Valley-Area Lawmakers See Davis as Friend of Bills

Of the hundreds of bills that landed on his desk in the final flurry of last year’s legislative session, former Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed roughly one-third. Democrats, who make up the bulk of the San Fernando Valley area’s legislative delegation, were particularly hard-hit by Wilson’s fusillade--and many say they were further perplexed by the explanations Wilson outlined in his veto messages.

But there’s a new, Democratic boss in Sacramento these days. Now that Gray Davis is in charge, local legislators are digging through their wastebaskets, dusting off old bills and resubmitting them with newfound optimism over their chances this time around.

Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) has reintroduced a bill that would require health-care plans to pay for female contraceptives--a bill Wilson tore to shreds last year, writing in his veto message that he was “frankly disgusted” with its author.

State Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), with Hertzberg, is trying to reform the State Bar--a bill Wilson killed last year after slashing funding for California’s association of lawyers.

Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) plans to resubmit legislation that would force insurance companies to reveal the names of policyholders believed to be Holocaust victims--or stop the companies from doing business in California. Wilson vetoed the measure amid pressure from insurance lobbyists.

Without a registry of Holocaust-era policies, Knox says, heirs would have no way of knowing whether they were entitled to compensation.

“The governor’s statement made no sense, in my opinion, and it infuriated members of the Jewish community, who could not believe we could not make that a law in this state,” Knox said. “I think we have a better shot with Gray.”

But it is not only Valley-area Democrats who are resubmitting bills with new optimism. Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) is planning to reintroduce a bill that would ensure mothers have access to government-assisted child care through their children’s 12th year. Wright, who represents the northwest Valley, believes it would help more single mothers hold jobs and stay off welfare, but Wilson disagreed.

“Who wants to leave a 10-year-old at home?” Wright said. “[Wilson said] it was going to be too costly. We had a massive surplus, but it was going to be too costly. Well, I wonder which is the greatest cost?”

GOP Also May Benefit in the Power Shift

Other Republicans also believe the power shift in Sacramento could mean a rosier future for some of their old proposals. Sen. Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) has reintroduced legislation to allow railroad peace officers--who are deputized by the state--access to a criminal background database. The bill was opposed last year by former Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, but new Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, a former state senator, voted for it.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) has resubmitted a measure to repeal California’s vehicle license fee. In response to McClintock’s legislation, state leaders cut the so-called “car tax” by 25% last year as part of the budget deal, but McClintock is not satisfied.

The recycled bills head the list of priorities for many Valley-area legislators in 1999. And there are many new proposals as well.

Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) is planning to resubmit a bill, vetoed last year, that would ban the sale of kingfish caught off Los Angeles and Orange counties. An environmental group found in 1997 that the bottom-feeders, popular in Asian markets, were often contaminated with DDT.

Hayden, who represents many of the Valley communities south of Ventura Boulevard, is also planning to introduce legislation to keep legally-blind drivers off the road. Drivers who are legally blind can now obtain a license by passing a driving test.

In perhaps his most important bill for Valley residents, Hayden is also working to introduce a measure that would create seven regional transportation planning boards in the Los Angeles area. The panels would determine transportation budget priorities for each region and submit their work to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Freshman Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), who made the jump from the Los Angeles City Council to Sacramento, said he plans to focus on housing-related legislation.

Alarcon has also introduced legislation to improve and create new urban river park projects such as the Pacoima Wash and Hansen Dam areas. And he has submitted a measure that would require community college expansions to be guided by a local committee. The committee plan was spurred by the recent controversy at Mission College, which received grant funding to expand its overcrowded campus but was unable to decide on how to spend the money before the deadline.

Bill Offers Aid to Antelope Valley

In addition to his railroad bill, Knight has introduced legislation to force Los Angeles to pay the cost of controlling the massive dust storms the city created by drying up Owens Lake and piping the water south. Knight has also submitted a bill requiring social workers to undergo drug testing. And hoping to spur homeownership, he has introduced a measure that would allow home-buyers who cannot afford a 20% down payment and therefore have to pay monthly mortgage insurance to write the insurance cost off at tax time.

