Capitol Session Lacks a Bold Agenda

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name is nowhere to be found in Assembly Bill 616. But there is little question that the measure, which bans smoking in the enclosed courtyards of state buildings, has one venue in mind: the patio outside Schwarzenegger’s Capitol office where he loves to puff on cigars.

“Even though the windows in our office are sealed, there is a great deal of cigar smoke that comes in,” Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, a Democrat from Mountain View, complained on the Assembly floor.

Her Republican colleague, Doug La Malfa of Richvale, suggested that she invest in some spackle. “I can’t tell you how petty this effort is to zing the governor,” the assemblyman said, minutes before the measure passed.

As it reaches its halfway point, the 2005 legislative session has been marked by a recurring effort to contain the governor’s wafting omnipresence.

Schwarzenegger has sucked much of the air out of the session: He showed last year his willingness to veto Democratic measures en masse, and this year he has refocused Sacramento on a fall special election designed to permanently enfeeble California’s 120 legislators and the unions that support majority Democrats.

These political dynamics, coupled with the state’s sorry fiscal condition, have led the Legislature to largely abandon its favored role as an incubator for sweeping ideas.

Instead, lawmakers are embracing nonconfrontational, incremental changes that tinker around the edges of California’s biggest problems.

“There’s a certain amount of caution on the part of the Legislature when we have a governor who has indicated he would rather govern by initiative,” said state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). “Sometimes people don’t want to put in all the energy to be slapped down.”

To combat childhood obesity, lawmakers voted to limit junk food and sugary drinks in schools. To reduce the number of Californians without healthcare, they moved to modestly expand Medicaid coverage for children.

To help students failing the new high school exit exam, they voted to allow schools to create alternative tests. To protect consumers, they placed new restrictions on car salesmen.

To encourage “smart growth,” they rewrote rules governing home construction in inner cities and near transit hubs.

To decrease the financial bleeding in California’s hospitals -- nine of which closed last year -- they required insurers to reimburse doctors more quickly.

All of these measures passed either the Senate or Assembly; now they will require support in the other chamber before going to Schwarzenegger’s desk.

Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, said the piecemeal approach is inevitable given the divided government.

“It’s hard to come up with something that the Democrats want that won’t get vetoed by Arnold and vice versa,” he said. “In that situation you just do what you can, and innocuous dominates anything which is sweeping and controversial.”

To be sure, lawmakers this year approved some substantial measures that are politically charged. They voted to increase the state’s minimum wage, lower the prices on prescription drugs and allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

But those proposals will probably meet the same fate they did last year, when Schwarzenegger rejected a greater proportion of all bills than any of the previous five California governors vetoed in their first year.

This year, Democrats are showing little appetite for blazing new ground on social issues. Efforts to legalize gay marriage and physician-assisted suicide both expired in the Assembly, even though Democrats dominate, 48 to 32.

The bills that survived on hot topics such as abortion were narrowly aimed, such as one that would ensure that prescriptions for birth control and “morning-after” pills are filled even if the dispensing pharmacist has moral objections.

One unifying attitude throughout the year has been the refusal of Democratic lawmakers to defer to the governor.

Schwarzenegger’s plan to lower prescription drug costs, which he worked out with the pharmaceutical industry, died in the Senate Health Committee even though the panel’s chairwoman, Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), had sponsored it.

The Senate did approve another Schwarzenegger-backed measure intended to lead to the creation of 1 million new solar energy systems for businesses and homes. But Democrats inserted a provision that is not likely to sit well with Schwarzenegger’s business allies: The final bill allows solar panels to be installed only by general electrical contractors, who are largely unionized.

Even Schwarzenegger’s fellow Republicans have failed to embrace some of his proposals.

A GOP bill to ban fundraising by the governor and Legislature during budget negotiations -- an idea Schwarzenegger touted during his campaign -- died for lack of even Republican support.

“He [Schwarzenegger] was a much more significant point of reference last year,” said Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles). “He is virtually unmentioned in this session.”

So far, legislative leaders have essentially ignored Schwarzenegger’s ultimatum in January that they act on his new priorities: alter pensions for public employees so taxpayers can contribute less; give up the power to draw their own election districts; offer merit pay for teachers; and enact automatic spending cuts when the state’s treasury shrinks.

