Legislative Reflections

Greetings neighbors! The hustle and bustle of the fall season is officially upon us— children are in school, and work and family obligations have most of us busy as ever. With the legislative year behind us, I find myself looking forward to all that we can accomplish next year in the legislature. Before that, I would like to take a moment to review the legislature's first year working with Governor Schwarzenegger. By looking back on how the Governor acted on some of the most significant bills, we get a clearer picture of his position on key issues many Californians care about.

Out of a total of 844 bills sent to his desk at the end of the legislative session, the Governor signed 571 and vetoed 273. Out of the 17 bills I authored that made it to the Governor's desk in 2004, 15 were signed into law. A wide variety of policy areas were covered.

I was pleased that the Governor gave final approval of my AB 1796, which will allow former drug felons eligibility for food stamps, overriding the current practice of prohibiting thousands of needy individuals from getting the assistance they need to turn their lives around.

He also signed a bill that will give local governments the authority to allow pharmacists in their community to sell up to 10 needles and syringes at a time to adults without a prescription. This measure will reduce the spread of AIDS, hepatitis and other blood borne diseases. With the passage of this measure, California now joins 45 other states that already allow the purchase of syringes without a prescription.

In addition to signing my AB 594, which will expand solar energy opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was also glad the Governor signed a bill to allow single-occupant hybrid vehicles into car pool lanes. This measure will provide up to 75,000 hybrid cars a decal to drive in high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, provided that the car gets at least 45 miles per gallon and meets tough emission standards. Because federal funds are used to help pay for carpool lanes, approval is needed at the federal level to allow this bill to take effect on January 1st. There is currently a bill pending in congress to grant that approval.

While there were great strides made during the last legislative year, there were also a number of missed opportunities. I was disappointed to learn that the Governor vetoed a bill that would have raised the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour from its current level of $6.75 an hour. A full time worker making minimum wage in California has a gross income of $14,040 per year— well below the federal poverty level. Ironically, despite California's higher cost of living, our minimum wage is also the lowest on the West Coast. According to some statistics, if all workers in the state earned a minimum of $8.00 per hour, public assistance program costs could be reduced by $2.7 billion.

Equally disappointing was the Governor's veto of a package of bills to make prescription drugs more affordable. One of the bills would have increased California's purchasing power for prescription drugs by pooling state agencies, HMOs and businesses to negotiate lower prices from pharmaceutical companies. Another bill would have given relief to thousands of consumers who are being wrongfully charged for medical care and are suffering from unnecessary medical debt.

Lastly, I was surprised that the Governor vetoed my AB 2813, which would have required California employers to let their employees know about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a program that could return thousands of dollars to low-wage workers who are most in need in these challenging economic times. The Internal Revenue Service refunds a certain percentage of the federal income tax for low-income individuals who apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit, but unfortunately, most eligible Californians are completely unaware of their eligibility for this credit which could be more than $4,000 per family. It was surprising that a Governor who promised to bring every federal dollar possible back to California would leave between $600 to $700 million annually in federal EITC money on the table.

There is much to celebrate when it comes to LGBT legislation this year. Of the seven LGBT Caucus priority bills, four were signed by the Governor, one was vetoed, and two died in committee. Those signed into law were: AB 2208 (Kehoe) the California Insurance Equality Act, prohibiting discrimination in insurance coverage; AB 2580 (Goldberg), the domestic partnership technical clean-up bill, changing the effective date of certain responsibilities covered under last year's AB 205, including community property and pre-partnership arrangements; AB 2990 (Laird) amending various labor and employment anti-discrimination provisions in the California Codes. SB 1234 (Kuehl), the Omnibus Hate Crimes Bill, reorganizes and expands California laws relating to hate crimes and expands Peace Officer Standards (POST) training course requirements. The Governor's support of these measures gives me hope that he will be supportive of my Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act, which I will reintroduce in the next session, with Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez as my joint author. It is sure to be a challenging and exciting year!

I am already researching issues and putting my 2005 legislative agenda together. If you have an idea for a change to state law, or would like more information on legislation from this past year, please give me a call. I look forward to the important issues we will address next year in the legislature and value your input and partnership along the way.

To contact Assemblyman Mark Leno's San Francisco District Office call 415-557-3013 or e-mail her directly at Assemblymember.Leno@asm.ca.gov