Copyright© 2004 by School Services of California, Inc.

Volume 17                   For Publication Date: December 17, 2004             No. 24

Legislature Returns to Sacramento  

The 2005-06 legislative session officially began on December 6, 2004, following the formal swearing in of 120 legislators, including 34 new members elected last November. The largely ceremonial session was marked with several welcoming speeches by veteran lawmakers, including majority leaders Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), who were unanimously selected by their party to lead the Senate and Assembly in the upcoming session.  

The Democratic leaders of both houses indicated their commitment to protect “public school budgets” and listed health care, transportation, the environment, and housing—along with education—as their top priorities in the new session. The day was also marked with the introduction of several bills to accomplish several of those goals. Assembly Members Keith Richman (R-Northridge) and Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) indicated that they plan to introduce a bipartisian package of health care measures aimed at providing universal health care coverage.  

Republican leaders indicated that most issues will take a “back seat” to the Budget as the state must grapple with a projected $6.7 billion budget gap in 2005-06. And while the Democratic leadership has included new revenues as a key ingredient in the upcoming Budget debates, at least one Republican has indicated that he will introduce a Budget-reform package aimed at producing on-time budgets and guaranteeing balanced budgets. Senator Tom McClintock (R‑Thousand Oaks) will introduce a constitutional amendment that requires the Legislature to pass a budget by June 15 or face the consequence of having the Governor’s Budget approved without legislative changes. Interestingly, the measure would also reduce the threshold to pass a budget to a simple majority, but would maintain the current two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes. The measure would need to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and be adopted by the electorate before it would go into effect.  

Additional announcements were made regarding Senate committees assignments, including those important to community college education. Veteran Senator Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) will head both the Senate Education Committee and Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education, and newly elected Senator Carole Migden will chair the Senate Appropriations Committee, the chair previously held by termed-out Senator Dede Alpert (D-San Diego). While Migden is new to the Senate, she served for six years (1996-2002) in the Assembly and chaired the Assembly Appropriations Committee prior to being termed out of office. She most recently served as chair of the Board of Equalization.

In the Assembly, former Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton) has been appointed to the influential chairmanship of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education (Sub II). John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) takes over as chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, and Carol Liu stays on as chair of Assembly Higher Education Committee.  

The Legislature is scheduled to return to the Capitol on January 3, 2005.  

All 10 members elected to the Senate last November have prior Assembly experience. They include:  

 Senators Alquist and Simitian previously served on a school board and Lowenthal is a professor at California State University , Long Beach .

 Of the 24 new Assembly Members, several have public school experience. Karnette is a former (termed out) State Senator; Klehs and Umberg previously served in the Assembly prior to term limits. The other new members’ background includes the following: 

—Nancy LaCasse