CAPITOL BEAT
YEAR’S WRAP UP
By Aaron Read & Assoc.
BUDGET: This year has been historic, for many
reasons. First of all, the budget for the year was 85 days late, the latest in
the history of the state.
Early in the stalemate, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promised that he would
not sign any bills that came to him until a budget was passed. All sides finally
came to a compromise on Sept. 17, which gave the governor 13 days to make
decisions on all bills before the Sept. 30 deadline.
This meant that he had less than two weeks to sign or veto hundreds of bills.
The outcome? By the deadline, the governor had signed 548 bills and vetoed 396
of them. Many of these bills came back with the same veto message, blaming the
budget deficit and the legislature’s late budget proposal, stating that only the
most important bills were even considered.
Early in the budget debacle, Governor Schwarzenegger issued an Executive Order
forcing most state employees to be paid at the federal minimum wage. State
Controller John Chiang declared that he would pay everyone their full pay, on
time, which caused the governor to file a lawsuit against Controller Chiang,
attempting to force him to pay the federal minimum wage. The courts did not take
up the matter, but the exchange tremendously increased the heat for all parties
involved.
After months of debate and political partisanship, the Legislature finally came
to a consensus, but the governor made three demands on the Legislature:
That the Budget Stabilization Fund (BSF) be increased to 12.5 percent (In their
tentative agreement, Democratic and Republican lawmakers had pledged to increase
the size of that fund from 5 percent of the state’s general fund to 10 percent).
Any transfers out of the rainy day fund could occur when the state’s revenues
fall below projected spending (The governor defines that as “prior year spending
with Gann Factor adjustments”).
The Legislature’s three percent deposit into the rainy day fund can only be
suspended when money is being transferred out of the fund, or when the fund
reaches its 12.5 percent cap.
After much wrangling back and forth, the Legislature came to an agreement,
giving the governor what he wanted in the way of reform. Much of the $15.2
billion shortfall is being bridged by advancing revenues to be collected in
future years, shifting or borrowing money from other state funds, and by
increasing penalties on corportations who significantly under-report their taxes
during the year.
Also in the plan are some changes to the State Lottery that would supplement the
state’s revenues. The plan generates immediate revenue, but leaves gaping holes
in future budgets.
Although the Senate Budget Committee had zeroed out all of the state funded law
enforcement programs, the Joint Legislative Conference Committee ended up
funding most of the programs, although they were still included in the 10
percent across-the-board cut that the governor and Legislature had originally
agreed to. The final numbers relating to law enforcement included the following:
Rural Sheriff Assistance Fund, cut by 10 percent;
COPS funding, cut by 16 percent;
Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act funding, cut by 16 percent;
Cal-MMET, cut by 34 percent;
and booking fees reduced by 10 percent.
Funding for the Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Program (MIOCR) was
eliminated (The governor and Legislature feel MIOCR funding should come from
Prop. 63 monies).
As we write this, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer has indicated that, only three
months into the fiscal year, the state is already in the red by approximately $3
billion. The Big 5 (Governor Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass,
Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, Senate President ProTem Don Perata,
incoming ProTem Darrell Steinberg, and Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill)
has been meeting in attempts to address this growing budget deficit.
Due to the financial turmoil going on throughout the nation and the world,
budget talks seem to be on the brink of re-opening. The state is asking for a
loan of over $7 billion from the federal government, which is in the midst of
the largest financial crisis in decades, and the state is not guaranteed to
receive the assistance.
LEGISLATION: As you know, PORAC takes positions on hundreds of bills and tracks
them as they work their way through the Legislature. We work to do everything we
can to get PORAC-sponsored bills to Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk and signed
into law.
We also use all the tools available to ensure that bills that PORAC opposes are
killed before they are able to become law. We were very successful on both of
these fronts this year.
None of the bills PORAC actively opposed were able to reach the governor’s desk.
Also, even with the governor’s hasty veto actions, PORAC was able to get seven
sponsored and actively supported bills signed into law.
Thses bills ranged from public employee benefits for MRSA skin infections to
stricter restrictions on junk recyclers. Following is a comprehensive report on
these very important bills:
Assembly Bills: AB 160 (Lieber) California Sentencing Commission – This bill,
along with SB 110 (Romero), would create a California Sentencing Commission to
review all sentences of incarcerated prisoners. This bill would have given the
Commission the authority to reduce all sentences, which could then be overturned
only by a super-majority vote in the Legislature. PORAC was adamantly opposed to
this measure and it was held on the Senate Floor.
