Legislators See Some Success in Tough Year

It began, as always, with big, bold bills and bubbly enthusiasm, but 2001 fell short of many expectations for the California Legislature as the energy crisis, the redrawing of political districts, and the downturn in the economy combined to dominate the agenda and diminish the ambitions of some lawmakers.

Weary from months of fighting an electricity problem few legislators could truly claim to comprehend, the Assembly and Senate ended their lawmaking year shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday with a handful of noteworthy accomplishments--against a number of disappointments.

“This session we’ve really been obsessed with the energy crisis, and when it came time to get down to business, we focused on redistricting,” said Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara). “As a result, our results were reduced. Though we did make some advances in public policy, I think they were quite modest.”

The issue that took up the greatest share of lawmakers’ hours this year--whether to rescue financially strapped Southern California Edison from the $3.9-billion debt it accumulated during the power crunch--was left in limbo at night’s end. And as consumer groups rejoiced over the demise of legislation they saw as an expensive bailout, Gov. Gray Davis announced plans to call lawmakers back to the Capitol in October to continue deliberations, saying the Legislature had failed to finish the job.

Despite polls showing that few issues raise voters’ blood pressure more than threats to their personal privacy, lawmakers failed to approve legislation to prevent banks and credit card companies from selling customers’ financial information without their written consent. And even the highly publicized Ford-Firestone tire scandal did not provide enough impetus for lawmakers to approve measures to outlaw secret legal settlements that bottle up information on dangerous products. Both bills were top priorities for consumer groups but faced fierce opposition from business interests.

Lawmakers also failed to complete plans to place a massive $12-billion bond on the ballot to renovate California’s dilapidated schools because they could not agree on whether to place it on the March ballot.

Nonetheless, legislative leaders largely characterized the session as a success, given the limitations imposed by the state’s energy crisis.

“The Legislature was handed an extraordinary challenge. But I was not going to let the crisis of electricity grip us to the extent that we failed to address the tough issues in California,” said Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks). “There was not a week, for example, that I did not devote at least some time to redistricting, even during the worst hours of the energy crisis. It might have been at 3 in the morning, but I did it.”

From the start, legislators were forced to grapple with the mixture of long- and short-term demands imposed by the energy crisis, which hit the Capitol with blinding intensity in January and consumed the bulk of legislators’ days well into the summer.

“The pace changed and the focus changed,” said freshman Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael), an economist who spent months trying to solve the Edison problem. “We were pretty much obsessed with energy.”

State Enters Power Business, Conserves

When blackouts threatened to darken California, Davis and legislators entered the power business and began buying one-third of the electricity the state’s debt-saddled private utilities needed to serve their customers.

When it became clear that the best way to reduce blackouts was to cut down on power use, lawmakers approved the largest, most comprehensive set of conservation measures in American history, offering customers rebates for lowering power bills and refunds for buying energy-saving refrigerators and lightbulbs.

Looking longer-term, lawmakers created a state power authority to help build power plants. Though the extent of its role remains uncertain, the new agency will clearly serve as a hedge against the private energy traders that dominate the volatile electricity market and will make state government a player in the power business for years to come.

“I honestly and sincerely believe we, along with the governor, provided some real leadership in a real crisis,” said another newcomer, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles). Asked whether they had spent enough time on other issues, Goldberg said “No. Not nearly enough. But the first year I was on [Los Angeles City] Council we had the Northridge earthquake. You have to play the cards you are dealt.”

Though California lawmakers appear to have avoided the worst with their response to the power problem--coupled with a mild summer--the long-term consequences of their foray into the electricity business will clearly be costly.

To stabilize the dysfunctional power market, the state signed a raft of long-term energy contracts that will cost utility ratepayers roughly $43 billion over the next 15 years--well above what electricity is expected to cost in the near future. And the planned $12.5-billion bond issue to replenish the state budget for the more than $8 billion of taxpayer money spent on power this year has yet to take place. Its future remains uncertain, a predicament that threatens the state’s financial health.

“Unfortunately, the energy crisis has transformed itself into a financial crisis,” said Assembly Republican Leader Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks).

On matters other than energy, lawmakers managed to pass a series of important bills.

Most historic of all were measures that redrew the political boundaries for the Assembly, Senate and California members of Congress for the next decade. For the first time in memory, Republicans and Democrats were able to conduct the process without infighting, which could make this the first redistricting in modern times not to touch off a major legal fight.

“There are no bills that have as much self-interest,” said Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda), chief sponsor of the state Senate and U.S. House redistricting bills. If someone had told him months ago that minority Republicans would wholeheartedly support the final legislation, Perata said, “I would have told them to get a urine test.”

However, critics, largely Latino advocates and other ethnic groups that felt slighted by the process, said it was merely an act of political back-scratching by leaders more concerned with protecting their individual fiefdoms than reflecting the realities of the state’s shifting demographics. In another action that received bipartisan support, lawmakers passed legislation to rein in telemarketers, another bill that triumphed over the lobbying of big business.

On a strict party-line basis, Democrats, who hold huge majorities in both houses, approved two bills that would require new handgun owners to obtain safety licenses by providing the state with thumbprints and passing a written test. They passed legislation to boost unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits, as well as a measure requiring that large new housing developments have an adequate supply of water before they can be built.

And though they failed to pass an education bond, lawmakers succeeded in approving a record $2.6-billion park bond for voters to consider next year, a package that Assemblyman Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek) called the finest in California’s history.

Of course, one of the factors that led to the downsized ambitions was the budget itself. After several years of surpluses stoked by stock-option revenue and the dot-com boom, California’s economy began to unravel this year, and lawmakers had to dramatically scale back plans for new spending.

“My first couple of years, we were flush. This year, we did not have the resources we had in the past, and we had to make some decisions knowing that the situation next year could be even tighter,” said Assemblyman Herb Wesson (D-Culver City), who is set to take over as the next speaker of the lower house in January. Wesson had wanted to pass legislation this year that would have made kindergarten mandatory for California schoolchildren.

But minority Republicans say the Democrats did not cut back nearly enough. They argue that lawmakers were living beyond their means in 2001, and their actions will haunt them next year if the economy continues to slip.

Many Would Prefer to Put Edison Issue Behind

As dawn approached on Saturday morning, many lawmakers made it clear that they would prefer to move on from the Edison issue and energy in general. No such relief is in sight, however.

Davis has called the third special legislative session of the year in October to deal with the Edison rescue, which he contends is needed to keep the utility from bankruptcy, and thus, get the state out of the energy mess.

The decision was not popular among lawmakers, who believe they have done all they can on the issue.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) responded to the news after midnight Friday with a public display of defiance that was vitriolic, even by his own standards--a staccato outburst of wit, sarcasm and Davis put-downs that had the battle-weary members of the upper house chanting his name. Burton is threatening to simply convene the Senate next month, formally kill the Edison deal, and go home.

“I have never worked so hard in my life to accomplish something,” said Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey), who spent months on the Edison issue and does not think a few more weeks will make a difference. “I didn’t get elected to restore Edison to credit-worthiness. It’s a private business.”

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Times staff writer Carl Ingram contributed to this story.