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End of another unproductive Capitol year

September 6, 2024

California legislators completed the legislative session on August 31, sending hundreds of bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his consideration by the end of September. Even though Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses, this session was marked by a variety of contentious issues and high-profile intraparty battles.

One of the strangest debates took place after the session officially concluded. The governor has called on the Legislature to hold a special session to address the state’s sky-high gasoline and oil prices. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, has announced he will move forward with it, but Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, continues to refuse.

In his rebuke, McGuire explained in a statement that lawmakers have “been working on this [package] for months. … The Senate always had the votes and was ready to get these important measures across the finish line.” Reports suggest McGuire has softened his stance, but his rebuke was pitch perfect.

Newsom spent significant time campaigning for the Democratic national ticket. If this were so important, he should have made it a priority during session. His hectoring about “gouging” is about political posturing. Gas prices are high, but Newsom has no interest in striking at the root of them — our highest-in-the-nation gas taxes and state regulatory policy.

This year’s biggest in-session fracas involved clod-footed efforts by Democrats to deal retail theft. Eager to stop a coming and popular ballot initiative that undermines a decade-old criminal-justice initiative (Proposition 47), Democrats passed a package of crime-fighting bills that ultimately were signed by the governor — but only after a series of missteps designed to derail a tough-on-crime measure on the November ballot (Proposition 36).

The Legislature passed a bill designed to deal with Artificial Intelligence — something that deserves more critical attention. Assembly Bill 1047 would require AI developers to “put appropriate safeguards and policies into place to prevent critical harms.” It also creates a new state agency. We doubt lawmakers have the wherewithal to oversee the development of such a complex technology — and fear their efforts will discourage AI development. Its definitions of “critical harms” are far too vague.

The Legislature at least shelved some dubious reparations proposals, including ones that could set the stage for direct payments. They are wrongheaded bills that promote divisiveness and are financially irresponsible. But some modest measures — such as a bill calling on the state to investigate racially motivated instances of eminent domain — are praiseworthy.

Lawmakers couldn’t avoid controversies that made California a national laughingstock, as they approved bills that provide illegal immigrants with access to $150,000 in down-payment assistance and one to give such immigrants access to unemployment benefits. We don’t think the state should provide housing payments to anyone — and California has yet to figure out how to pay for expanded job-loss benefits.

Lawmakers passed yet another plastic-bag ban. This time they banned the use of the heavier bags that they forced shoppers to use after they banned the previous form of thin plastic bags. Studies have shown that plastic waste has increased since the Legislature’s previous effort, so we suspect the latest one will do little more than annoy shoppers.

That’s a short roundup of a largely unproductive legislative session. Here’s hoping that the governor might get more engaged and get out that veto pen.

Orange County Register

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End of another unproductive Capitol year

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