AB 352 (Solorio) Imitation firearms - PORAC sponsored legislation in the ‘80s
and ‘90s aiming to regulate toy firearms by mandating these firearms be marked
with bright colors. However, since then some toy companies have created firearm
replicas that expel plastic bbs and do not fall into the toy gun category,
thereby allowing the manufacturers of these replica firearms to produce them to
look exactly like real firearms.
PORAC’s peace officer members continue to have concerns about these replica
firearms due to the difficulty in discerning between a firearm shooting real
ammunition and one that shoots plastic bbs. A peace officer often has only
seconds to respond to someone brandishing one of these replica firearms, and the
results can be deadly.
PORAC sponsored this legislation to address the problem of brandishing of these
replica firearms by including public schools in the definition of a “public
place” as it relates to the display of these replica firearms. Governor
Schwarzenegger signed this bill into law on Sept. 27.
AB 419 (Lieber) Workers’ compensation: public employees: leaves of absence –
PORAC sponsored this bill, which aimed to rectify an oversight wherein certain
public agency peace officers and firefighters are not afforded a very important
public safety workers’ compensation benefit simply because their agencies are
“self-insured” and are not members of the 1937 County Retirement Act or CalPERS.
This bill would have allowed those peace officers and firefighters in local
agencies, such as the San Jose Police Department and San Jose Fire Department,
to be protected under Labor Code Section 4850 if injured while on the job.
The governor vetoed this bill on the legislative deadline of Sept. 30. It
appears that the governor and his staff did not take adequate care in reading
this bill, since they stated in the veto message that this benefit is best
determined by local agencies, which is how the bill is written.
We will be coming back with a similar bill in the next legislative session,
taking even more care to explain to the governor and his office exactly what the
bill does.
AB 844 (Berryhill) Junk dealers and recyclers: nonferrous materials – This bill
requires a recycler to obtain certain identifying information before providing
payment for nonferrous materials. Scrap metal dealers have been taking in stolen
materials like highway guardrails, city street manhole covers, and cut telephone
and cable wires without having to report the item sold to them, or give any
details of the items.
This bill gives law enforcement the tools necessary to combat the theft of such
materials, by holding the junk dealer or recycler accountable. PORAC actively
supported this bill and the governor signed it into law on Sept. 30.
AB 1769 (Galgiani) Jury service: peace officer exemption – Currently, most peace
officers are exempt from jury service, as they are almost never empanelled. The
aim of this bill was to exempt additional peace officers from jury service.
This bill only included community college and other school police, who do not
receive the exemption of the other officers, though they have the same training
and jurisdiction.
The problem arises when they are called for jury service and the officers must
take time off from work to go to the courthouse and participate in the normal
jury selection process.
When an officer is required to take the day off for this service, a local agency
must backfill that officers’ shift with another officer, usually an off-duty
officer, thereby incurring the cost of overtime for the additional peace
officer.
The Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) estimates that
California is over 10,000 peace officers short, and many local agencies have
declared their law enforcement shortage a “crisis.” We were successful in
getting this important bill through both houses, but the governor vetoed it on
Aug. 1.
AB 1812 (Arambula) Taxpayer contributions: California Peace Officer and
Firefighter Memorial Funds – PORAC sponsored this bill, which extends the peace
officer’s memorial fund check off on an individual’s tax return until Jan. 1,
2016. The monies received from this check-off box are used to memorialize peace
officers killed in the line of duty. These are very important contributions that
enable citizens to give back to the peace officers that so diligently protect
our communities. This bill was signed into law on July 21.
AB 2156 (Hernandez) Public employee benefits - This bill states that if a peace
officer is injured in the line of duty and as a result is found to be in a
persistent vegetative state with no cognitive function, and remains in this
state until the time of that officer’s death, the spouse or other family member
would receive that officers’ death benefits.
We know it is important to PORAC to make sure that every peace officer can feel
that his or her family would be taken care of in the event of their being
seriously injured or incapacitated. This bill ensures that if the officer were
to be put in a non-responsive state, his or her spouse would receive the death
benefits that they deserve. PORAC actively fought for this bill, and the
governor signed it on July 8.
AB 2754 (Bass) Public safety personnel: MRSA skin infections – This bill,
authored by Speaker Bass, adds all types of Methicillin-Resistant Staphyloccocus
Aureas (MRSA) skin infections as medical conditions assumed to be sustained in
the line of duty, therefore making any officer suffering from the infection
eligible for service-connected disability. Currently, MRSA is at an epidemic
stage in California, with pubic safety officials in constant danger of
contracting the infection.
