Monday, October 15
Well, I figured I would update my own post on the Dirty Dozen bills posted last month that the Governor had in front of him and see how we came out with the veto pen. There was certainly plenty more bills I could’ve listed to write about, say 144 bad bills [The Gross Gross?] but that would’ve been a bit much.
The Scorecard:
SB 924-Iraq war-Vetoed earlier.
SB 8-Enviromental Justice for flood water-Vetoed
AB 8-Health Care tax on employers-Vetoed
AB 1471-ID numbers on bullets-Signed &*&*#^%*#^!! Dumb, won’t solve crime.
AB 821 Lead Bullet hunting ban [where condors might flyover]-Signed-aw heck, who needs proof, ban it anyway.
AB 43-Same sex marriage-Vetoed. Marriage will be between one man and one woman for at least one more year in California!
SB 777-Equality In Textbook Content-Signed. By the time you Murphy Brown schoolbooks with depictions of all the different lifestyles and family styles and sexual preferences, maybe we should hope students will get so bored they won’t actually pay attention to any of it? A great catalyst for increased enrollment of home schooling, charter schools and private schools!! Too bad the legislation limiting textbooks to 200 pages didn’t make it…under this legislation books would be devoid of any actual content. One of the most ill-advised of any bill signed by the Governor this round. As a parent of school-aged children, this one offends me.
AB 1334-Sexual Protection Devices isssued in prison-Vetoed. Not providing devices for an illegal activity…wow, makes sense. This win is somewhat diminished by a ‘pilot program’ in one facility to see how it works to prevent AIDS? Whatever. I don’t see the logic.
AB 930-Flood Easements-Signed. Sutter County could now be renamed Lake Sacramento. Signed over protests of the locals who have to deal with their own flood control issues.
SB 5-Signed.
AB 5-Signed. These last 2 give us more maps and habitat restoration, and dictate to local government how to act…all under the guise of flood management.
AB 1109-Signed. This "Lite" version of the silly light bulb ban bill will take a little longer and makes the California Energy Commission do the dirty work with "findings" that incandescent bulbs won’t reach "their" goals on energy use, then ban ’em That’s OK, my district borders Oregon and Nevada, we can find our own &%*& bulbs elsewhere.
The Tally: 5 Vetoes on 12 bad bills…I reckon that would be a good average for a baseball batter…Hey, look Jon, only one font color! My state of mind on this post is a little darker at this moment.
[Publisher’s Note: Mr. LaMalfa went a little… crazy… with his font colors. The management frowns upon such things, but, we left it as it goes to Doug’s state of mind these days… – Flash]
Borrowing the title from the 60’s movie classic to describe some bills fits the end of the ’07 
legislative session. The movie depicted Lee Marvin leading a group of convicts to run a high risk mission in WW II Europe, played by Charlie Bronson, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown and others, bad guys doing a good thing. Sort of a reversal of likable people proposing bad things legislatively. Let’s talk about 12 of ’em or so in no particular order.
SB 924-The Iraq war pullout advisory measure.
A ploy that would be placed on the February ballot to have voters tell the President to quit "the occupation" of Iraq, seen as a way to drive up voter turnout for the Term Limit Extension measure.
Status: Thankfully it has just freshly been vetoed by the Guv.
The Crazy 8’s
ACA 8-Eminent Domain.
After the legislature has ignored true EmDo reform for 2 years, Prop, 90 came too close for comfort for land grabbers. This was an effort by the main opponents of 90 to deflect the issue and put a measure on the ballot with very little new protection for homes, churches, and zip for farms and small business…so voters think it’s all fixed and make it go away. The initiative by Jarvis-Farm Bureau-CAPPPR will fix it right.
Status: Needed 54 Assembly votes, got only 45, no Reps voting "aye", plus 2 Dems off.
SB 8-Bay-Delta.
Would apply adding something called ‘environmental justice’ to planning any project remotely touching Bay-Delta water. Meaning that you have to figure out if fixng levees or other flood control systems or conveying water would affect people nearby based on their socio-economic, color, gender, or other preferences. [Hmm, let’s go put a levee by some rich people’s houses and, you know, keep it even.] Seems like flood water and river banks have no preference. This could be interpreted to go from Shasta Dam to the Tehachapi’s, not just the "Bay-Delta."
Status: Enrolled, to the Governor.
AB 8-Health Care.
