Bickering Lawmakers Pass Bills
SACRAMENTO — With accusations of sloppy lawmaking echoing through the Legislature, California lawmakers advanced bills Thursday that would crack down on corporate fraud, require safety devices on handguns and raise fees on garbage collection.
Assembly Republicans accused majority Democrats of abusing their leadership power by trying to push through bills without giving the GOP a chance to analyze what was in them.
They protested the last-minute addition of new garbage fees to a bill that never mentioned them until this week. They complained about impromptu committee meetings called without adequate public notice. And to express their unhappiness, some in the GOP took administrative actions intended to slow some legislation down.
The bickering wasn't only along partisan lines.
State Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) had harsh words for fellow party members in the Assembly who helped defeat his bill to ban the burning of agricultural waste in the Central Valley.
The bill, SB 705, is part of a package Florez has authored to cut down on farm-generated air pollution in a region where air problems are among the nation's most severe. Yet more than a dozen Assembly Democrats, many of whom have been praised by environmental groups for their record, either voted against the measure or didn't vote at all -- a practice lawmakers sometimes use rather than offend constituents or contributors by taking a formal position.
"These urban liberal Democrats have told us they are more interested in the agricultural lobby's pockets than they are in our kids' lungs," Florez said after his bill was defeated on a 31-33 vote. "They are pandering in a serious way
The charge didn't help Florez gain friends in the party as he lobbied for more votes, hoping he could get Assembly approval through another floor vote. By the end of the day, he had only picked up four more votes, still six short of what was needed to pass the measure. The bill is expected to come up for another vote in the coming days.
"I think that is insulting to members," said Assemblyman John Dutra (D-Fremont), who abstained from voting on the bill and called Florez's comments desperate.
"It is not a tactic that is appreciated or gets a good response," he said. Dutra said he was following the advice of Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Barbara Matthews (D-Tracy), a valley representative herself, who warned that there are not adequate disposal facilities to handle the waste farmers would have once burning is outlawed. Dutra and other opponents said they would reconsider it if another pending bill is approved to increase money for biomass disposal systems.
