For his final bill decisions, Jerry Brown paddles down the middle

Four decades ago, during the early years of his first governorship, Jerry Brown described his “canoe theory” of politics: By paddling a little on the left and then on the right, one can remain on a middle course.

Mostly, Brown has paddled his canoe on the left side of the political stream, though not so far left that he runs into the bank and capsizes. However, when the politics of the moment or his own sensibilities dictate, he can quickly turn to the right — famously by first fiercely opposing Proposition 13, the iconic 1978 property tax limit, and then after it passed, declaring himself a “born-again tax cutter” while seeking re-election.

During his second governorship, an older, wiser and clearly more cautious Brown has practiced his theory more diligently, as demonstrated in dealing with the hundreds of bills sent to his desk in August. During his last year as governor, Brown signed 1,016 bills and vetoed 201 before Sunday’s deadline.

Within his veto and signing messages, one finds many examples of the canoe theory. With a Legislature controlled by liberal Democrats, Brown often found fault with their inclination to micromanage human behavior, reminding legislators that not every problem requires a new law.

He was leery of off-budget spending and adding new responsibilities to state agencies, including the troubled Department of Motor Vehicles. And while he signed some new gun control bills, he vetoed others as overreaching, such as Senate Bill 1177, which would have limited individual rifle and shotgun purchases to one every 30 days. Brown also vetoed bills that he saw as encouraging drug use, such as Assembly Bill 186, which would have allowed San Francisco to establish injection sites.

Brown also rejected one of the year’s highest profile measures, Assembly Bill 3080, which would have prohibited employers from requiring arbitration agreements and thus made it easier for workers to sue their bosses. The governor told lawmakers that it “plainly violates federal law.” That was the only bill on the California Chamber of Commerce’s “job killer” list to reach Brown.

However, he signed another high-profile measure, Senate Bill 822, that would make “net neutrality” the law for California internet service providers, defying the Federal Communications Commission decision. The Department of Justice immediately filed suit to block the new California law.

Veering over to the left side of the stream, Brown signed several measures that ease criminal prosecutions, continuing to undo some of the lock ’em up measures he signed during his first governorship. Senate Bill 1437 repeals California’s “felony murder rule” that allows participants in crimes ending in death to be charged with murder even if they didn’t kill anyone.

As he signed the last measure of his 16 years as governor, Assembly Bill 237, which deals with small dollar loans, Brown characteristically quoted the Bible about the sin of usury during the Jews’ flight from Egypt.

He then wrote “and now onto the promised land — Colusa County” and tweeted, “16 years — and nearly 20,000 bills — later, the desk is clear. #Eureka.”