Cool It, Sacramento

The 1999 session of the California Legislature has come down to the final hours before its Friday adjournment, and lawmakers are wheeling and dealing as if there’s no tomorrow. In hopes of rushing through hundreds of bills, legislators are making back-room trade-offs and ignoring rules meant to guarantee an open, deliberative legislative process. But there is a tomorrow--in January when the Legislature reconvenes for the second year of the 1999-2000 session. All bills still alive as of midnight Friday remain alive and keep their places in line when the session resumes.

Alas, this eleventh-hour rush is vulnerable to quickie midnight compromises that might not look so good in the sunlight. One case is the demand for a bill allowing Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to transfer its multibillion-dollar hydroelectric power system to a wholly owned, unregulated subsidiary.

PG&E; promises to reduce electric rates and offers as much as $200 million to repair any resultant damage to streams and watersheds. But that is just a fraction of the estimated $1 billion the firm would save in capital gains taxes through this deal. The state has a long-term interest in the power generation system and its impact on water flows in hundreds of miles of rivers, including supplies imported to Southern California. The ramifications of this transfer should be examined more carefully in further hearings next year.

There are a few urgent measures that do need to be approved and sent to Gov. Gray Davis, however. One is the overhaul of managed health care programs in California. This is a long-standing issue that has been studied thoroughly, is of critical concern to millions of Californians and is ripe for action.

The Legislature also should pass SB 598, a $1.8-billion water bond issue proposed for next March’s election ballot. Major features include as much as $200 million for a creative flood prevention program and $100 million for water runoff cleanup projects designed to prevent pollution of beach areas.

Lawmakers and Davis also should continue efforts to fashion a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize existing Indian gambling casinos and to allow a modest expansion of future casino operations, subject to negotiations with the governor. Without such a measure, the tribes are certain to place a new initiative on the March ballot that would allow unlimited expansion of the casinos.

Only a small number of other matters need to be acted on by the Legislature before adjournment. Beyond those, there is nothing wrong with putting off until tomorrow what should not be hastily dealt with today.