Avalanche of Votes Defines GOP Agenda

SACRAMENTO —  In three marathon sessions this week, Assembly Republicans defined the legislative year, the upcoming November elections and themselves better than Democrats ever could.

As they approved roughly 300 bills, the GOP-controlled lower house made it clear that Republicans, if they have their way, will make major tax cuts, drastically limit welfare and the right to file certain lawsuits, and further toughen laws against street criminals, while easing up on business restrictions.

“In the last three days, we passed the largest group of anti-status quo bills probably in history,” said Assemblyman Steve Baldwin (R-El Cajon). “I hope voters interpret that as signaling that we are very, very serious about reforming this state.”

While many of the bills are likely to die in the Democratic-controlled state Senate, the measures--and similar ones pending in Assembly committees--will be the principal focus of legislative debate in the state Capitol this year.

Taken as a whole, the measures will give voters a clear picture this election year of what they will get if Republicans retain control of the Assembly in November and seize a majority in the Senate.

“Come mid-September” when the Legislature adjourns for the year, said Assemblyman Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), “the voters of California will see what a Republican-controlled Assembly has done to improve California, and what a Democrat-controlled Senate has failed to do.”

The Republicans, who have 41 seats in the 80-seat house, focused primarily on approving bills to cut taxes and limit the right to file certain kinds of lawsuits. They approved at least 15 measures to reduce litigation and the amount of damages that injured people can collect. Business interests were especially pleased at the developments on the Assembly floor.

“My hat’s off to Speaker Curt Pringle,” said Kirk West, president of the California Chamber of Commerce. “It’s very positive.”

In the fight for political power, Democrats know that much of what flew out of the Assembly this week will translate into a major fund-raising advantage for Republicans heading into the November elections. Many of the bills approved this week are certain to result in hefty donations from special interests that were served.

“The bills that were passed read like a fund-raising wish list,” Assembly Democratic Leader Richard Katz said.

Republicans estimate that GOP Assembly candidates seeking reelection already have $2 million in campaign funds, to the Democrats’ $450,000. Democrats say the gap is not quite that wide--$1.7 million for Republicans to $600,000 for Democrats.

Making matters worse for the Democrats, Pringle on Thursday announced he was slashing Democratic Party caucus funds nearly in half, from $5 million to $2.6 million. As a result, Democratic lawmakers will be laying off dozens of staffers in the coming days.

The Republican caucus will have $4.9 million, and the speaker’s office will be receiving an additional $1 million. Also, Republicans chair all the committees and control $7.9 million allocated to their operations.

Even as the Republican “revolution” was unfolding, Democrats set out to finger the GOP as the enemy of workers, the middle class, children, public schools and minorities.

“It is partisan, but it’s not petty,” Assemblywoman Sheila J. Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) said.

Kuehl and other Democrats homed in on Republican-backed bills dear to the GOP’s most conservative and activist constituents--one to make concealed gun permits easier to get, and another to deny state recognition of same-sex marriages sanctioned by other states.

The frantic pace and heated arguments turned poignant Wednesday night when, after the Assembly approved the bill to deny recognition of gay marriages sanctioned by other states, Kuehl--the only openly gay member of the Legislature--left the floor in tears.

In a Democratic-controlled house, such a bill would have died in committee with little debate. But under Pringle, the bill made it to the floor. And once such measures are put to a vote, pressure builds on Democrats in moderate districts. The same-sex marriage ban passed with votes from 38 Republicans and three Democrats.

Conservative Republican political consultant Wayne Johnson said the same-sex marriage bill sharply illustrates the “real battle going on for the culture--the assault on marriage.” And it is certain to be a bill that will play a role in the coming election.

“It shows the utter and complete hypocrisy of the [Democratic] party that uses rhetoric that says they’re pro-family,” Johnson said. “But when their position is defined by their vote, they are not pro-family. Their vote made them define the word ‘family’ in a completely nontraditional way. It is not lost on people.”

As Republicans flexed their muscles, Democrats found plenty to attack in the bills Republicans championed in their first month in power, and were considering building campaigns around some of the GOP votes and bills.

Moments after the Assembly approved the bill to vastly expand the number of concealed handgun permits, Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) contemplated the possibilities of using it as a campaign issue.

He envisioned a campaign mailer that might portray someone leaving a mental institution, then show him getting a permit, and finally picture the person holding a gun. The concluding line, Villaraigosa says, might be a question: “Do you think this law makes you safer?”

“It’s extremism,” Villaraigosa said. “People don’t support this.”

Some political experts believe that in their rush to approve bills, the Republicans produced a hodgepodge. Tony Quinn, a Republican political analyst in Sacramento, cited a measure by Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) to repeal a 4-year-old law that requires motorcyclists to wear helmets.

“They’ve allowed a lot of side issues that are not meaningful to dominate the headlines,” Quinn said. “This [helmet bill] is not exactly a burning issue that needs to be put forward in the first month you’re in charge.”