It’s Crunch Time as Davis Signs, Vetoes Bills

All the months of negotiating, cajoling, plotting and power lunching lead to this final critical week in the state capital, when California’s governor is at the peak of his considerable power to make or break legislation.

Most legislators, now bit players, have left town. Many lobbyists have stayed, trading their suits for jeans and open-neck shirts. But this is a tense time for them; they are all looking for an edge.

Perhaps they can find one more supporter who has Gov. Gray Davis’ ear, to make one last point. Always, they’re careful not to offend Davis, lest he veto bills they want signed, or sign bills they want killed. Many lobbyists recommend that their clients donate to the governor.

Bill-signing season is a prime fund-raising time. A donation doesn’t ensure a favorable decision. Davis often takes actions that run counter to his benefactors’ interests. Still, donors open their wallets this time of year.

In fact, Davis, who raised money at a clip of more than $1 million a month in his first 18 months in office, will hold a fund-raiser in Sacramento on Wednesday. The likely take: at least $200,000, said a source involved in the event.

By law, Davis has a month to sign or veto bills after the Legislature adjourns. This year’s deadline is Saturday. About 700 pieces of legislation await a decision, including many on the legislative session’s weightiest issues.

There are bills to expand gambling in California, benefit Napa Valley winemakers and overhaul the insurance commissioner’s office in the wake of the Chuck Quackenbush scandal. There are bills to boost benefits for injured and unemployed workers, tax Internet sales and block a dump from opening at the base of a mountain that is sacred to San Diego-area Indians and situated near current and future tribal casinos.

To meet the Sept. 30 deadline, Davis must decide about 100 bills a day, turning the final step of the process into triage, Capitol-style. His aides have divided bills among themselves, read the files, written summaries. On any bill that received five or more “no” votes in the Legislature, the Department of Finance has drafted a veto message, which Davis can take or leave.

Like all governors, Davis has used his veto power to establish his authority. Lawmakers assume their bills will fall if they have been too sharp in their criticism of him. At a bash last year hosted by the Legislature, Davis joked about the power of his veto pen. As he spoke, the word “VETO” flashed in lights behind him.

“In the quest to establish authority, he stepped on a lot of people unnecessarily with dismissive vetoes,” a veteran Democratic lawmaker said, requesting anonymity for fear that Davis might take offense. “The alternative is to give the benefit of the doubt to the legislator and sign their bills.”

People who know Davis say there are certain things to consider in pushing legislation: He doesn’t like spending tax money, particularly on other people’s ideas, so bills with a price tag are most suspect. A centrist, Davis also dislikes one-sided bills, preferring that all groups in a legislative fight walk away with less than they sought.

But exactly how Davis makes his decisions is unknown. For all its late-night deals, the legislative process largely is carried out in public. Lobbyists’ arguments are made in the open, before committees. Legislators’ votes are recorded for all to see.

But the final step takes place behind the closed doors of Davis’ corner office. Letters sent to the governor on legislative matters are not public record under state law. Nor are the identities of those with whom he confers.

“It becomes a completely nonpublic process,” said Assemblyman Brett Granlund (R-Yucaipa). “Even the legislator can be shut out. If you’re not doing your job and following it, you become fair game.”

Despite having spent 25 years in public life, Davis has few close advisors. On legislation, he turns to Chief of Staff Lynn Schenk, Cabinet Secretary Susan Kennedy, Finance Director Tim Gage and Legislative Affairs Secretary Mike Gotch, a former assemblyman from San Diego. As befits a politician with a 60% approval rating, Davis consults with his top campaign advisors, including his chief campaign advisor, Garry South, on issues that have political implications.

Given his small circle, lobbyists with ties to Davis are in demand.

Several lawmakers and lobbyists assume that Darius Anderson, Davis’ campaign finance chairman, can gain the governor’s ear. Anderson established a lobbying firm last year. His Platinum Advisors now is one of the capital’s top firms, with $2.25 million in billings reported in the first year and a half of Davis’ tenure, and a blue chip client list of BP-Amoco, Walt Disney, Fireman’s Fund, Andersen Consulting, the California Commerce Club card room and many others.

This year, Anderson got a call from investors in a proposed garbage dump in north San Diego County. They want a veto of legislation pushed by California Indian tribes, which would block the dump from being opened at Gregory Mountain.

Richard Chase, manager of the proposed Gregory Canyon Landfill, likened the overture to Anderson to corporations that retain certain law firms so that rivals can’t hire them. The tribes also contacted Anderson, said lobbyist and former Assemblyman Phil Isenberg, who represents the tribes and is close to Davis. Anderson declined both offers.

Chase’s edge: San Diego County voters approved a 1996 initiative permitting the dump. Davis generally is unwilling to buck votes of the people. Chase contends that San Diego-area tribes oppose the dump because it might interfere with casinos in the area.

The tribes’ edge: They have support from the Catholic church, the United Farm Workers, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, which hopes to organize casino workers, and, importantly, the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. Tribes have produced an anthropological report on the mountain’s religious significance.

