Legislators Tackle New Session, Old Problems

As the Legislature reconvened Monday for a new two-year session, Democratic leaders vowed to improve the lives of middle-class Californians who can’t afford homes or must spend hours in freeway traffic.

They promised to boost investment in highways and buses, find ways to cluster new housing around mass transportation, protect public school budgets and cut air pollution.

But newly elected Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and reelected Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) also spelled out a joint agenda that appeared destined to result in clashes with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. They vowed to revisit prescription drug and health insurance legislation that was vetoed by the governor or overturned by voters at Schwarzenegger’s urging.

“I say to you, governor, we need a commitment from you,” Nunez said in a speech on the Assembly floor. “A commitment to sign legislation to halt the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. A commitment to provide healthcare to Californians that need and deserve insurance to protect their families.”

The 120-member Legislature has 34 new members, including the first Vietnamese American lawmaker in the United States -- Assemblyman Van Tran (R-Garden Grove) -- and the first African American woman in nearly a decade -- Assemblywoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles).

In an unusual joint news conference after swearing-in ceremonies, Perata and Nunez said they would work to closely coordinate the Democratic agenda in the Legislature. Democrats maintained their 48-32 majority in the Assembly and 25-15 dominance in the Senate in last month’s election despite active campaigning by Schwarzenegger on behalf of Republican candidates.

“We both believe the governor will do far better if he’s having to deal with a consolidated branch of government,” said Perata, who was elected unanimously by colleagues despite an ongoing federal investigation of some of his family and business associates. “There’s some question that we are an equal branch of government. We intend to prove that we are.”

Nunez and Schwarzenegger angered each other in budget talks last summer, with Nunez calling the governor a “bully” who “didn’t know how to deal with the crisis.”

Schwarzenegger in turn has called lawmakers “girlie men” and strained relations by seriously considering a special election in 2005 to ask voters to overhaul the way the Legislature does business. The governor is considering a ballot measure to take out of the hands of lawmakers the once-a-decade drawing of legislative and congressional district boundaries, an esoteric task with a huge effect on whether Democrats or Republicans win.

Nunez denied at Monday’s news conference that he and Perata were “ganging up on the governor.”

“We know we had our differences [with Republicans] in this last election,” Nunez said. “But the election is over. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

Nunez and Perata listed transportation, housing, healthcare, schools and the environment as their top priorities in the coming session. But other lawmakers set the stage for conflict over more philosophical issues by introducing dueling bills to legalize gay marriage and ban it in the state Constitution.

Among the more than 70 bills introduced by lawmakers Monday was legislation by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) to change California’s legal definition of marriage from a union between a man and a woman to one between two people.

A similar bill introduced by Leno earlier this year died because Democratic leaders failed to act on it in committee. Gay marriage also was an issue in the fall presidential election, which saw several states adopt measures to block it.

Nunez and Perata said they support the California legislation. Nunez is a coauthor.

“I see it as a civil rights issue,” he said. “We’re going to discuss it more thoroughly in our caucus to see how we’re going to proceed.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) and Assemblyman Ray Haynes (R-Murrieta) introduced a state constitutional amendment to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman would be valid or recognized in California.

“Our intent is to end this debate once and for all, cement this language in the Constitution and protect marriage for what it has been and should be, that is between one man and one woman,” said Ben Lopez, lobbyist for the Traditional Values Coalition.

Other bills introduced Monday would legalize the hunting of mountain lions, ban the use of “Redskins” as a name for public school sports teams, charge an independent panel with redistricting, change how California awards its electoral college votes in the choosing of a president and give new government employees 401(k)-like pensions rather than pensions with guaranteed, established benefits.

Lawmakers in both parties are anticipating another extremely difficult financial year. The state’s projected budget deficit over the next two years tops $16 billion.

“There’s no kidding around: The state’s stone-cold broke,” said newly elected Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), who will chair the Senate Appropriations Committee. “If you’re married with kids, you should be feeling dreadful with a pit in the stomach. The economy hasn’t sprung back, so really the priority is -- and it’s no cliche -- let’s proceed to strong fiscal footing and make some hard decisions.”

Senate GOP Leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine said: “We want an on-time budget that makes sense, with no new taxes. We need to make some cuts, we need to make some structural reforms, and we need to make some hard decisions this year, which I think we can all do.”

Perata has created a Senate committee to handle all government reorganization matters in anticipation of Schwarzenegger pressing some of the recommendations that he received from the California Performance Review, which he created last year. Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) heads the Senate panel.

The 40-member Senate has 10 new members, five from each party. All have Assembly experience.

“Many of us are returning members, so we are quasi-experienced,” said Migden, who joined the Senate from the Board of Equalization. “I think it’s a brisk, intelligent class. I think we bring a new vigor, a kind of a best post-term-limits team.”

In his speech to the Assembly, Nunez said he welcomed the governor’s call to streamline bureaucracy, saying that “we want a government that is lean ... but not one that is mean.”

In the Assembly, Democratic and Republican lawmakers spoke warmly of working together as they reelected Nunez, a 37-year-old former union strategist who was elected speaker of the 80-member house as a freshman in January. But partisan reality belied their words a few minutes later as Republicans balked at the usually routine task of adopting the rules of the house for the coming year.

Republicans, saying they had not had time to digest amendments to 94 pages of rules, asked to delay approval until the Legislature returns Jan. 3. Democrats used their majority status to override the Republicans.

“Business as usual,” said Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach).