Steve Wiegand: The latest from the goofy front

Exactly two months ago, I regaled or bored you with some synopses of proposed legislation that we in political journalism sometimes refer to as "goofy."

As one or two of you may recall, I suggested that "goofy" is a somewhat subjective term. What might seem to someone with at least as much common sense as a doorknob to be an unnecessary legislative measure might seem to a legislator to be as necessary as wearing underpants on his or her head when it rains. Which is to say, vital.

In any event, Friday is the deadline for non-fiscal bills to be considered by policy committees in the house in which they were introduced.

So let's take a look at just where some of those bills are that I mentioned back on March 1, and maybe get a sense at how smoothly the ol' legislative process is working.

The goofiest of the bunch, hands down, was SB 1414. It would have required the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to gather info on fires caused by campfires started "by an undocumented alien."

It died a deservedly ignominious death at its first committee.

Then there was AB 2999. It would authorize state or local road agencies to haul roadkill off the roads. It's moved through two committees and is on track to move to the Senate any day now.

How about AB 2948, a proposal that would prohibit the sale of firearms and ammunition at San Francisco's Cow Palace? Doing fine, pushed its way through two committees, too.

Of course, no bill is perfect. Take AB 2459. This puppy would let counties allow senior citizens to work off property tax debts by performing chores for county governments.

Alert consultants for the Assembly Rev and Tax Committee raised some interesting questions about this seemingly beneficent bill: Would county government have to treat these seniors like employees and deduct payroll taxes? What if a rich old guy who could afford to pay his property taxes chose to work them off instead? Don't old folks already get several preferential breaks when it comes to property taxes?

So the bill was amended – to let counties know the state wouldn't reimburse them if they actually went along with this idea. Then it was sent to the Assembly floor.

Then there was the strange fate of AB 2633. This was one of the first bills introduced by newbie Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, after he won a special election in February. It originally would have made Election Day in November a state holiday.

But cooler heads prevailed. The bill was hijacked by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, a month after it was introduced, and gutted.

In its current form, AB 2633 would prohibit county elections officials from consolidating more than six precincts at any one polling place.

Obviously a big improvement.

Now, what's interesting about these somewhat randomly selected bills is what they say about the process. They all took weeks to move along just a committee or two in the process, even though none of them is particularly complex.

And despite the governor's periodic nonsense about this being the "era of post-partisanship," there was only one vote on any of these bills that crossed party lines.

Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, R-San Diego, voted with Democrats for AB 2999, the roadkill bill. She might not have been paying attention that day.

To be fair, some of these bills tackled issues that transcended partisan concerns. Such as AB 2816, which would extend a current ban on possessing (for vandalistic purposes) a felt-tip marker with a tip of more than three-eighths of an inch to include felt-tip markers with tips of less than three-eighths of an inch.

It passed the Assembly 68-0.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Steve Wiegand, (916) 321-1076. Back columns, www.sacbee.com/wiegand.