“The governor’s put a variety of proposals out on the table, and all the Legislature wants to do is kill them,” said Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman.

Schwarzenegger tried to use the threat of initiatives on these topics to prod lawmakers into action, as he did to change workers’ compensation rules and repeal a 2003 law giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses.

But this year Democrats are showing no sign of bending.

They have taken note of Schwarzenegger’s diminished public approval ratings and believe they are closer to the desires of the electorate than the self-styled “people’s governor,” as Schwarzenegger’s official website refers to him.

“The special election has dominated everything,” said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland). “We now have the governor doing war with the public servants of the state -- nurses, teachers, firefighters, cops -- people who are more popular than he is.”

Lawmakers also are less in awe of Schwarzenegger’s political prowess because he failed to unseat even one of the Democratic incumbents he targeted during last year’s elections.

And they have been further emboldened by his political missteps, including one that forced him to abandon a pension initiative for the year because it appeared to jeopardize the death benefits for the relatives of police and firefighters killed during duty.

Yet for all the animosity, within the Assembly and Senate, lawmakers so far have charted a more restrained course than they did last year.

Moderate Democrats concentrated in the Assembly helped kill many bills opposed by business groups, including legislation to give private citizens new powers to sue alleged polluters, and to force drug companies to disclose clinical study results.

They also blocked proposals to require stationary sources of air pollution, such as factories, to be fitted with the most up-to-date pollution control equipment, and to ban legal settlements that keep secret details about defective motor vehicles and environmental hazards.

“Most of the more comprehensive bills related to environmental protection and public health were defeated on the floor of the Assembly,” said Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), who carried the secret-settlements bill.

The Senate has focused on tweaking the complex rules that govern school funding and housing as part of Perata’s attempt in his first year as the chamber’s leader to appeal more to swing voters and the people he calls the “shrinking middle class.”

Changes the Senate passed would give local school districts more power to decide how to spend state dollars, and make it harder for neighborhoods to block affordable-housing projects.

Even though the session does not conclude until August, it is already clear that no dynamic proposals will emerge as they have in years past, when lawmakers created grand healthcare changes, privacy protections, greenhouse-gas laws and family-leave rules that affected millions of Californians.

Even the one far-reaching proposal that passed -- to replace private health insurers with a state-run agency -- would not take effect until lawmakers agreed on a financing method.

With the state’s budget deadline of June 30 rapidly approaching, the fight between Schwarzenegger and lawmakers is now going to shift to spending.

Already, Democrats have shown aggressiveness toward Schwarzenegger in their initial review of his proposed spending plan.

They stripped out a number of his modest allotments -- including $10 million for nurse training and $18.2 million for adding fresh fruit to school lunches -- to stop what they said was an attempt to obscure his decisions to deprive schools and healthcare institutions of larger amounts of funds.

The major fights will be over education spending, which Democrats want to increase by $3 billion beyond the governor’s plan -- perhaps with tax increases on the wealthy -- and transportation, where both Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) have proposed borrowing plans of $7.7 billion to $10 billion.

But lawmakers say this discussion, usually the most important part of a session, is being overshadowed by the expectation that the governor will soon call a special election, probably for Nov. 8.

That ballot would probably include not only some of the agenda Schwarzenegger demanded in January that lawmakers pass, but also an initiative that could hobble unions’ abilities to use member dues for political purposes. The proposal, which Schwarzenegger aides have said he may endorse, has enraged unions.

“From my view, beating those initiatives is more important than anything that we could do here this year,” said Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), who passed some of the session’s meatier legislative proposals. “Because I think those initiatives as a group have potential to do tremendous damage to the state.”

Many Democrats say that whatever happens in a special election, the acrimonious politics of 2005 will end without progress on California’s biggest problems.

“We are wasting a year we can’t afford to waste,” Perata said.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

These bills could still have a chance

The first chapter of the Legislature’s 2005-06 session closed with Friday’s deadline to move bills from their house of origin. Here is a sample. To read the proposals, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov.

