Lawmakers Evaluate Last Session

Now that the sun has set on that rollicking rite of fall in Sacramento--the frantic deal making, lobbying and maneuvering that cap the annual legislative session--San Fernando Valley lawmakers look back with satisfaction, boasting more successes than failures.

As might be expected for a Democrat-controlled Legislature working with a Democratic governor for the first time in 16 years, Democrats, who make up the bulk of the local delegation, appeared happier than Republicans.

But working with Gov. Gray Davis did not always please Democratic legislators, who learned that the moderate Davis wanted them to implement his vision, not vice versa, and that same-party government does not guarantee safe passage for their favorite bills.

State Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) counted many accomplishments this season, including bills overhauling the child support enforcement system and establishing an external review system for patients who are denied treatment by their HMOs. But he was disappointed that his legislation requiring the attorney general to investigate all cases of alleged brutality and corruption in prisons was bottled up in the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee.

“The local authorities do not have the time and resources to wage these battles,” said Schiff, who was asked to push the bill by his friend and mentor, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. “That’s an important policy bill we’ll keep fighting for.”

Despite low numbers, Republicans believe they got some things done as well, although some fretted over what they could not do--and what they could not stop Democrats from doing.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge), an unabashed critic of what he sees as the Democrats’ free-spending, big government ways, succeeded with only one bill this session, what he termed relatively trivial legislation involving the destruction of juvenile court records.

But by floating dramatic proposals such as abolishing the vehicle license fee, spending more gasoline taxes on highway construction and getting rid of diamond car-pool lanes on highways, McClintock believes that he forced Democrats to discuss the issues and played a major role in shaping state political debate.

McClintock is far from happy with this year’s happenings in Sacramento, however. He is upset that he failed to block bills he felt infringed on free enterprise and personal freedoms--including controversial labor-backed legislation that would transfer the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s union deals to offshoot bus districts, such as one proposed for the Valley. The bill sharply divided Democrats, who sided with unions looking to protect workers if the MTA is dismantled, and Republicans, who sided with business interests looking to privatize the Valley’s bus lines.

“This has not been a good year for freedom,” McClintock complained. “The litany of nanny bills approved by the Legislature this year, all with good intentions, are all meddlesome. That transit bill was another example of special interests, utterly drunk with power, ignoring the needs of the people of the San Fernando Valley. It denies local communities the right to self-determination.”

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State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) sponsored successful legislation creating a fiscal watchdog at the Los Angeles Unified School District in the wake of the Belmont Learning Center fiasco, a $200-million project begun after lax environmental review on land saturated with explosive methane and toxic chemicals. He also sponsored legislation allowing survivors of Nazi slave labor camps to sue the corporations that profited from their exploitation, and a bill placing a $2.1-billion bond measure for parks and recreation before voters.

“It means hundreds of millions of dollars in parks and improvements for Los Angeles County,” said Hayden, who met last week with 75 groups that support the measure to plan a winning campaign for the spring ballot.

But Hayden was disappointed at the failure of his legislation that would have required driving tests for Californians 75 and older. After pulling the bill from consideration late in the session, he vowed to bring it back next year, citing a recent Field Poll that showed support for the idea among senior citizens.

“That battle’s not over,” Hayden said. “We had an agonizing decision about what to do and decided not to compromise it and try next year, when the Legislature is less hurried. We’ll try to dialogue with the opponents and convince them that having road tests is not that drastic a thing.”

After her last attempt was vetoed last year by outgoing Gov. Pete Wilson, state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) is hoping once again to ensure that participants in California’s welfare-to-work system can get subsidized child care for children 12 or younger. Her bill now awaits Davis’ action.

Another of Wright’s bills, also awaiting the governor’s blessing, would allow individuals who have been jailed for a drug-related felony to still be eligible for the welfare-to-work program if they submit to drug treatment--a controversial proposal that Wright says is the only way to end a cycle of despair for many destitute drug users, especially women with children.

“What kind of family values are we teaching these kids when their mothers are in jail and they’re scattered all over the state?” Wright said. “If we can [help] 50%, have them raise their children, become productive members in society, pay their taxes--isn’t that what we want?”

Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), elected to the state Senate last year, acknowledged that it took him a bit to adjust to the legislative process in Sacramento after representing the northeast Valley on the Los Angeles City Council.

Nevertheless, he was satisfied with his list of accomplishments during his first year and is expecting much bigger things next session, working hand in hand with the governor on a variety of education and housing initiatives.

“We’ve been active; it’s been nonstop 16 hours a day,” Alarcon said. “But now that I’ve learned the process and I’ve learned how to work with the governor, I think next year will be much better.”

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Among his proposals that passed was legislation enabling cities and counties to go after landowners who fail to comply with housing and zoning laws by placing liens on their properties, and a school safety bill to double penalties for people over 16 who interfere with school activities, whether they do so on school grounds or not. Both await the governor’s signature.