This measure ensures that officers feel secure that they will receive proper
workers’ compensation benefits, should they be exposed to this infection. Like
all presumptions, this one is rebuttable by the employer and if they show that
the infection was caught in some other fashion, the presumption is not
necessarily assured.
PORAC actively supported AB 2754 and it was signed into law on the legislative
deadline of Sept. 30. It is important to mention that PORAC member, Eric Nelson
(Stockton POA), himself a victim of MRSA, came to Sacramento for each of the
hearings and gave personal testimony regarding the problems he encountered
getting MRSA to be recognized as a workers’ compensation claim. This testimony
added a personal touch, and was instrumental in the passing of this legislation.
AB 2973 (Soto) Stun guns - This bill increases the penalties for the use of a
stun gun on a peace officer or firefighter while in the line of duty. This bill
vastly improves the safety of peace officers against the increasingly popular
devices. AB 2973 was actively supported by PORAC and signed into law on Sept.
28.
Senate Bills: SB 110 (Romero) California Sentencing Commission - This bill,
along with AB 160 (Lieber), would create a California Sentencing Commission to
review all sentences of incarcerated prisoners. This bill would have given the
Commission the authority to reduce all sentences, which could then be overturned
only by a super-majority vote in the Legislature. PORAC was adamantly opposed to
this measure and it was held on the Assembly Floor.
SB 447 (Maldonado) Junk dealers – This bill requires junk dealers and recyclers
to report information on junk purchases and sales to the chief of police or the
sheriff of the county where the junk was purchased or sold. Scrap metal dealers
have been taking in stolen materials like highway guardrails, city street
manhole covers, cut telephone and cable wires, without having to report the item
sold to them or give any details of the items.
This bill gives law enforcement the tools necessary to combat the theft of such
materials by holding the junk dealer or recycler accountable. SB 447 was
chaptered by the governor on Sept. 30.
SB 1019 (Romero) Peace officer records: confidentiality - This measure was heard
again in June in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, the committee in which
it died last year. PORAC is vigorously opposed to this measure, which would undo
the Supreme Court decision Copley v. The Superior Court. In this decision, the
courts reaffirmed that the privacy provisions of current law stay intact so that
personnel hearings are kept confidential and those proceedings are not made
available to the public or the media.
It is important to point out that the California Newspaper Publisher’s
Association sponsored this bill. They are always anxious to print anything they
can to help sell newspapers. All of us know newspapers have been suffering
financially and they are looking for ways to increase circulation. They won’t
put it in those terms, but at the end of the day that’s what it is about.
They talk in terms of “the public’s right to know.” We put it in a term that is
even more important, “officer safety”! The bill was amended to apply only to
agencies that are under a “federal consent decree.”
Senator Romero’s intent was to narrow the bill’s application to LAPD only.
However, we believe Oakland PD, and possibly Berkeley PD, could fall under the
umbrella of these amendments.
This bill was successfully defeated and was held in Assembly Public Safety
Committee a second time, where it died. The author will likely bring this issue
back again next year.
SB 1361 (Correa) Vehicles: DUI: ignition interlock – This bill addressed
concerns that PORAC has with the increase in DUI offenses. This bill would allow
individuals convicted of driving under the influence to petition the Department
of Motor Vehicles for a restricted license after installation of a certified
ignition interlock device.
An ignition interlock device has proven to be an invaluable tool in the fight
against drunk driving. The device prevents the individual from operating their
vehicle if they have traces of alcohol on their breath, therefore stopping drunk
driving before it starts.
At the same time, this allows the individual to regain some of their
independence and deters future offenses through education and routine. PORAC
believes this bill is a comprehensive measure to decrease the number of persons
driving under the influence and to help decrease instances of persons driving on
a suspended or revoked license.
The governor vetoed SB 1361 on Sept. 27. We plan on coming back with a similar
bill next year, which we hope will have a different fate when these frustrating
budget issues are no longer a factor. PORAC knows all too well that drunk
driving is an important issue facing the citizens of California and we are
working hard to address the problem.
As always, it has been an honor working with PORAC this year, and we look
forward to many years to come. You can find additional information on all these
bills, including all of Governor Schwarzenegger’s veto messages, at
www.leginfo.ca.gov.