“I hope the governor does sign it,” said Don Novey, the powerful head of the prison guards union, which formed an alliance with tribes in 1998. “It is their spiritual land.”

Indian tribes, enriched by profits from their casinos, are one of the most powerful forces in the state, having spent more than $110 million on state politics since 1998. They have given Davis’ campaign at least $221,000 this year. The Gregory Canyon Landfill investors gave $10,000 to Davis in March.

“If you’re involved in a business such as ours that involves politics, you just want to do what is the typical, normal thing,” said Chase, “ . . . so as to not stand out in a negative way.”

Many big fights over bills sitting on Davis’ desk involve issues that attract little public attention, such as one between optometrists and the California Medical Assn. Optometrists, who are not medical doctors, won legislation that would enable them to treat some eye diseases, including glaucoma.

Their edge: After two years, they forged a compromise with a major association of ophthalmologists that represents medical doctors who opposed broader versions of the measure. After the ophthalmologists became neutral on the bill, the Assembly and Senate passed it. On Davis’ desk, the bill remains a close call.

The California Medical Assn., representing physicians, generated letters from several professors of ophthalmology warning of dangers from allowing nonphysicians to treat such conditions.

“I never assume anything with Gray,” said lobbyist Aaron Read, who represents optometrists and long has been friendly with Davis. “He has to be convinced that it is a reasonable step. He is big on public safety.”

Under California campaign finance law, Davis is required to disclose his donors only once every six months. So those who give him money this month--when he is mulling over most of the year’s legislation--won’t be revealed to the public until the end of January.

If his actions in 1999 are any indication, however, he is busy raising money for his reelection in 2002. In the 30-day bill-signing period last fall, when he decided on about 1,000 bills, he raised slightly more than $1 million, and received checks on 16 days during the 30-day period, according to records Davis filed in January.

On one day, Sept. 24, 1999, Davis collected $87,000 from the recycling and trash-hauling industry. Two weeks later, he signed a bill supported by the industry and others, including environmentalists, that expanded recycling of bottles and cans.

Davis takes money from virtually every interest group, from the insurance industry to interior designers. Most of the donors have issues before him. He vetoed a bill this month that would have increased state licensing of interior designers.

Insurance companies have donated nearly $1.4 million to Davis since January 1999. He is weighing several high-profile insurance measures, including one that would allow people whose property was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake to reopen their claims.

“The contributions we receive have absolutely no bearing one way or another on what the governor does with legislation,” South said. “That has never been a part of the conversation, and I suspect it never will.”

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On The Governor’s Desk

As his Saturday deadline for acting on legislation approaches, Gov. Gray Davis has many issues pending. Some bills he must decide on:

TRANSIT WORKERS: Pushed by Los Angeles transit workers, legislation would guarantee that labor contracts with transit unions would be honored even if transportation agencies break apart. SB 1101 by Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City).

ARBITRATION: In contract disputes, police and firefighters who reach an impasse on wage and salary issues would gain the right to enter into binding arbitration with local government. AB 402 by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco).

INJURED WORKERS: Workers hurt on the job would receive an increase in benefits to $574 a week from the current $490. SB 996 by Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton).

UNEMPLOYMENT: Workers who are laid off would get an increase in unemployment to $380 a week from the current $230.

ELECTIONS: A bill introduced in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down California’s blanket primary system would permit political parties to allow voters who decline to state their party preference to vote in party primaries.

BAILOUT: The state would earmark $150 million to help San Diego Gas & Electric if it loses too much money under a rate cap dictated by a bill signed earlier by Davis. AB 1156 by Assemblywoman Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego) and Assemblyman Jim Battin (R-La Quinta).

SURCHARGE: Legislation would extend until 2007 a 3% fee on electricity bills that raises $500 million a year for projects designed to wean California from fossil fuels. AB 995 by Assemblyman Roderick Wright (D-Los Angeles).

NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE: Northridge earthquake victims would have additional time to file claims against insurance companies for their handling of damage claims from the 1994 temblor. SB 1899 by Burton.

CHILDREN: All children younger than 6 or weighing less than 60 pounds would have to ride in safety seats when in cars. SB 567 by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough).

IMMIGRATION: A bill would roll back a 1994 law that barred illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses by allowing people who have applied for legal residency to get licenses. AB 1463 by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles).

WINE: Use of the word “Napa” would be banned on wine labels unless the grapes were grown in Napa County. SB 1293 by Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata).

CARD ROOMS: One bill would make clear that card rooms are operating legally. A 1999 state Supreme Court ruling concluded that they had been operating illegally. A second bill would allow blackjack to be played in card rooms. AB 1416 by Assemblyman Herb Wesson (D-Culver City), and AB 317 by Assemblyman Dick Floyd (D-Wilmington).

HORSE TRACKS: A bill aimed at improving the working and living conditions of backstretch workers at racetracks also would permit Internet betting and wagering by phone. AB 2760 by Wesson.