The Buzz: Line of succession to governor may get longer

Being in the minority, Republican legislators often don't have a lot of pressing things to attend to, which leaves them time to worry about some of California's what-if problems.

Take SB 1530 by state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula. This bill would extend the line of succession of various elected officials to the governorship, should something untoward happen to the governor.

As any California schoolkid knows, the current line of succession to the guv's throne is: the lieutenant governor; the president pro tempore of the state Senate; the speaker of the Assembly; the secretary of state; the attorney general; the treasurer, and the controller.

What's less known is that if all those officials are, uh, unavailable, the next in line are a group of four to seven citizens previously selected by the governor.

Under SB 1530, the superintendent of public instruction, the state insurance commissioner and the chair of the Board of Equalization would cut in line in front of the citizens. Hollingsworth's argument is that we should use up all the elected officials before we rely on unelected citizens to run things.

It was an impressive argument. The Senate Governmental Organization Committee approved it 10-zip last week, and it's on the Senate's consent calendar today, meaning it's all but on its way to the Assembly.

His money's where his mouth is

Well, not exactly his money. But Gov. Schwarzenegger has dug into his California Dream Team campaign account for $1.26 million so far to fuel the initiative drive for a November redistricting measure.

The plan is to take redrawing legislative and Board of Equalization district lines away from lawmakers and give it to a citizens commission.

Given the dismal success rate of previous similar efforts (about 0 for 10), the guv is going to have to do a lot more digging.

Making the point with blue jeans

If you were wandering around the Capitol last Wednesday and noticed lots of people wearing blue jeans, it was because of Benito Mussolini's granddaughter. At least sort of.

See, back in February 1999, Italy's highest appellate court overturned a conviction in a rape case, ruling in part that it was "common knowledge that jeans cannot even be partly removed without the effective help of the person wearing them," and it was therefore impossible for the woman to have been raped because she was wearing jeans.

The ruling outraged people all over the world. Female members of the Italian Parliament, including Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the infamous dictator, wore jeans to work to protest the ruling.

The idea caught on, with "Denim Day" being held each April to draw attention to the fact that rape and sexual assault are serious matters. And the state Senate unanimously approved a resolution by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-L.A., making last Wednesday "Denim Day California."

And now you know the rest of the story.

About the writer:

• The Buzz is compiled by The Bee's Capitol Bureau and written by Bee columnist Steve Wiegand. Reach him at (916)321-1076 or swiegand@sacbee.com.