CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2013 OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2013 OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“COMPROMISE RETURNS TO CALIFORNIA POLITICS”
Anyone
who says there was no effect from political rule changes California used for
the first time last year just hasn't been watching. These included “top
two” primary elections, slightly revised term limits and use of election
districts drawn by non-partisan non-politicians.
Those changes had enormous impact this
year on some of the most important issues taken up by state legislators –
making it obvious some similar changes could be useful at the federal level.
The main impact of the changes has
been restoration of respectability to the word “compromise.”
For decades before the rule changes,
behavior patterns in Sacramento were much like those so paralyzing today in
Congress: almost mindless adherence to the party line of whichever party
lawmakers belong to and blind unwillingness even to listen to the reasoning of
the other side.
But the new rules, including a term
limit change allowing legislators to serve 12 total years, whether in one house
or both, has lessened the need for new lawmakers to start looking for their
next jobs almost as soon as they’re elected. So there’s less pressure for
rookies to please party leaders who control money they could use if and when
they seek to move up the political ladder.
Meanwhile, top two frees some
politicians from the fear of extremists within their own parties, who often
controlled the old Democratic and Republican primaries.
And some of the new districts are more
competitive than the old gerrymandered ones, making moderation more attractive.
These were some of the reasons why
compromise ruled in the legislative session just ended. Democrats have
overwhelming majorities in both the state Assembly and Senate, so much of the
give and take was between the extreme left and moderates within the party, but
on some issues, even the small minority of Republican legislators got involved.
The best example was prison reform,
where Bob Huff of Diamond Bar and Connie Conway of Tulare, GOP leaders in the
Senate and Assembly, joined Democratic leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown in
announcing a compromise that will encourage rehabilitation efforts while
assuring no current prison inmates are released earlier than normal.
Because of a federal court order, the
state must decrease prison populations to no more than 137.5 percent of design
capacity by the end of this year. This threatened to force a few thousand early
releases.
Some Republicans wanted to solve the
problem by building more prisons. Many Democrats, led by Senate President
Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, wanted to place thousands of inmates into
rehab. But all political sides agreed to ask the judges to amend their order
and allow the state more time to lower the number of prisoners by expanding
rehab programs that do well in preventing recidivism of drug- and alcohol-related
crimes.
Should the judges insist on their
current deadline, the deal would see the state rent space in out-of-state
prisons and county jails while the rehab plan ramps up.
That gets in both the main elements of
Brown’s plan for mainly renting more space – which Republicans liked – and
Steinberg’s rehab-centered ideas. It’s a classic compromise.
So was what happened on hydraulic
fracturing, better known as fracking, the drilling method in which water and
chemicals are inserted in shale formations to loosen oil and natural gas.
Fearing ground water pollution, environmental activists demanded a moratorium
on fracking, which could become an economic bonanza, while the oil industry
wanted the old system of loose or no regulation.
The new compromise law will force
permits for the first time, and require disclosure of exactly what chemicals
are used, plus continuous monitoring of ground water quality.
“The last-minute changes undercut
critical safety measures,” griped the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This
was a good bill gone bad.” But it’s still a lot more regulation than California
has had.
There was compromise, too, on drivers
licenses for undocumented immigrants, where some sought regular drivers
licenses for all. Instead, the undocumented can soon get licenses, but ones
with special watermarks and notations not permitting them to be used to prove
they can legally be employed. Half a loaf for immigrant advocates, but a lot
more than the nothing they’ve gotten in previous years.
Brown rightfully gets a lot of credit
for the atmosphere of moderation that produced these compromises. But so should
the rule changes, without which it’s likely at least some of these deals would
not have been done.
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Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net