Issues Addressed in Bitter Year

As they cast their final votes and left town for home on Saturday, many California lawmakers had but one good thing to say about the legislative season just concluded:

It’s over.

“We can only hope,” declared Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland), “that there will never, ever be a year like this one again.”

“Yuck,” added Sen. John Vasconcellos, a Democrat from Santa Clara and California’s longest-serving lawmaker. “That’s your headline -- yuck.”

It is easy to see what spawned such sentiments. The year began, after all, with a budget gap of almost unfathomable proportions -- swelling by spring to $38 billion -- and wound down with a bitter gubernatorial recall campaign that, one way or another, overshadowed all things under the Capitol dome.

Fearful of losing the governorship to the GOP, Democrats spent the closing days of the legislative year hustling through complex bills that might otherwise have been shelved until 2004. Republicans decried the eleventh hour maneuvering as reflecting an “arrogance of power” on the part of the dominant party and did their best to be obstructionist where they could.

Despite the sharp partisanship and political chaos, however, the 2003 Legislature managed to defy the odds and approve far-reaching bills on some of the most pressing issues of the day.

Topping the list was a package of measures to stabilize the state’s dysfunctional workers’ compensation insurance system. While Republicans attacked the reforms as meaningless tinkering, the bills are a first stab at addressing the skyrocketing premiums that plague California businesses.

Also approved was a fiercely debated bill that, beginning in 2006, will require some employers to provide workers with health insurance and a measure, signed by Gov. Gray Davis, giving California the nation’s most ambitious financial privacy law. Under the law, consumers can block the sale of their personal financial information by banks, credit card companies and other businesses.

Other significant bills churned out this year give domestic partners many of the benefits enjoyed by married couples; allow illegal immigrants to obtain California driver’s licenses; and establish a first-in-the-nation recycling system for computers, televisions and other toxic electronics waste.

“You could say it was the best of times and the worst of times for the Legislature,” argued Barbara O’Connor, director of the Center for the Study of Media and Politics at Cal State Sacramento. “They tackled some big things, protected education from major cuts, and got some good bills out. But the partisanship, the increase in special-interest dominance, the lack of basic civility ... all of that was just awful.”

Five years ago, lawmakers arrived in Sacramento and were blessed with a bonanza of riches -- a $13-billion surplus allowing them to invest in schools, expand health care for the poor, rebuild deteriorating freeways and cut taxes.

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Deep Fiscal Crisis

January 2003 could not have been more different. Saddled with a revenue shortfall made worse by the politically expedient budget they had adopted while campaigning for reelection the previous year, lawmakers -- including rookies ushered in by term limits -- immediately confronted a fiscal crisis so deep that it made headlines across the nation.

Right out of the starting gate, the Senate’s veteran leader, John L. Burton (D-San Francisco), summed up the theme for the year this way: “The budget, the budget, the budget,” he said.

That prophecy came true, as the struggle over how to mend the gaping hole in California’s wallet dominated Capitol life. With Republicans adamantly opposed to tax increases and Democrats striving to prevent large rips in the state’s safety net, a budget standoff was unavoidable.

Such stalemates are de rigueur in Sacramento, especially in periods of scarcity. Fifteen times in the last 17 years, the Legislature has missed its constitutional deadline for adopting a budget.

But the impasse of 2003 was a legitimate crisis -- the partisanship more potent, the stakes much higher. Upping the ante, Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga warned GOP lawmakers that he would fight to end their political careers if they broke ranks and voted for tax increases; he even unveiled a sample advertisement he threatened to use against those who defied him.

The first-ever recall campaign against a California governor to reach the ballot only aggravated the tensions, encouraging Republicans to dig in and increasing the anxiety of Democrats.

“We were divided into warring camps,” said Vasconcellos, elected in 1966 and serving his final term. “In time of crisis, people should pull together with a sense of common purpose and responsibility. Instead, we had the most contentious, divisive year I can remember.”

As the standoff dragged on, Standard & Poor’s knocked California’s bond rating down three notches to just above junk bond status -- the lowest for any state in more than a decade. That jolt seemed to get people’s attention: Soon afterward, a deal was struck -- six weeks after the constitutional deadline.

But even as they cast their votes for it, lawmakers from all sides heaped scorn on the $100-billion spending plan, in part because it relied heavily on borrowing to keep government afloat.

“Yes, we got a budget,” said Sen. Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine), “but it’s a disaster. It papered over the problems, forcing us to borrow to get through this year and ensuring we face another disaster next year.”

With money in short supply, 2003 was a lousy year for bold new initiatives. Nevertheless, legislators were not shy about introducing bills -- about 3,200, with the usual range of proposals to void, tweak or create laws.

As in past years, many measures languished until the very end, when a flurry of activity kept lawmakers working into the wee hours of the night. The chaos was more pronounced this year, in part because of the effort to recall the governor.

Democrats, worried that Davis could be replaced by a Republican in the special election Oct. 7, scrambled to push through a host of bills that might otherwise have stalled until next year. Davis was more than hospitable as many of the bills reached his desk. A dedicated centrist, he has been marching left in recent weeks, hoping to shore up his base of support among liberal voters.

“The governor is going back to his roots,” said Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), who carried the financial privacy measure that Davis signed. “Certainly Democrats in the Legislature see this as an opportunity to get bills through on the off chance he loses the recall. It’s just made us all more productive.”

Republicans offered a less positive analysis, with Brulte accusing Davis of “pandering” to the party’s liberal wing “to save his political hide.”

Most obvious, Brulte said, was the governor’s enthusiastic endorsement of a bill allowing an estimated 2 million illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. Davis is now touting the bill in Spanish-language ads, but foes note that last year he rejected a similar bill -- one with tougher security provisions -- citing public safety concerns.

Davis also put his signature on a measure giving gay partners many of the same legal rights and obligations as married couples, including the right to financial support after a domestic partnership is dissolved and the right to child support or custody.

That measure (AB 205), by Democratic Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg of Los Angeles, sparked one of the most emotional debates of the year, with conservatives saying it would undermine marriage.

As he did with the driver’s license bill, Davis declared his intent to sign the measure before it even won final passage -- a gubernatorial green light that he has rarely flashed during his five years in office.

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Bills That Failed

While the year will best be remembered for bills that won approval, there were more than a few issues the Legislature failed to resolve. Perhaps most notable was the quiet death of two bills seeking to restrict political consultants from lobbying politicians whom they have helped to elect. The issue emerged after veteran consultant Richie Ross shouted at aides to two lawmakers who had not voted for a bill backed by his client, the United Farm Workers. Ross also acknowledged having asked a political consulting client, Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), to carry legislation on behalf of a lobbying client.

But the bill faded away, in part, supporters said, because Democrats did not want to embarrass Ross as he pushed his client, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, as a candidate for governor in the recall election.

Another high-profile bill that went nowhere -- for the third year running -- sought to prohibit drivers from using hand-held cell phones. It was backed by medical groups, firefighters and some county sheriffs, but strongly opposed by cell phone companies and Republicans.

Free from their Sacramento duties for now, lawmakers have little to look forward to. Next year, the budget crisis will return as a still-frightening sequel. A shortfall of $8 billion is forecast, and there will be no more fiscal tricks available to cope with the mess.

Meanwhile, a survey this summer showed that the public is hardly thankful for lawmakers’ efforts. A Field Poll found a mere 19% of voters saying they approved of the job the Legislature was doing -- a record low.

Assemblyman Keith Richman of Northridge, for one, wasn’t surprised: “I think the public’s poor perception of the Legislature is a valid assessment for this year,” the Republican said.

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Times staff writer Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.