Government asserting more control, taxing business to pay for an expansion of health programs run by government, not much talk of doing things that address high costs and fraud, just fix it with more money.
Status: Dead-man-walking. Guv has promised a veto.
Honorable mention: SB 840, Single Payer [you] plan, stuck in Assembly Appropriations.
AB 16-Immunizations-Public School Children. Has parents seeing red as it would force them to "opt out" of having their kids vaccinated instead of "opting in". Including the HPV vaccine. Presuming pre-teen girls as being sexually active unless parents get "notice" of immunization and opt out. Recent amendments make it even worse for parental rights and less palatable for legislators.
Status: Held in Senate Rules Committee.
Assaults On Gun Owners:
AB 1471-Microstamping Bullet Casings
The big idea being that a micro ID number emblazoned onto a shell casing as it is fired would solve crime scenes. Never mind that any criminal with your stolen gun could not be traced or, should they want to keep the gun long term, could easily defeat the ID mechanism. "But it’s against the law to defeat the mechanism." Uh, they’re criminals. Plus your next gun is now more expensive.
Status: Fired off from the Assembly to enrollment, then the Guv.
AB 821-Lead Bullet Ban In Condor Area
Never mind that 1/4 of California is deemed by this proposal as condor area. And that a condor ingests all sorts of junk metal from the scavenging diet it has, or that new methods have been recently been promoted for how hunters handle carcasses that would remove any lead bullet "threat", but it’s a "feel-good" bill. Except for hunters who now have much more expensive ammo to find and purchase…and the hit on hunting license sales to the state.
Status: Flapping down to enrollment, then the Horseshoe. [Don’t ingest any horseshoe nails]
AB 43-Same Sex Marriage
Never mind Prop 22, "marriage is between one man and one woman." Guv vetoed similar bill last year.
Status: Governor ought to be vetoing it again anytime soon.
Honorable mention: SB 11, further undermines marriage, expanding domestic partnerships.
A Sen. Migden bill held in Assembly Approps where Asm. Leno is chair, aren’t Senate
primaries fun?
SB 777-Textbook Content
School books would not be allowed to "discriminate" in "skewing" depictions of family or religion or gender or sexual preferences towards what would be seen as traditional. Similar bill SB 1437 vetoed previously.
Status: Passed off our floor Tuesday, to enrollment.
Prisons And Sentencing
SB 110-Sentencing Commission.
Another chance for criminals to get easier sentences after judge and jury have spoken.
Status: Locked down on the Assembly floor, only 34 aye votes.
Honorable mention: AB 1334-Dental Dams for prisoners [I’m not explaining this one] The
Guv will have to deal with it though, similar bill vetoed before.
AB 930-Flood Easements
An idea whose practical application means less dollars for actual flood control infrastructure that would go for buying flood easements, and even cause an attitude of not building flood control at all near "willing flood zones." Also a recipe for litigation by neighbors not participating in flood easements. Another example of urban areas dictating to "flyover’ [floodover?] ag land.
Status: To Governor
Honorable mention: SB 5, AB 5, a slew of bills nibbling at flood control but more about
studies, mapping and dictating local land use by the state plus denying bond funds for
those that don’t play ball. All for the Governor to decide, similar ones vetoed before.
AB 493-SUV Tax-Greenhouse Gas
"Incentivize" you to buy little CO 2 cars with a tax credit, by taxing you if you buy big CO 2 cars
Status: Broke down on crowded Assembly floor carpool lane, only 35 aye votes, on inactive file.
OK, that’s 12. What, you say that’s more than 12 above? Hmm, no different than the "12 years in the Assembly is shorter than 6" explanation we’re getting on the term limit reform measure.
How about just one more, a baker’s dozen.
AB 722-Light Bulb Ban, Energy Savings
Ah yes, ban those old fashion incandescent bulbs, great idea. The fluorescent one’s take a couple seconds to flicker on so don’t replace your "idea" light bulb with one.
Status: In a dark, Assembly "inactive file" room.
Honorable mention: AB 1109, gets the Ca Energy Commission to do the dirty work by setting the energy standard so high that when the regs kick in, incandescents, like a short kid leaping for a short light bulb pull chain in the basement, can’t reach it. Thereby the C.E.C. bans ’em, not us! Status: The Governor will have to reach for this one, passed Tuesday night.
We’ll watch how these go the next 30 days, those that the Guv will see. The rest? They’ll be back.
Care to comment? See this commentary’s mirror-post on the FR blog…