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Nothing new under the sun: Legislative sequel ahead

Nothing new under the sun: Legislative sequel ahead
by Rebecca Burgoyne
Legislators were scheduled to return to Sacramento Jan. 4 for the second half of a two-year legislative session. Yet, echoing Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes, it seems “there is nothing new under the sun,” and the sequel to last year’s ineffective Legislature holds little promise of renewed success in the new year. 
Deeply divided, the Legislature failed to adequately address California’s massive budget deficit. Instead, they squandered their time on partisan issues and amassed the support of only 13 percent of Californians, according to an October 2009 Field Poll. While most Californians supported the autumn special session to deal with water supply, legislators tossed the ball back to voters who will consider a pork-laden $11 billion water bond on the November ballot.
Budget backdrop
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose own popularity isn’t much higher than that of his legislative counterparts, releases his preliminary 2010-11 budget this month. Last fall, California Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor estimated the current budget was already $6.3 billion out of whack and promised to balloon above $20 billion. The smoke-and-mirror solutions legislators tried last year have been unmasked, and legislators will have to give major focus to the budget crisis again this year.
Taxpayers are screaming for real budget restraint in the midst of continuing recession. The governor is promising no new taxes, and the deeply divided Legislature is out of political capital. Yet Democratic special interests are pressing for new revenue (i.e., taxes). 2010 will play out against this backdrop, while continuing the same reprise of bill introductions, committee hearings and votes. Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun.
Two-year bills
During January, two-year bill—carry-over bills introduced in 2009—face a final deadline to successfully navigate the Legislature. These measures include two resolutions and SB 543 (Leno, D-San Francisco), which ignores the authority of parents and would allow children as young as 12 to receive counseling and mental health treatment without parental knowledge or consent. 
Resolutions, which do not have the full force of law, merely represent the collective opinion of the California Legislature. Assembly Joint Resolution 15 (De Léon, D-Los Angeles) urges the U.S. Congress and the president to pass federal law allowing same-sex partners the same immigration status as married couples. AJR 19 (Brownley, D-Woodland Hills) asks Congress and the president to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, federal legislation dating to the Clinton administration that allows states to define marriage.
These two-year bills have passed their house of origin—the Assembly—and are now in the Senate.
Newbies
In January and February, legislators will introduce new bill proposals to be considered in spring committee hearings. These may be totally new ideas—sometimes pulled from the headlines or issues du jour—or recycled ideas such as the return of a previously vetoed or failed bill. Recycled ideas may repeat previous bill language verbatim or may be tweaked slightly in hopes of finding successful passage this time around. Certainly, legislators will resurrect pet ideas or bills pertaining to the goals of their supporting special interests. 
Undoubtedly, this year will see its share of environmental measures, health-care measures, budget and government “reforms,” crime measures, education bills, and foster-care/adoption reforms. Often these bills, written from one partisan extreme or the other, fail to pass political muster or are adopted by one-sided party-line votes. Bill repetitions the past few years have included successful efforts to expand homosexual curriculum in public schools and to expand Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender rights. Other bills that have repeatedly returned—and may return again this year—include massive government-controlled health care, compulsory state preschool, raising the age for kindergarten attendance, and relaxing the requirements for using HIV-tainted sperm donors.
The 2010 legislative session looms ahead. Will legislators and the governor continue the same old approaches or will they abandon past strategies to focus on new solutions? Will Schwarzenegger keep his promise not to raise taxes or change his mind as he has in the past? Will legislators find the courage to enact a real budget solution or fall back on the same old tricks and sleights of hand?
The Field Poll last fall found that the people of California do not trust their legislators. It also found that 78 percent “believe California is seriously off on the wrong track rather than moving in the right direction”—a continuing decline noted since early 2008. As the 2010 legislative session unfolds, will Californians find there’s nothing new under the sun, or—as hope springs eternal—will they find change in a deeply divided, partisanship-enmeshed California Legislature?
California didn’t arrive at this state of disrepair overnight. Reversing what has taken decades to create will take time and effort. It is our responsibility as citizens to participate in culture and elections by our involvement. We can learn about issues, and identify, support and elect God-fearing candidates who will be responsive to their constituents. Surely, as Christians, we may trust the sovereignty of God who controls all things under the sun.
As Printed in the January 2010 edition of the Christian Examiner.
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