Bills that failed but could be revived as amendments to others:

* Gay marriage: Would allow same-sex couples to marry. AB 19 by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

* Life insurance: Would require the state to pay for a $250,000 life insurance policy for every member of the California National Guard called to federal active duty. Annual cost estimated at $1 million. AB 255 by Assemblyman Ed Chavez (D-La Puente).

* Fireworks: Would allow the sale of fireworks from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1. Current law allows fireworks sales, subject to local ordinances, for only a few days around July 4. AB 1295 by Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez (D-Norwalk).

* Pet cloning: Would ban the commercial sale of cloned and genetically altered pets in California. AB 1428 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys).

* Drunk driving: Would permanently revoke the license of a person convicted of a third or subsequent violation of driving under the influence. AB 4 by Assemblyman Russ Bogh (R-Cherry Valley).

* Tasers: Would require the state to gather information from law enforcement agencies about their use of Tasers, which emit an electric shock to immobilize suspects, including whether the Tasers work and whether suspects require medical treatment afterward. AB 1237 by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

* Dog-ear cropping: Would ban cropping of dog ears for cosmetic purposes. AB 418 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood).

* Fundraising: Would ban fundraising by lawmakers and the governor from the time the governor releases a revised budget in May until a budget is enacted. AB 16 by Assemblyman Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar).

* Mandatory health insurance: Would require every state resident to get a minimum level of health insurance. AB 1670 by Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael).

* Prescription drugs: Would attempt to reduce prescription drug costs for low-income residents through voluntary rebates and discounts negotiated by the state with drug companies. SB 19 by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento).

* Public financing: Would allow taxpayer financing of political campaigns in order to curb the influence of special-interest donors. AB 583 by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley).

* Drug use: Would make it a felony for parents or caregivers to use illegal drugs in front of children. AB 253 by Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian (R-Stockton).

* Toxics: Would ban from cosmetics and personal care products two types of phthalates, industrial chemicals linked to liver injury in animal studies. AB 908 by Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park).

* Farm animals: Would outlaw killing farm animals with wood-chipping machines or by drowning, burning, suffocating, rapid freezing or burying alive. AB 1587 by Assemblywoman Lori Saldana (D-San Diego).

* Secretary of state: Would make the state’s top elections office a nonpartisan office. AB 5 by Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg) and SCA 4 by Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Salinas).

* Hemp: Would legalize growth of industrial hemp in California. AB 1147 by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

* Day-care centers: Would require the state to create a rating system for day-care centers based on health and safety violations. AB 617 by Assemblyman John Benoit (R-Palm Desert).

* School retirement costs: Would require school boards to identify the amount of money necessary to fund benefits committed to school district retirees. Experts say several large school districts are financially threatened by the unfunded liability of retiree health benefits. AB 387 by Assemblyman Juan Arambula (D-Fresno).

* Assisted suicide: Would allow terminally ill people to obtain a lethal prescription to hasten death. AB 654 by Assemblywoman Patty Berg (D-Eureka).

Bills that passed their house of origin but still face votes in either the Assembly or Senate and the governor’s signature before becoming law:

* Driver’s licenses: Would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses in compliance with a recently enacted federal law that forbids licenses from being used for broader identification. The licenses must have a distinct color or design. SB 60 by Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles).

* Sex offenders: Would allow counties and the state to constantly track the location of offenders on probation or parole with global positioning system technology. SB 619 by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough).

* Drunk driving: Would require blood-alcohol testing of drivers accused of being at fault in fatal vehicle crashes. SB 176 by Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Salinas).

* Universal health insurance: Would replace private health insurance in California with a government agency that negotiates benefits for all state residents. SB 840 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica).

* Solar power: Would establish a state program to encourage the addition of solar panels on 1 million homes and businesses, funded through utility rates. SB 1 by Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City).

* Los Angeles County healthcare: Would allow Los Angeles County supervisors to hire an inspector general to audit and investigate the county’s healthcare system. AB 1230 by Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles).

* Drug labels: Would require pharmacists to ask customers if they want a brief description of the symptoms the drug is intended to treat on the prescription label. AB 657 by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach).

* Sports teams: Would ban professional teams from using the name of a city where they don’t play most of their games unless they get a city’s permission or provide disclosure. AB 1041 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Anaheim).

