Volume 3, Issue 1, (January 10, 2000)

In This Issue:  

State Legislature Returns to Sacramento

Assembly Leadership Announces Speakership Transition

Governor Davis Addresses Legislature with State of the State

Measure Proposes Limits on Release of Personal Data

Death Penalty for Hate-Inspired Murders Introduced

Bill Introduced to Increase Sentences for Crimes Committed in Presence of Minors

Senate Republicans Offer Series of Spending Plans

Resolution to Honor Charles Schulz Introduced

DNA Testing Bill to be Introduced

Legislative Analyst Warns of Fiscal Gap in State Transportation Account

State Legislature Returns to Sacramento

Members of the State Assembly and the State Senate returned to Sacramento Monday, January 3rd to begin the second year of work of the 1999-2000 Legislative Session.

Hundreds of bills held over from 1999 await action, some of which must clear key legislative hurdles by the end of January in order to remain in play. Those bills which fail to move out of their house of origin (Assembly bills must be passed to the Senate, and Senate bills must be passed to the Assembly), or are considered "dead" and may not be acted upon.

In addition to bills introduced last year, legislators began the process of introducing legislation to be acted upon this year as well. Bills may be introduced through February 21st, and may not be amended or heard in committee for 30 days following the date of introduction.

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Assembly Leadership Announces Speakership Transition

In December, Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Rules Committee Chairman Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) announced an agreed upon transition of power in the Assembly Speakership. The Assembly will conduct a vote on January 24th to elect a new Speaker, who will take the reins of the leadership post in late April. Hertzberg undoubtedly will be elected to take the post, as the Democratic Caucus enjoys the benefit of 47 members, and he is the agreed upon choice of the Caucus. Forty-one votes are necessary to elect a Speaker. Currently, there are 47 Democrats, 32 Republicans, and 1 Independent members of the Assembly.

Hertzberg is a Democrat from Van Nuys, California and was elected to the Legislature in 1996 to represent the 40th Assembly District located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley.

A businessman and an attorney, he has been actively involved in civic and community efforts in Los Angeles, including serving as Commissioner of the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Commission, which focused on efforts to increase government efficiency. He also served as Chair of the California Advisory Commission on Youth. Hertzberg is married to Dr. Cynthia Telles, a faculty member of the UCLA School of Medicine. They have three sons: Daniel, David and Raymond.

Assembly Speaker Villaraigosa, who is unable to run for reelection in 2000 as a result of term limits, will step down in April and will likely devote much of his time to his bid for Mayor of Los Angeles. Villaraigosa was sworn in as the 63rd Speaker of the State Assembly on February 26, 1998.

Prior to his service in the Assembly, Villaraigosa was President of the American Federation of Government Employees. The Speaker led efforts in 1999 to place a $2.1 billion neighborhood parks and recreation bond on the March 2000 ballot (Proposition 212). He also authored legislation to create the first statewide teacher peer assistance and review program for K-12 schools, to prohibit housing and employment discrimination against gays and lesbians, and to enact the nation's toughest ban on assault weapons.

Villaraigosa is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles and a graduate of UCLA, and lives in Mt. Washington with his wife Corina and four children Marisela, Prisila, Antonio, Jr. and Natalia Fe.

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Governor Davis Addresses Legislature with State of the State

Education once again took front stage in Governor Gray Davis' State of the State presentation to the Legislature on Wednesday, January 5th. The annual speech is intended to relay to current fiscal, economic, and social health of the state, as well as the Governor's policy recommendations for the coming year.

Education

• Student scholarships of $1,000 were proposed for ninth, tenth and eleventh grade high school students who score in the top percent statewide or top five percent of their school on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test.

• To encourage high school students to pursue science and technology interests, distinguished scholar awards of $2,500 would be offered to high school students who score a 5 on the Advanced Placement (AP) math exam and one AP science exam.

• Note: A recent RAND Corporation study found that college costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation, making higher education less affordable for students seeking higher education.

