Much required of Democratic Legislature

Dec. 14, 2012

By Joseph Perkins

I met Darrell Steinberg last week. The state Senate president pro tem said that he and his fellow Democrats recognize the awesome responsibility that comes with the supermajorities they now enjoy in both chambers of the Legislature.

To which I say, facta, non verba.  Or, for those who are rusty on their Latin, “deeds, not words.”

I’m not referring so much to the several thousand bills that will be introduced during the upcoming legislative session, some of which will deserve passage, most of which will not (if recent sessions provide a clue to what we can expect).

No, I’m talking about how the Legislature itself does business. The Democratic supermajority can ease fears that it will abuse its near absolute power in Sacramento by adopting internal rules that encourage transparency and accountability by lawmakers themselves.

They suggestion is that they begin with the following proposed rules:

* No more Assembly vote altering. The state Assembly currently allows members to add or change their votes after legislation has already been decided on the Assembly floor. The insidious practice allows lawmakers to vote one way, to look good to their constituents back home, and the opposite way, to stay in good graces with special interests.

Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, defended vote altering last week for the most specious of reasons. “Sometimes,” he said, “the call of nature comes when one is on the floor of the Legislature. And they go and avail themselves of facilities and come back. And they will miss a vote.”

Apparently, Perez and his fellow Assembly members have weaker bladders than Steinberg and his fellow senators. Because Senate rules do not allow members to switch their votes after the fact.

* Reinstate Proposition 25 sanctions. California voters approved the so-called On-Time Budget Act of 2010, ending the previous requirement of a two-thirds majority.

In exchange for lowering the bar — which made it easier for the Democratic less-than-super-majority to pass the annual budget — the ballot measure called for lawmakers to forfeit pay for every day they fail to enact a budget beyond the June 15 deadline set forth in the state Constitution.

The very first year the law took effect, the Legislature passed a budget that was unbalanced by $1.85 billion, according to state Controller John Chiang. So he proceeded to withhold lawmakers’ pay until they produced a truly balanced budget.

Steinberg and fellow Democratic leaders sued, arguing that Chiang overstepped his authority. And a state court agreed. So Prop. 25 has turned out to be a bait-and-switch. It allows the Legislature to pass a budget with a simple majority, as Democrats long wanted, with no requirement that it be balanced or on time.

Steinberg and Perez should make amends with the voters by reinstating Prop. 25. If Chiang lacks the authority to determine if the Legislature fulfilled its dictate, the Legislature should identify a party — other than Legislative leaders themselves — in which to invest that authority.

* No longer allow “gut-and-amend” legislation. It is an insidious practice, usually employed during the waning days of the Legislative session, in which lawmakers take an existing measure that’s already been approved by several committees, empty its contents and replace it with completely unrelated content.

That enables lawmakers to win approval of a controversial bill or amendment without public hearings. The way to end the practice, which makes a mockery of transparency in government, is to require that all legislation be made publicly available at least three days before a vote.

* Publicly censure lawmakers that break the law. Both the Senate and Assembly have legislative ethics committees. But both are toothless.

That’s how Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley, remained an Assembly member after pleading no contest last year to shoplifting nearly $2,500 worth of clothing from a Neiman Marcus. She was ordered to stay at least 50 feet from the luxe department store, but she was welcomed back to the Assembly.

Lawmakers, like Hayashi, should be publicly censured by their colleagues when they run commit illegal acts. For not even members of the state Legislature are above the law.