California Legislation

There is no peace in the wine world today. Consumers, vintners, importers and wholesalers are at odds over California legislation that appears to restrict competition and maintain artificially high prices, such as $65 for a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne instead of the current price of $35.

The time has come to put the Medical Board of California out of its misery. The board oversees the licensing of doctors and their discipline for misdeeds or incompetence. It also has jurisdiction over doctor-owned surgical clinics. Long ago the board acquired the reputation of being one of the least effective regulatory bodies in Sacramento. But evidence has mounted that it's worse: It's a danger to the community. Because of its ineffectiveness in a variety of spheres, patients have died.

There was the baby left in the trash bag. The little girl raped after her first birthday. And the tortured 7-month-old, her tiny face pocked by cockroach and rat bites and her body riddled with bedsores so infected that doctors had to remove part of her leg. All the incidents happened in the desert. All the parents used meth. Much as crack cocaine fueled urban violence in the 1980s, methamphetamine is driving up reports of rural child abuse.

With the field in the Los Angeles mayor's race now whittled down to two, more state legislators from Southern California are taking sides. Councilman Eric Garcetti announced a trio of endorsements Monday from state Sens. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) as well as former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. “These three legislative leaders will be powerful voices in this election and will help me build support in neighborhoods throughout our city," Garcetti said in a statement.

Legislation to make California the first state to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases, a suspected cause of global warming, is foundering in the Assembly amid a lobbying and advertising blitz by automakers, car dealers, oil companies and organized labor. The measure by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) has already cleared both houses by rail-thin margins and needs only final approval of the Assembly to reach the desk of Gov. Gray Davis.

Pro-El Toro airport forces have been quietly shopping for a legislator in Sacramento in an effort to amend state law to bar local voters from holding a special election to repeal a 1994 vote for a commercial airfield at the former Marine Corps base. The two-sentence proposal is blunt. It would revise the state elections code to prevent voters from amending or repealing in a special election "an initiative measure previously adopted by voters concerning the use of a closed military base."

Area law enforcement officials are grappling with the loss of a powerful tool and lucrative source of income--the state's asset forfeiture law, which expired Jan. 1. No longer can they routinely seize cash and other property from alleged drug dealers. In the past five years the sale of confiscated assets tied to drug trafficking generated about $155 million in the state, including nearly $2 million in Long Beach.

State Assemblyman Steve Clute (D-Riverside) is sponsoring AB 694, a bill that would impose a 3% tax on professional sports tickets costing $5 or more to help finance school sports programs. The Senate Education Committee has scheduled a hearing on the bill for today.

A powerful state senator announced Wednesday that he will propose special legislation to allow the San Fernando Valley to break away from the Los Angeles school district and operate its own schools, a major step forward for the resurgent secession movement. State Sen. David A.

Reacting to a promise by a top state lawmaker to fight for creation of a separate San Fernando Valley school district, activists representing political, educational and parent interests throughout the city charged Thursday that secession would harm minority students without producing the radical restructuring Los Angeles schools need. State Sen. David A.

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers accepted a trip to Brazil, fine cigars and crystal ducks, among many other gifts from corporations, trade groups and other special interests last year. Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) received $17,800 in gifts - among the highest in total value, according to records released Saturday. They included $5,830 in travel expenses for an education trip to South Korea paid for by the Korean American Economic Development Corp. Pérez also received concert and sports tickets, nine gifts of cigars, and a $100 crystal duck from the California Retailers Assn.

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers are moving to curb anonymous political donations in California after a national election in which nonprofit groups secretly poured hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns. Legislators have proposed greater disclosure by donors, higher fines for violations and new powers for officials to investigate suspicious contributions to certain groups. Other measures would boost disclosure requirements for political advertising and campaign websites. The moves were prompted largely by an Arizona group's $11-million donation this year to a California campaign committee, which used the money to oppose Gov. Jerry Brown's tax-hike measure and support another ballot initiative that was intended to curb unions' political fundraising.

When nearly two-thirds of the citizenry vote to tax themselves to expand transit but don't prevail, then democracy has gone cockeyed. If a small minority can thwart the will of the vast majority on a routine local tax issue, it's absurd. This, of course, is what happened last month when Los Angeles County voters overwhelmingly supported Measure J to extend a half-cent sales tax for transit. But the vote fell roughly a half-percentage point short of the necessary two-thirds majority.

SACRAMENTO - The day after being elected to the state Assembly, several incoming lawmakers were in AT&T's luxury suite at the Sacramento sports arena, watching the Kings with the company's top Capitol executive. The next day, the California Dental Assn. feted the state's freshman legislators. That was before more than 20 legislators jetted off to Hawaii, China, Brazil, New Zealand and other locales - with some trips paid for in large part by healthcare, energy and communications companies.

Re "Leave it to the pros," Opinion, Sept. 30 The NFL's officiating problems highlight the value of professional referees. The media and the public were severe in their criticism of the NFL for its failure to ensure effective officiating. Rebecca Givan identifies other areas where professionals have been under attack by their employers. She forgot California legislators. Voters' insistence on having term limits has resulted in today's less-than-professional lawmakers in Sacramento.

SACRAMENTO - Tourists milling about the Capitol on a recent day seemed impressed by the righteous stand of nearly two dozen lawmakers with signs on their doors. The notices are largely government issue and read the same: "We appreciate your generosity; however, this office cannot accept gifts. " Others are handwritten and terse: "No Gifts Please. " Either way, most should include an asterisk. Of the 23 legislators with signs, only three have adhered to a ban - Sen. Sam Blakeslee and Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, both Republicans from San Luis Obispo, and Assemblyman James Beall, a San Jose Democrat.

Gov. Pete Wilson will announce today his veto of a Democratic proposal to overhaul the troubled $12-billion workers' compensation system and call the Legislature into a special session to work on a new plan, an Administration source said. Wilson, preparing to make workers' compensation reform an issue against Democrats in the election two months from now, is expected to announce the veto at an annual prayer breakfast sponsored by business leaders, the source said.

The Ventura City Council on Monday is expected to support proposed state legislation that would form a countywide authority to manage trash collection and disposal. State Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) is sponsoring the bill, which would allow a merger of the county's Solid Waste Management Department and the Ventura Regional Sanitation District.

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers sent two Web-related proposals to the governor Tuesday, one that would bar landlords from requiring that rent be paid online and another intended to protect the privacy of college students using Twitter, Facebook and other social media. The legislators said they were concerned that many low-income and elderly tenants do not have easy access to the Internet and some background checks on students go too far. The rent bill is by Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance)

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers won't have to give up free Lakers tickets, Californians won't be able to bet on Dodgers games and Olympic medalists will probably not get tax breaks, after legislators shelved dozens of bills Thursday. Lawmakers also deep-sixed two proposals to regulate the controversial oil-extraction method known as fracking. The casualties included a measure by Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) that would have prohibited groups lobbying the Legislature from providing lawmakers with free sports and concert tickets, spa treatments, golf games and other gifts.