• Further, the Governor hopes to make funding available through the state Budget to make available at least one AP class for every high school student in California by fall of 2000, and at least four AP classes for each student by 2001.

• Digital High Schools: the Governor proposed spending $200 million to guarantee every high school classroom in need has computers—and trained teachers to use them. Private industry will be asked to assist the state in wiring every high school to the Internet.

• Teacher Incentives, Recruitment: The Governor offered proposals to address the shortage of qualified teachers in California following the state's Class Size Reduction program of the late-1990's.

• Incentives are proposed for teachers who choose to go to work in schools that rank in the bottom 50 percent of California's K-12 schools. Incentives include $11,000 in forgivable college education loans for students who agree to teach in a lower percentile school. Top college graduates would be eligible for a $20,000 competitive teaching fellowship if they become credentialed. New, fully credentialed teachers would receive a $2,000 bonus and would be eligible for a $10,000 forgivable loan for down payment on a new home.

• Retired teachers who return to work in the classroom would not risk losing their pension under Governor Davis' plan.

• Davis also plans an aggressive teacher recruitment plan with an out-of-state recruitment plan, as well as the establishment of five teacher recruitment centers in California. The recruitment centers would work to enlist thousands of new teachers to serve in California classrooms.

• Teacher development programs would be expanded in the Reading Institutes program. More than 70,000 teachers would receive professional development in reading, algebra, English language learning and other skills through the program.

• California Institutes for Science and Innovation: The Governor asked for $74 million to launch the establishment of the California Institutes for Science and Innovation to be established at three University of California campuses. The Institutes would combine cutting-edge research with training for new scientists and technological leaders, according to the Governor's plan.

• The Institutes would likely focus on medicine, bioengineering, telecommunications and information systems, energy resources, and other technologies.

Health Care

• Davis proposed a $500 tax credit towards the care of elders. The tax credit would apply to caregivers or to elderly persons themselves to help defray the cost of elderly care and special assistance at home.

• The Governor proposes to increase pay for those who provide in-home support services to the elderly, and to increase Medi-Cal coverage for disabled seniors.

• The expansion of adult day care facilities, community centers and full-service residential centers would occur through a public-private partnership in which $500 million would be made available over the next ten years. Twenty million dollars is proposed for the 2000-2001 budget to jump-start this program.

• Nursing home oversight would get a boost as 200 investigators are added to the state's ranks to ensure quality care is provided. Fines of $100,000 are proposed for nursing home operators whose negligent care leads to the death of an elderly resident.

Transportation

Citing a $100 billion need in transportation facility construction, repair and upgrades throughout the state, the Governor offered the following proposals:

• $3 billion in new funds will round out $7.5 billion in spending for roads, highways, commuter transit and inter-city rail.

• Local governments that fail to obligate or make use of state and federal funds for local transportation projects by July 31st of this year will lose local control of the funding. Davis proposed that up to $1.7 billion in unencumbered funds will be forfeited to the state and programmed and spent by the state for transportation needs.

Crime

• The Governor announced the crime rate in California dropped 15 percent during the first half of 1999 -- to its lowest point in a quarter of a century. However, while the number of crimes has decreased, the nature of the crime has become more violent.

• Davis proposes to establish a Second Strike Task Force to increase the number of parole agents in order to concentrate attention on high-risk parolees.

• Davis also proposed establishing the Turning Point Academy, which would be a yearlong boot camp with academic instruction. The Academy would be an alternative sentence opportunity that could serve up to 160 juveniles, with programs in intensive physical activity, education, counseling and substance-abuse treatment.

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Measure Proposes Limits on Release of Personal Data

Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) has introduced legislation that would require financial institutions to obtain written consent from customers before sharing or selling their personal information. Consumers would have to be informed in writing of a financial institution's intent to share or sell financial, medical or other personal information. Written consent would have to be obtained from the consumer in order for information to be sold or released.

Assembly Bill 1707 was introduced in response to a new federal law that allows banks, securities firms and insurers to merge and sell each other's products.

