By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Like many lawmakers, Assemblyman Paul Cook's resume includes time as a city councilman and educator as well as serving on the boards of various community groups.

On at least one life-defining experience, though, the Yucca Valley Republican has little company.

Cook spent a quarter-century in the U.S. Marine Corps. His service included time as an infantry officer in Vietnam, where he was wounded in combat and received the Bronze Star.

"I think they look to me as someone with some insight," Cook, who is vice chairman of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, said of his colleagues.

In the Capitol and at other statehouses, a shrinking percentage of legislators have military backgrounds at a time when lawmakers are considering more military-related issues.

Thousands of California residents are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan while others already have returned home. While the U.S. government oversees the military, the Legislature has a significant say on matters such as pay and benefits for members of the California National Guard and veterans homes.

In addition, state capitals have seen the same kind of debate over the continued U.S. presence in Iraq as Congress.

Earlier this year, a person could simultaneously watch lawmakers in Washington and Sacramento argue over President Bush's decision to send 20,000 more soldiers to Iraq. And a measure to ask California voters in February whether the U.S. should pull its troops from Iraq is pending in the state Senate.

California Veterans

An estimated 2.1 million veterans live in California, the most of any state.

Pete Conaty, a retired military officer who lobbies for various veterans groups, said he thinks most lawmakers today don't understand military and veterans issues.

Last week, a Senate budget panel approved spending $1.8 million to expand a program that helps fund military honors at veterans' funerals.

But it rejected a $1.7 million request to provide scholarships to members of the California National Guard.

"I think it would have been an easier sell" if more lawmakers had military experience, Conaty said. "They would have had a more intuitive understanding of the need."

Far more veterans served in previous Legislatures.

In 1967, 60 percent of California's 120 lawmakers had spent time in the military. Many of them had combat experience. At least one -- the late Lester McMillan, of Los Angeles -- served overseas during World War I a half-century earlier.

In 1987, about 30 percent of legislators reported military experience.

Today, only about a dozen California lawmakers have military backgrounds. Cook is the only one who has been in combat, although a few others served overseas during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Monroe, who once led the California National Guard and worked with legislative leaders over the years, attributed the decline to the end of the military draft in the early 1970s.

"I do think it makes a difference," he said. "They don't know what it takes to support the California National Guard and to do what it takes to maintain its strength. The Legislature is just not up to that."

Some lawmakers said they feel well versed in military matters even if they have never been in uniform themselves.

Assemblywoman Mary Salas, D-Chula Vista, who leads the Assembly veterans panel, is the daughter and niece of veterans, six of whom saw combat. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also have raised legislators' awareness of veterans issues, she said.

Former Inland lawmaker Robert Presley, who served with many fellow veterans in the Legislature, said their shared backgrounds meant more than familiarity with military issues.

"It's a comradery, a bond," Presley said.

Presley recalled that former San Bernardino County lawmaker and Marine Corps veteran Ruben Ayala, when he disagreed with Presley, would jokingly ask of his World War II service, "Whose side were you on?"

Active Duty

There is no accurate count of the number of state lawmakers nationwide with military backgrounds. But there are 57 state lawmakers serving in their states' National Guard or reserve units, according to a report last August by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Only two current California lawmakers began the year in the military reserves or National Guard -- Assemblymen Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, and Ted Lieu, D-Torrance. No California lawmaker has been called to active duty since the start of combat in Iraq.

Hawaii state Rep. Mark Takai, the chairman of the new National Network of Legislators in the Military, said he expects the number of lawmakers serving in the military to shrink further.

"In today's current military environment, I think it's very difficult for people in the reserves or National Guard to also serve in the Legislature," Takai, who serves in the Hawaii Army National Guard, said in an interview. Deployments are longer and more frequent than in the past, he said.

Cook said Thursday he hasn't discussed Memorial Day plans with his colleagues. He plans to spend the day the same way he expects some other lawmakers will -- attending ceremonies around their districts.

"Memorial Day is a special time that we should not forget. It's not just another three-day weekend. That's unfortunately what it's become," he said.

Reach Jim Miller at 916-445-9973 or jmiller@PE.com