Knight’s most important bill for the Antelope Valley may be his measure to give the aerospace companies and contractors behind the Venture Star--the successor to the space shuttle--tax credits to help lure more of them to California.

Besides his work to reform the State Bar, Schiff will be carrying a variety of bills aimed at reforming California’s troubled child-support system, based upon much-publicized problems in Los Angeles County.

Schiff is also working on legislation to create health-care grievance committees to hear appeals when health-care companies deny coverage. And he plans to introduce a bill requiring that important health and safety information developed in legal battles remains public, regardless of whether the case is settled.

Wright, the only Republican woman in the Senate, is also planning to introduce legislation to fully fund a program for emotionally disturbed children. The program is not currently operating in Los Angeles County.

“My clock is ticking,” said Wright, who will be leaving the Legislature in two years due to term limits. “These are things I want to accomplish before I go.”

In the Assembly, Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) has reintroduced legislation to secure $4.7 million for Mission College--the money the college failed to use last year to expand the overcrowded campus.

Ban on Home Business License Fees Sought

In response to a study last year that showed small businesses in the northeast Valley district in need of money, Cardenas introduced a bill that would create small-business development centers throughout the state, including one in the Valley. The centers would help business owners secure loans.

And in a move important to home-based entertainment employees, Cardenas submitted a measure to abolish home business license fees. Some writers’ groups have complained the fees infringed on 1st Amendment rights of free expression, and may discourage creative people from working.

In addition to his contraception bill, Hertzberg has introduced legislation to keep communities within the same political boundaries as much as possible. The bill, which Wilson vetoed last year, was spurred by complaints from residents in Van Nuys, who are represented by five City Council members.

Hertzberg has introduced a bill to increase state penalties against domestic terrorists. And he is among a group of legislators behind a bill that would allow felony punishment for dog owners whose pets bite and severely wound people. Currently, animal owners can only be charged with a felony if the victims are killed.

For the fourth time, Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) is working on a gay and lesbian rights bill to protect public school students from discrimination. She is also working on legislation to keep Hollywood productions from leaving the area and is pushing child-support reform legislation.

McClintock, who has announced plans to run for Wright’s Senate seat, has introduced “Diamond Lane Holiday” legislation to kill the carpool lanes on the state’s freeways until a study can show they are warranted. He has also submitted a bill that would examine consolidation of state agencies, or closing those that cannot justify their existence.

Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster) has introduced a bill to have the University of California and California State University systems operate year-round by creating a summer semester. He has also submitted legislation to combat the spread of illegal methamphetamines by increasing penalties for possession of chemicals needed to make the drug, and adding three years to the sentence of second-offenders.

Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) has introduced a bill that would require all guns sold in California to be equipped with child accident prevention devices approved by the attorney general. Scott has also introduced legislation to prevent the awarding of licenses to sell firearms to gun dealers doing business within 1,000 feet of a public or private school or preschool facility.

Legislation Targets Gun Trafficking

Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) is working on a package of bills to address concerns on the selection of polluted sites for school facilities, and school construction methods.

He is also planning to reintroduce a bill, vetoed by Wilson last year, that would allow schools to bill the federal government for certain health services they provide to children as part of the “healthy families” program. Texas and Florida have programs to obtain federal reimbursement, but California does not.

In addition to his Holocaust survivors’ bill, Knox has introduced legislation, similar to a law passed by the Los Angeles City Council last week that stops gun trafficking by preventing anyone from buying more than one gun every 30 days. And he has submitted a measure that would allow workers to use sick days to take care of ill children, parents or spouses. Wilson vetoed a similar Knox proposal last year.

Perhaps most importantly for many Valley residents, Knox is working on a bill to speed interchange improvements at the San Diego-Ventura freeway junction. Davis recently spurred Caltrans to speed construction of projects statewide, including the often clogged Valley interchange, but Knox believes more can be done.

“We’ve come a long way in four months,” Knox said. “The governor in one fell swoop cut a year off the construction time. I am hopeful that we can find a way to move that project along even more quickly.”