Another Alarcon bill, already signed into law, allows the San Fernando Valley Fair to lease land at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, ending a 10-year search for a permanent home for the event, which Alarcon had worked to resolve as a councilman.

Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster) worked on numerous bills to address problems facing local cities, police departments and school districts.

Runner legislation that reached the governor’s desk includes a bill that would combat so-called sales-tax wars by prohibiting cities or redevelopment agencies from offering cash to lure auto malls and big-box retailers from one community to another; a proposal to standardize the amount of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, common chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, that one can purchase, and a measure that would require so-called stealth knives, undetectable by metal detectors, to be made detectable.

Several Runner bills will be considered again next year, including one requiring videotaping of interviews between workers and a child to determine possible abuse. And he failed with a bill that would have required physicians to inform women who have received multiple abortions about possible reproductive harm and inability to conceive as a result of abortions.

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Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), like Schiff, sponsored legislation that seeks to reform the state’s beleaguered child support system by stripping district attorneys of enforcement powers and giving the responsibility to a new state department with operations in each county.

After a prolonged struggle with conservatives, Kuehl, the Legislature’s first openly gay member, also succeeded in pushing through landmark legislation banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in public schools and universities.

And on the local front, Kuehl legislation allows the state to accept 160 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains owned by the estate of the late director Frank Capra--a vital link needed to complete the 70-mile Backbone Trail--in lieu of taxes and interest owed by the estate.

Like Kuehl, Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, was deeply involved in Democrats’ main legislative agenda for the year. After years of failed efforts, Hertzberg succeeded in persuading colleagues to pass legislation providing insurance coverage for contraceptives--an earlier version of which was vetoed by Wilson. The legislation now awaits action by Davis.

“We’ve been fighting this for years, and I expect he’ll sign it,” Hertzberg said. “It’s important in terms of women’s health. Hopefully other states, and the federal government, will do this too.”

With state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), Hertzberg succeeded in winning approval of a bill making it more difficult to carve communities up into local political districts, and a bill placing a $220-million bond on the ballot to expand and renovate the state’s crime labs. Among the projects the bond issue would fund is a new lab and teaching facility at Cal State Los Angeles, to be used jointly by the Los Angeles Police and the Sheriff’s departments.

However, Hertzberg was forced to pull legislation allowing citizens to register and vote on the same day, due to objections by numerous members of his party, including Davis, who had told Hertzberg that he did not support it as written.

“I talked to the governor at length about it, and he had some concerns,” Hertzberg said. “I would have loved to see that go to the governor’s desk, but in the larger scheme of things, I wanted HMO reform, I wanted education reforms. We’ll have to try that again next year.”

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Valley Legislation

During the legislative session just ended, Valley lawmakers had bills on the following issues passed by the Legislature. Some have not yet been signed bythe governor.

STATE SENATE

Sen. Richard Alarcon: Home for San Fernando Valley Fair, stiffer punishment for terrorists using chemical weapons, doubling penalties for those 16 and older interfering with school activities.

Sen. Tom Hayden: Allowing survivors of Nazi slave camps to sue corporations, $2.1-billion parks bond proposal, fiscal watchdog for Los Angeles Unified School District.

Sen. William “Pete” Knight: Protecting military bases, expanding Rim of the Valley trail.

Sen. Adam Schiff: Independent medical review for HMOs, expanding Santa Monica Mountains Advisory Committee, overhauling child-support enforcement system.

Sen. Cathie Wright: Welfare-to-work program eligibility for drug felons, subsidized child care for children 12 and under if parents are in job training for welfare-to-work program.

STATE ASSEMBLY:

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas: Extending poll hours on election day, grants to start and expand honors courses, funding review for adult English tutoring programs.

Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg: HMO coverage of contraceptives, $220-million crime lab bond proposal, restrictions on political redistricting to improve community representation.

Assemblyman Wally Knox: Analysis of all future telephone overlay proposals, restoring daily overtime pay, one-gun-per-month purchase limit.

Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl: Banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in public schools, accepting Frank Capra property in Santa Monica Mountains in lieu of taxes.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock: Sealing juvenile records upon show of innocence.

Assemblyman George Runner: Stopping cities from offering cash to lure auto malls and big-box retailers from neighboring communities, standardizing amount of methamphetamine ingredients one can purchase, making so-called stealth knives traceable by metal detectors.

Assemblyman Jack Scott: Child-safety locks for guns, removal of teaching credentials for Internet sex offenders, increased penalty for carrying concealed weapons.

Assemblyman Scott Wildman: Adding FDA-approved AIDS drugs to Medi-Cal plans, helping fund environmental checks of school sites, requiring bounty hunters to notify local authorities.