Emphasis on safety

By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, Sept. 8, 2002

State legislators agreed to tighter Capitol security, but a flurry of other terrorism-related bills were introduced and most died quiet deaths, either because federal legislation accomplished their goals or because partisan differences got in the way

	CHP Officer John Pettigrew guards the closed west entrance to the Capitol a week after the attacks. Legislators later agreed to have metal posts and concrete planters placed around the building as a security measure. Sacramento Bee file, 2001/Randy Pench

Rhetoric rang through California's Capitol in the weeks and months after last September's attacks, but passage of a public health bill all but languishing for the past five years may be the most significant outcome.

State Sen. Deborah Ortiz had tried since 1997 to beef up California's public health care system. What with the increased feelings of vulnerability to chemical warfare, and the anthrax aftermath, it seemed a natural this year.

Yet it was not a sure thing. The Sacramento Democrat's effort remained tied up in political wrangling for nearly a year after the terror attacks.

In the meantime, a flurry of other terrorism-related bills were introduced and most died quiet deaths, either because federal legislation accomplished their goals or because partisan differences got in the way.

"Republicans introduced them; Democrats killed them," said Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, a former prosecutor who co-sponsored a 15-bill package aimed at easing prosecution of terrorist acts.

One modest spending measure carried by Sen. Charles Poochigian, R-Fresno, would have allowed small general aviation airports to dip into $28 million in federal money if the state put up a 10 percent match.

"I am very disappointed that my colleagues in the Assembly failed to recognize the importance of this issue," Poochigian said.

Legislators did agree to tighten security at their own offices - the state Capitol - after years of intermittent debate about it. Soon, about 600 concrete planter boxes and 40 metal posts will be installed around the building.

Still, even that decision seemed partly based on something other than terrorism: a bizarre January 2001 incident, when a trucker with a history of mental problems rammed his big rig into the building's south entrance.

Access to the building also has been limited since Sept. 11, although metal detectors seem often to be malfunctioning. Mail sent to the Capitol now is sorted off premises.

All that left Ortiz watching in frustration as more than $50 million in federal aid remained inaccessible because the Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis were deadlocked on a state spending plan. She knew states that didn't use the money could lose it to states that had spending plans in place.

"This is significant money to finally fund our overstressed, overburdened and underfunded public health care infrastructure," Ortiz said.

Back in 1997 when she started the fight for public health funding, Ortiz managed to squeeze $7.7 million from the state budget, only to see Gov. Pete Wilson veto her bill. The same thing happened the following year.

Three years ago, Davis reduced the amount in another Ortiz bill from $4.9 million to $1 million, with similarly small appropriations for two more years.

	Tight security at the state Capitol last September forced visitors to stop at checkpoints. Sacramento Bee file, 2001/Randy Pench

Back then, Ortiz was primarily concerned with improving detection of everyday public health threats such as diseases transmitted by tainted food or unprotected sexual activity.

Then came Sept. 11, and the specter of chemical and biological warfare. A flood of federal money was earmarked for states needing to beef up their labs. They could hire and train staff to jump on a smallpox scare or quickly determine whether a white powder was anthrax or powdered sugar.

Finally, in the last weekend of the session, the Legislature passed emergency legislation appropriating the federal public health money through Ortiz's bill. The governor had already indicated support.

"It's never been a glamorous or sexy issue," Ortiz said. "Most people don't understand that it's really the fabric of protecting our society. Now it's been elevated. But for 9/11, it would not have been."

Even with the federal money Ortiz helped secure for California, there seems to be consensus that the state's public health system still needs work.

California gets high marks for dealing with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and fires. But Dr. Steven Rottman, director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters, said the state could founder in a large-scale terrorist attack.

"I don't see any obvious improvement in easing hospital overcrowding or solving the nursing shortage," Rottman said. "If something catastrophic occurs, the state would be hard-pressed to care for large numbers of patients."