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Death Penalty for Hate-Inspired Murders Introduced

Assemblyman Jim Cuneen (R-Campbell) has introduced legislation to make the death penalty apply in cases where a murder is committed against a person because of his or her disability, gender, sexual orientation or because of the defendant's perception of the victim's race, color, religion, nationality, country of origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation.

Currently law provides for the application of the death penalty where one or more special circumstances occur, including the intentional killing of a person because of race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin.

The measure may be heard on or after February 3rd.

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Bill Introduced to Increase Sentences for Crimes Committed in Presence of Minors

Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-San Bernardino) has introduced a bill that would add an additional term of one, two or three years to the sentence of a person convicted of a violent felony if the crime was committed in the presence of or is witnessed by a child under the age of 16 years.

The measure may be heard on or after February 3rd.

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Senate Republicans Offer Series of Spending Plans

In recent weeks, Senate Republicans have offered a series of proposals directed at spending the $3 billion projected surplus in the 2000-01 fiscal year. Senate Minority Leader Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) and Senator Republican Caucus Chairman Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga) have presented their priorities, which include more than $2 billion in new spending.

The proposals signal a significant shift in ideological position for the Republicans, who have historically opposed increased spending for programs and have advocated tax cuts, instead. The intriguing position of the Republican proposals moves the conservative caucus more to the center of partisan politics, and challenges Democrats, including moderate and fiscally cautious Governor Gray Davis to rebuke or match the spending plans.

The proposals include:

Local Government < $1 billion for local governments' long-range needs:

• $500 million would be allocated for local government fiscal relief and public works improvements
• $180 million for a Safer Communities technology grant program to upgrade technology systems of local law enforcement
• $150 million to the Citizens Options for Public Safety (COPS) program -- again the funds would be directed to local law enforcement
• $250 million for cities and counties for streets, sewers, waste management and other public works improvements
• $20 million toward the Project Exile program, a proposal which would call for a state-federal partnership to increase penalties for felons possessing firearms and for criminals who attempt to purchase firearms

Education Reform:

• Reducing class size in high school < $142 million
• 50 percent cut in college tuition for University of California and California State University for California residents < $412 million
• Expanding school safety programs < $179 million
• Additional financial aid for higher education < unspecified
• Expanding the Digital High School computer literacy program to elementary schools grades 4 through 8 < $175 million
• Increasing the Charter School Loan Fund for startup charter schools < $25 million

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Resolution to Honor Charles Schulz Introduced

Assembly Republican Leader Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) has introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution 96 to honor Charles Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. The resolution cites Schulz's service in the military as an infantryman, staff sergeant and leader of a machinegun squad prior to the creation of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy.

Schulz announced his retirement in December after drawing and writing the strip for nearly 50 years. The last "Peanuts" comic strip ran on January 3, 2000.

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DNA Testing Bill to be Introduced

Senate President Pro Tempore John Burton announced he would introduce legislation that would allow people who have been convicted of a crime to request a special high-technology DNA or fingerprint testing to help prove their innocence.

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Legislative Analyst Warns of Fiscal Gap in State Transportation Account

Citing a project $158 million gap in the state's mass transit account, Elizabeth Hill, the state Legislature's nonpartisan fiscal analyst suggested the elimination of state funds for expansion of the Capitol Corridor rail line between San Jose and Placer County. Revenue in the account is expected to total $1.57 billion over the next six years, however funding needs will reach nearly $1.73 billion. The account is the state's main funding source for rail and bus transit programs.

In addition to eliminating funds for the Capitol Corridor rail line expansion, Hill recommended allocating more of the state's gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to the transit account. She also encouraged that the state relax constitutional provisions that prohibit gas tax revenues from being used to purchase buses and railcars.

A spokesman for Governor Davis' Department of Finance has indicated a plan to address the shortfall will be a part of the Governor's proposed 2000-01 State Budget, which will be released Monday, January 10.

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