New Assemblyman Harper pursues residents’ ideas: global-warming, bag-ban repeals

Since leaving the Huntington Beach City Council after his election to the state Assembly in November, Matthew Harper has been asking his constituents what state laws they would like him to try to create, modify or remove.

Harper (R-Huntington Beach), was sworn in Dec. 1 to represent the 74th Assembly District, which includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach and parts of Huntington Beach.

One suggestion Harper says he is looking to act on is the repeal of Assembly Bill 32, also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state to 1990 levels by 2020 while expanding the use of renewable energy.

Harper opposes the law because of the fees it imposes on industrial sources of emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane, which are associated with the risk of climate change. He also believes the law will not affect the global climate.

However, Harper said he was told during his Assembly orientation that repealing the law would be close to impossible.

“I think some of the legislators will probably go for a certain part of it, but my bill will simply be an outright repeal, and that’s what I think we should do, no matter what the odds of its passage happen to be,” Harper said.

He is also looking to repeal the state’s plastic bag ban, preserve beach fire rings and prevent additional toll lanes.

Harper said he was inspired by online discussion sites such as the Huntington Beach Community Forum, a Facebook group with more than 8,000 members.

“I have plenty of ideas of things where I want to go, but I want to listen to what our other people’s priorities are as well,” he said. “There are people that are going to approach me, representing some interest group or from out of my district, but what I’m looking for is the priorities of the people within my district.”

After serving as mayor of Huntington Beach in 2014, Harper said he hopes people will be willing to approach him with their ideas.

“I think all too often that the state Legislature is one of the least-known levels of government,” Harper said. “People have a lot of interaction with their city council or school board … but there’s two kinds of government that kind of go unnoticed, and that’s the county board of supervisors and the state Legislature.”

Already this year, people seeking legalization of ferrets as pets reportedly want Harper’s help.

He said he is hesitant to pursue such an effort, noting that others haven’t had much luck, including former Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith, who in the 1990s failed twice in the attempt.

Harper sat recently in his district office in Costa Mesa and scrolled through comments on the Huntington Beach Community Forum. Labeling genetically modified organisms, repealing Proposition 47 (the initiative, passed in November, reduces penalties for some crimes) and legalization of marijuana have been among recent topics.

One person asked him to help ban peanuts from common areas such as playgrounds in an attempt to prevent allergic reactions.

“That’s one of the difficulties that you have to address,” Harper said. “Do you legislate to the extreme or do you legislate to the means? Sometimes you do legislate to the extremes, but it’s a question of when.”