Budget Is Down to Wire

SACRAMENTO —  Increasingly desperate legislative leaders facing adjournment at midnight tonight appeared near a budget deal Friday, while lawmakers approved a bill overhauling California’s landmark farm labor act.

As demonstrators massed outside the Capitol and scores of lobbyists roamed the hallways hoping to buttonhole lawmakers and make last-minute appeals, legislators, their tempers sometimes flaring, considered hundreds of measures in a final rush before the end of the two-year legislative session.

“This is slam-jam,” said a frustrated Assemblyman Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), trying to keep up with the rush that comes at the end of every session. “There is no time for anyone to fully understand what these laws really mean. They gut and amend. Contents of legislation are removed and replaced in the middle of the night, rushed through meaningless hearings, and then appear out of nowhere at the 11th hour.”

Among the scores of measures that won final approval was one by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) to permit pharmacists to sell adults up to 30 syringes without a prescription in the hope of curbing the spread of AIDS, and another that marks a significant compromise between builders and trial lawyers over construction-defect lawsuits.

Lawmakers also sent to the governor legislation by Sen. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) to place a $9-billion bond measure on the November 2004 ballot to finance the construction of a high-speed “bullet” train. The system envisioned by the bill, SB 1856, would stretch from Los Angeles to San Francisco and Sacramento.

Another measure, SB 1661 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), would provide paid family leave for Californians who want time off from work to care for an ill family member. If Davis signs the measure, employees would bear the cost of the program--about $2 to $2.50 a month. One foe, Sen. Ray Haynes (R-Riverside), complained the extra cost amounted to a new tax on jobs.

Much of the Assembly’s day was spent debating legislation aimed at giving more rights to farm workers and allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) pushed the driver’s license bill, SB 804, after Davis refused to sign an earlier measure by Cedillo.

Under the new bill, illegal immigrants could obtain licenses but only if they were in the process of applying for citizenship, could prove longtime residency and agree to criminal background checks in this country and their country of origin. Davis insisted on those provisions before he would sign the measure.

Eleven Republicans joined all 50 Assembly Democrats in voting for the bill. The Senate was expected to vote on the measure today. But some Republicans denounced it, among them Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia), who warned that by granting “illegal aliens the right to a driver’s license, you’ve handed them the right to vote.” Other Republicans warned that the state could help terrorists blend into society by allowing illegal immigrants to obtain licenses, a vital form of identification.

“There is not one scintilla of evidence to draw a connection between terrorism and driver’s licenses,” Cedillo said, adding that the bill would help authorities know who is in the country and would make the roadways safer by requiring immigrants to pass driving tests and have insurance. Senate concurrence was expected.

Outside the Capitol, the United Farm Workers union continued its vigil on behalf of legislation to grant the union greater organizing power. Lawmakers approved a bill earlier this month that would be the first overhaul of California’s Agriculture Labor Relations Act, a 1975 law approved when Davis was chief of staff to then-Gov. Jerry Brown, an ally of UFW founder Cesar Chavez.

Davis, trying to keep farmers in his camp as he faces reelection in November, indicated he likely would veto it. When farm workers amplified their campaign, the Democratic governor’s aides sought a compromise with Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), who has been pushing the legislation on behalf of the farm workers.

As the Senate prepared to approve a revised bill Friday, Burton, a frequent critic of the Democratic governor, chastised Davis for failing to weigh in on the issue until recently, and then complaining he hadn’t been consulted. Burton noted he introduced the legislation in February, and that it had not changed much since then.

“If the governor was offended because we don’t clear legislation with him when we introduce it,” Burton said in a floor speech that elicited applause from legislative staffers, “I’m going to put a rule in that every bill before it’s introduced has to be vetted by the governor.... If he could get away from his fund-raising activities to pay attention, maybe then he will clear our bills and we can introduce them.”

The veteran Senate leader concluded: “How dare he think that we have to implement his vision. We have to do nothing but pass bills, and if he’d come up with a budget, maybe we could pass that too.”

Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean responded, “Mr. Burton is Mr. Burton. What can we say?”

The Senate passed the bill on a 25-12 vote after the Assembly approved it 49 to 25. Republicans, long aligned with farm interests, voted in near unison against it. The bill, SB 1156, would allow the union to turn to government mediators to resolve disputes over contracts. Under the first bill, disputes would have been resolved by binding arbitration. Farm groups saw little difference.

“When the day is done, it’s government-imposed contracts on farmers and farm workers,” said Carl Borden, California Farm Bureau attorney.

Farm interests have donated $252,000 to Davis since the beginning of August, when the issue neared final legislative resolution. But Davis also hopes to maintain the support of Californians who care about the plight of farm workers. Adding to the pressure, the UFW plans to demonstrate outside Davis fund-raisers next week, and UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, 72, has said she was considering a public fast if the governor vetoes the bill--not a pleasant prospect in election season.

One of the most striking demonstrations was organized by representatives of regional centers that serve developmentally disabled people. In a noontime rally, several hundred disabled people encircled the Capitol, while their organizers urged lawmakers to approve the state budget, now two months past the July 1 start of the new fiscal year. Funding for the centers could become jeopardized if no budget is in place by Sunday.

Inside the Capitol, the biggest fight was over the budget, with much of the focus on a Democratic plan to end the impasse, but by bypassing California’s constitutional requirement that lawmakers approve tax hikes by a two-thirds vote.

Under the legislation headed for a vote in the Senate, Democrats would allow Davis’ finance director to raise the car tax by as much as $7.2 billion over the next two years. Such a move would close much of the $23.6-billion budget gap, and also would more than doubling the annual cost motorists must pay to reregister their cars.

“It is an absolute outrage,” Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) said. “We are allowing unelected bureaucrats to raise taxes by billions.”

A Davis spokeswoman said the governor has no position on the bill. Republicans vowed to file a lawsuit if Davis signs it into law.

Despite all that, Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks said he was “fairly close” to agreement with Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City), a sentiment that Wesson echoed.

Meanwhile, Davis’ threat to call lawmakers into a special session if they fail to approve the budget only served to raise some legislators’ hackles.

Senate leader Burton quipped that such a move would be welcome. “Maybe then he’ll become engaged,” Burton said pointedly.

Burton noted, however, that under state law, Davis does not need to convene a special session to approve a budget. What’s more, if Davis were to make such a move, all budget actions taken in the Legislature’s regular session--including Senate approval of the budget--would have to be done again.

“I don’t know if he knows that,” Burton said.

Times staff writers Jon Ortiz, Miguel Bustillo and Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.