Gasoline Buyers Will Get Air and Water for Free

Though many derided it as lightweight, Gov. Gray Davis has signed legislation to require service stations to provide free air and water to motorists who buy gasoline.

The bill was the brainchild of rookie Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona), a great-grandmother whose working-class constituents complained about their inability to find air for their tires and water for their engines.

Existing law requires service stations to provide air and water but allows them to charge. The typical vending fee is a quarter.

As a result of Soto’s proposal, AB 531, motorists who buy gas will be able to get a token for free air and water.

Deborah Mattos, a lobbyist for opponents, said she is furious that the government will be telling businesses what should and should not be free.

Davis also signed several law enforcement initiatives into law.

The minimum punishment for hate murders related to gender, sexual orientation or disability increases to life imprisonment, the penalty already given for other hate crimes. After several highly publicized murders, including that of a homosexual couple in Redding in July, AB 208 by Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) gained support. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, was the brainchild of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

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Davis vetoed, among others, the so-called marriage instruction bill, AB 889. Davis said he believes “people entering into marriage are fully cognizant of their contractual rights and responsibilities.”

He also vetoed AB 956, which would have protected animal species that are near, but not on, threatened and endangered lists. Davis said he supported the idea behind the bill but was concerned about a lack of funds to execute it.