If You Will, Mr. Wilson, Sign Right Here : Four bills among the many before the governor stand out as worthy

With the arrival of recess in this year’s session of the state Legislature, a number of bills are on Gov. Pete Wilson’s desk to either be signed into law or vetoed. The following bills are but a few that merit becoming law.

AB 2444. California’s splendid 1,000-mile coastline requires protection from environmental hazards. AB 2444 seeks to help ensure that--by banning indefinitely new offshore oil drilling in state waters, from Imperial Beach to the Oregon border. The measure, by Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpenteria), would add to existing drilling prohibitions and would remove provisions that would allow drilling to resume in some areas as soon as next year.

Given his past stances opposing offshore drilling and limiting the development of oil wells in federal waters, it should be easy for Wilson to approve this bill. But the governor, seeking reelection, is also trying to keep business in California, and oil companies that have contributed to his campaigns oppose the measure.

On aesthetic grounds as well as on the basis of estimates that the amounts of oil to be gained are not worth the potential risks, AB 2444 should become law.

AB 3046. A series of articles published by The Times in 1990 documented widespread abuses in the garment industry, mostly by subcontractors who employ immigrant Latino or Asian women as seamstresses at below the minimum wage. In some especially egregious cases, so-called “stitch and ditch” operators absconded with newly sewn goods without even paying their employees. Due to budget cutbacks there are simply not enough state labor inspectors to crack down on all such violators.

This legislation, by Assemblywoman Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte), would shift some responsibility for improving work conditions in the garment trade to the large manufacturers that keep the subcontractors in business. It is more narrowly written than earlier legislation that was opposed by the garment industry; it makes a manufacturer liable only if a subcontractor fails to pay his workers or does not pay the minimum wage or overtime. It is a reasonable compromise that could help eliminate any remaining sweatshops in California’s garment trade, without putting an undue financial burden on an important manufacturing sector.

AB 1333. This bill would require police to destroy confiscated guns. The practice by some local governments of allowing police departments to raise money by reselling firearms is dangerously irresponsible. Legislation by Assemblyman Mike Gotch (D-San Diego) would bar the practice.

Currently police agencies are allowed to sell all legal weapons that are confiscated and keep the money. This bill would require police to destroy all weapons, except antiques, or use them for law enforcement. The legislation is eminently sensible.

AB 3335. Asians and Pacific Islanders account for 10% of California’s population. But when the state Department of Finance last year issued a report about population projections, there was no category for Asians and Pacific Islanders. They were lumped into the “other,” which was the fourth category, after whites, blacks and Hispanics. The Finance Department acknowledged that 85% of the “others” were Californians of Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry.

To correct this oversight, the Legislature passed AB 3335, by Assemblymen Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles) and Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard). The bill would require the Finance Department to present Asians and Pacific Islanders as a distinct category whenever the agency issues reports containing breakdowns or analyses based on race or ethnicity.

This fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States--and California--will have increasing impact and voice. It’s just good public policy for the state to have basic information about Asians and Pacific Islanders.