* Textbooks: Would prohibit the state Board of Education from adopting textbooks longer than 200 pages and instead encourage use of the Internet. AB 756 by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles).

* Paid breaks: Would require farm and garment industry employers who pay workers by the piece -- rather than by the hour -- to pay workers their average piece-rate wage during two 10-minute breaks each day. AB 755 by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate).

* Car buyers: Would require auto dealers to disclose how much they charge for arranging financing, and would block them from adding more than 2.5% to a loan rate as profit. Also would define “certified” used cars and allow car buyers to pay up to $250 for the right to return a used car valued at less than $40,000 within three days of purchase. AB 68 by Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez (D-San Fernando).

* Elder abuse: Would require banks to train employees about financial abuse of elderly and dependent adults and allow bank employees to disclose suspicions of such abuse to law enforcement. AB 1664 by Assemblyman Mike Gordon (D-El Segundo).

* Internet hunting: Would ban Californians from hunting animals with a gun or other weapon controlled by a computer. The bill responds to a Texas company that offered the chance to shoot antelopes and other animals using an Internet connection. SB 1028 by Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey).

* Campaign finance: Would put on the statewide ballot a measure to ban contributions of more than $5,600 to ballot measure campaign committees controlled by candidates. Allies of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger successfully sued to overturn such a limit after it was imposed by a political watchdog agency last year. AB 709 by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis).

* Body piercing: Would set a penalty of $250 for the piercing of a person under 18 without consent from their parents or legal guardians. The bill reinstates a 1997 law that expired in January. AB 646 by Assemblywoman Sharon Runner (R-Lancaster).

* Jet fuel tax: Would close a loophole in state law that allows United Airlines and the city of Oakland to take millions of dollars in jet fuel sales tax revenue from other cities, including Los Angeles, which estimates its loss at $1.5 million a year. AB 451 by Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).

* Minimum wage: Would raise the minimum wage from $6.75 an hour to $7.25 an hour starting in July 2006. AB 48 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View).

* Organ transplants: Would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage for an organ or tissue transplant solely because a patient is infected with HIV. AB 228 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood).

* Pharmacists: Would require pharmacists to fill contraceptive prescriptions unless they have notified their employers in writing that they object on moral or religious grounds. AB 21 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) and SB 644 by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento).

* Inmate voting: Would require county elections officials to provide jails with voter registration forms for inmates who have not been convicted yet or are serving time for minor offenses. AB 821 by Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles).

* Prescription drug costs: Would allow the state to negotiate reduced drug prices for low-income Californians by telling recalcitrant drug companies that they risk being blocked from participating in the Medi-Cal program, which spends roughly $4 billion a year buying drugs for the elderly, disabled and poor children. AB 75 by Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Glendale).

* Imported prescription drugs: Would create a state-run website that links California consumers to pharmacies in Canada, Ireland and Great Britain where cheaper prescription drugs may be available. AB 73 by Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Glendale).

* Junk food: Would require that all food sold in elementary schools meet fat and sugar content standards. SB 12 by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier).

* Sodas: Would require that at least half of the drinks sold in high schools be either water, milk or fruit- or vegetable-based without added sweeteners. SB 965 by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier).

* Human trafficking: Would set civil and criminal penalties for human slave trafficking, in which people are forced through threats of violence to work. AB 22 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View).

* Gag clauses: Would prohibit California’s regulated professionals -- including accountants, architects, doctors and psychologists -- from reaching legal settlements with clients that dissuade the clients from also complaining to the Department of Consumer Affairs. AB 446 by Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont).

* Exit exam: Would allow school districts to find alternative ways to evaluate the academic achievements of students who fail the California High School Exit Examination. Students in the class of 2006 are required to pass the exam in order to graduate. AB 1531 by Assemblywoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles).

* Child interpreters: Would prohibit hospital staff and doctors from relying on children younger than 15 to act as interpreters for their families. Hospitals and clinics that violate the ban risk losing state funding. AB 775 by Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).

* Food stamps: Would seek to get federal food stamps to more Californians by making Medi-Cal recipients automatically qualified for the stamps. Would also eliminate a requirement that applicants submit fingerprints. AB 696 by Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park).

Source: California Legislature

Los Angeles Times