THE LIST STARTS WITH A SLIMY GIFT LAWMAKERS GAVE TO THEMSELVES

Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 6, 2008

Readers of this page know that we sometimes criticize legislators for their lack of vision. Actually, though, the vision of these lawmakers is very clear - at least when it comes to self-serving bills.

In the final weeks of the session, legislators quietly added vision care to the health benefits offered to retired lawmakers, through passage of Senate Bill 1601.

The bill, by Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, originally passed the Senate without this putrid perk. But when it reached the Assembly, lawmakers included "vision plan" in the entitlements provided to retired legislators who have served six years or longer.

According to the legislative record, this amendment was added to the bill by the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security. That committee is headed by Ed Hernandez, D-Baldwin Park, who (purely as a coincidence, we are sure) works as an optometrist.

The full Assembly approved SB 1601 on Aug. 12, and the Senate approved it Aug. 19, largely along party lines. It now is one of 873 bills headed toward the governor's desk.

When it gets there, Arnold Schwarzenegger should veto it. With lawmakers more than two months late in passing a budget, the governor shouldn't let them pad the health benefits they'll enjoy when they finally leave office.

There are a few other bills the governor should veto:

Senate Bill 1369: This bill, by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, originally dealt with school lunch programs. Then, in August, lawmakers gutted and amended it to help the Catholic Church boost its bingo revenues, which are dwindling because of competition from Indian casino slot machines.

Then the tribes jumped in, and the church and tribes created a Faustian bargain bill that could hurt smaller charities and represents the worst kind of closed-door sausage-making.

Schwarzenegger in 2003 pledged to veto any gut-and-amend bill that had not gone through the policy committees of both chambers.

"There is no such thing as democracy in the dark," the governor said. If he still holds true to those words, the governor will veto SB 1369.

Senate Bill 981: This bill by Sen. President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, deals with a real problem - the fact that patients often get saddled with big hospital bills when hospitals and insurers can't agree on appropriate treatment costs.

The problem, however, is that Perata's "balance billing" legislation is clumsily written and leapfrogs over a state regulation, scheduled to take effect on Oct. 15, that would address the problem. If the governor were to sign SB 981, there's a real risk it would increase health care costs when insurers and hospitals dispute billing amounts. The governor should veto this bill, let the new regulation take effect, monitor it and then consider tweaks, if needed.

Senate Bill 1407: Perata is author of another well-intentioned bill that, unfortunately, includes a serious flaw.

SB 1407 authorizes $5 billion in lease revenue bonds to upgrade courthouse facilities statewide. It's a critical need. But to pay off the bonds, Perata's measure depends on higher fees and fines on traffic violators and parking violators - a segment of the population unlikely to be able to afford such a tax. Lawmakers should find a less regressive way to pay for courthouses that benefit all of society, which is why the governor should veto this bill.

Assembly Bill 1245: Anheuser Busch galloped into the Legislature this year like a team of Clydesdales. The company's lobbying mission? To get a law passed that would allow beer brewers to distribute more free trinkets, such as Bud Light key chains. Smaller brewers and groups crusading against alchohol abuse oppose SB 1245 by Assemblyman Albert Torrico, D-Fremont. It sailed easily through both houses but deserves a red veto stamp on the governor's desk.