latina, Hilda Solis (D-El Monte), says the new arrivals will give extra political punch to women in general and Latino women in particular.

“Now, there will be four of us flexing the political muscle. It’s healthy. We’re shattering the glass ceiling,” Solis said.

In a breakthrough for Republicans, the elections sent three new GOP members of Latino ancestry to the Assembly. They were chosen from open and mostly safe GOP seats and will join the lower chamber’s lone Latino Republican, Assemblyman Rod Pacheco of Riverside.

Democrat Villaraigosa says he is excited that more Latinos were elected to the Assembly, but stops short of inviting the Republicans to join the Legislature’s informal Latino Caucus.

With a wry smile, Villaraigosa said the two groups may get together for social events.

Meanwhile, Pacheco, who also is the newly elected leader of Assembly Republicans, said it is uncertain whether GOP Latinos will create their own caucus, but indicated he thinks the two sides will find areas of cooperation. “We have very different political philosophies, but I’m sure there are things that we’ll agree on,” Pacheco said. In the last session, he noted, he and Assemblyman Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno) jointly worked for passage of a major school textbook bill.

* DEMOCRATIC REVIVAL: Two Orange County Democrats in the state Legislature symbolize the party’s revival in the county and its dominance statewide. A31

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The New State Legislature

The newly elected California Legislature will be sworn into office today as it kick offs a two-year session. The 120 members of the state Senate and Assembly are often as different politically as the sprawling state they represent. Yet there are also threads of commonality that bind them together as individuals, shared backgrounds and cultural experiences, the young and the old. Here is a demographic snapshot of the incoming lawmakers:

1999 ASSEMBLY

PARTISAN ALIGNMENT

Democrats: 47

Republicans: 32

(one vacancy)

*

AVERAGE AGE

48.9 years.

Oldest: Nell Soto (D-Pomona), 72

Youngest: Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), 31

*

GENDER

Men: 59 (31 Democrats, 28 Republicans)

Women: 20 (16 Democrats, four Republicans)

*

ETHNICITY

White: 56 (28 Democrats, 28 Republicans; 42 men, 14 women)

Latino: 17 (13 Democrats, four Republicans; 11 men, 6 women)

African American: Four (four Democrats; all men)

Asian American: Two (two Democrats; both men)

*

CALIFORNIA BORN

43

*

OCCUPATIONS

Attorneys, 15; businessmen/women, 19; educators, 13; others, 32, including an oral surgeon, rancher, police officer, minister, nurse, youth fellowship director, classical guitarist.

*

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

Held previous elective office: 47 (28 Democrats, 19 Republicans). Political aide, eight (five Democrats and three Republicans); no prior political experience, 24 (14 Democrats and 10 Republicans)

****

1999 SENATE

PARTISAN ALIGNMENT

Democrats, 25

Republicans, 15

*

AVERAGE AGE

53.1 years

Oldest: Byron Sher (D-Stanford), 70

Youngest: Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), 38

*

GENDER

Men: 30 (16 Democrats; 14 Republicans)

Women: 10 (Nine Democrats; one Republican)

*

ETHNICITY

Whtie: 31 (16 Democrats; 15 Republicans)

Latino: Seven (all Democrats; three men, four women)

African American: Two (both Democrats; one man, one woman)

Asian Americans: None

*

CALIFORNIA BORN

23

*

OCCUPATIONS

Attorneys, 10; businessmen/women, seven; political aide, eight; educators, five; full-time legislators, four; others include a test pilot, sheriff, recycler, journalist, farmer, community volunteer

*

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

Held previous elective office, 37. Served in the Assembly, 34 (22 Democrats, 12 Republicans); local office, three (two Democrats, one Republican); no prior office, three (two Democrats, one Republican)