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Sunday, Sep. 13, 2009

Unfinished business likely to bring California Legislature back to Capitol

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California legislators ended their 2009 regular session early Saturday morning and, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many labored so late for so little.

Lawmakers adjourned shortly after 6 a.m. in a sea of partisan rancor and unfinished business, highlighted by no deal on revamping the state's creaking water system and a blockade of nearly two dozen bills by Republican senators.

Moreover, perhaps the marathon session's most significant accomplishment – increasing the state's reliance on renewable energy sources – was destined for a veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"I think this has been the toughest year I've ever experienced in my tenure," said Assembly GOP leader Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo. "I can understand probably a certain level of frustration."

But despite a sense of finality in remarks by Blakeslee and other legislative leaders, the year is far from over.

"I'd like to say we'll see you in January, but I think we're going to see each other sooner than that," Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, told his weary colleagues.

Ordinarily in the first year of their two-year sessions, legislators go home in mid-September and come back the first week in January.

But this hasn't been an ordinary year. On top of the usual political infighting and customary procrastination on most major policy issues, 2009 has been dominated by the struggle to close a staggering $60 billion gap in the state budget.

"This is probably the worst economic year that we've seen in a generation," said Blakeslee. "And much of the energy that everyone had this year frankly was consumed in trying to keep the state out of bankruptcy."

As a result, it's virtually certain that within the next month legislators will reconvene themselves to deal with a list of unresolved issues, in addition to "extraordinary sessions" that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger already has called on education and an overhaul of the tax system.

Matt David, the governor's communications director, said Saturday that Schwarzenegger was mulling over a request by Democratic legislative leaders to call a third special session dealing with the state's water woes.

"But at the end of the day, it boils down to one thing," David said, "and that's Republicans and Democrats reaching a compromise."

David also said that the governor will veto a two-bill package that would require a third of California's energy come from renewable sources by 2020.

Schwarzenegger dislikes provisions that would limit the amount of energy utilities could purchase from out-of-California providers. The governor and GOP legislators have said the restriction could increase energy rates sharply.

Water remained the dominant unfinished issue.

After months of intense negotiations among the governor, legislators, agriculture and environmental interests, and water industry powers, Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, called off votes on a plan late Friday night.

Both Democratic leaders tried to portray the postponement as a temporary blockade rather than a derailment of negotiations.

"We made more progress in the past few months than has been made on water in the past 40 years," Steinberg said. "It may take a little longer, but I have every confidence we are almost there."

Republican legislators were less optimistic. Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, said Republicans' main objections are that the proposal failed to ensure that dam construction would be included as part of the solution, and that splitting a $12 billion water bond act between elections in 2010 and 2014 would alienate voters the second time around.

"It doesn't make sense to seek voter approval on the same issue twice," Ashburn said. "Plus, the history around here is that priorities shift when it comes to these things and the 2014 vote might never occur, leaving us with a significant funding problem."

Republican senators expressed their disgruntlement on other issues as well by blocking more than 20 bills that required two-thirds approval. Democrats hold 25 seats in the 40-member house, but two-thirds bills require 27 affirmative votes.

Among the blocked measures were bills that would have:

• Provided $315 million in federal funds to help local health officials prepare for the swine flu virus.

• Borrowed $16.3 million from a special alternative fuels fund to pay for 94 domestic violence shelters.

• Established a 4.8 percent surcharge on new or renewed fire insurance policies to help finance state emergency response operations.

• Allowed the San Francisco Symphony to accept donations of auctionable merchandise from wine and liquor producers.

Democratic leaders said the GOP senators were miffed that last-minute demands had been rejected to provide a tax break for businesses, abolish a free state tax preparation program that's disliked by the Intuit tax preparation company and make a GOP senator the lead author on a housing bill.

But Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta said his caucus was angered that Democrats had reneged on an earlier agreement to hold the line on new spending and tax-and-fee increases.

"We had an agreement, and before the ink was dry, it was being ignored," he said. "We have to be able to resolve that we are going to be able to maintain agreements … before we can get anything of lasting substance accomplished."

Republicans also objected to the onslaught of scores of bills amended at the last minute with no analyses or airing before a committee.

"It's certainly frustrating that we don't even get the opportunity to pretend we read the bills," complained Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced.

Even the night's triumphs were tainted.

Legislators approved a bill by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, that would provide more than $2 billion for Medi-Cal and health insurance for children and the uninsured by imposing a fee on most state hospitals, and grab an additional $2 billion in matching federal funds.

But the measure passed only after provisions were removed that would have required two-thirds approval, meaning another bill will be needed later before it can take effect.

After the renewable energy bills were approved, a drafting error was discovered that required a third measure to correct.

And after the third measure was approved by the Senate, a legal flaw was discovered in it, too.

When GOP senators refused to allow the first vote to be rescinded, legislators in both houses were forced to mill about for more than an hour while yet a fourth bill was drafted with legally correct verbiage.

Notwithstanding the bickering and gamesmanship, both Bass and Steinberg pointed to some victories during the year, including bridging the budget gap, restoring health insurance for 600,000 children, leveraging federal money for small business health insurance help and extending unemployment benefits.

But the session may have been more accurately summarized by an early-morning exchange between Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton.

After Perez stood and lifted his microphone, Hall, serving as presiding officer, asked him for what purpose had he risen.

"To stay awake, Mr. Speaker," Perez replied.