SACRAMENTO — In his remaining months in office, outgoing Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez hopes he can leave a long-lasting mark on the Legislature with new term limits, a ban on fundraising during key periods and a new way of drawing state voting districts.
He and the Assembly's minority leader, Mike Villines (R-Clovis), are discussing a constitutional amendment package that could be placed on the November ballot by the Legislature if two-thirds of lawmakers agree.
"I can't tell you that it's going to materialize," said Nunez, a Los Angeles Democrat, in an interview. "Am I working on it? Yes. Am I putting time into it? Yes."
One proposal would extend the terms of state legislators. In February, voters defeated a Nunez-backed measure that would have allowed him and other termed-out officeholders to run for reelection.
Nunez said he still wanted to double the amount of time legislators could stay in the Assembly, but his latest proposal would not apply to those in their final terms.
He and Villines also are discussing a ban on fundraising by lawmakers during budget talks and when critical votes are being taken, and a proposal to take from legislators the power to choose their voters by drawing their own districts.
Villines said in a separate interview, "There's an opportunity for reform, and both parties should come together and look at that."
Nunez must leave the Assembly in December; he is expected to be replaced as speaker next month by Assemblywoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles). Nunez has said he does not plan to run for another public office in the near future. But he has $5.1 million in a political account that could be used for ballot measure campaigns.
He said he seeks a term-limits change like the one voters rejected three months ago, but it would apply to future legislators and those in office as of January 2009.
"I think it would be a contribution to the Legislature as an institution," Nunez said.
He was criticized for breaking a promise to join term-limits changes with a measure to end the conflict-laden tradition of legislators drawing the districts where they run for office. As it is, the party that dominates the Legislature controls the once-a-decade redistricting process, and lines are often skewed to favor incumbents.
Reformers say districts with more evenly balanced populations of Republican and Democratic voters would create more competitive elections and encourage legislators to pursue compromise instead of partisanship.
