California State Archives State Government Oral History Program Oral History Interview with TOM BANE _____________ December 3, 17, 1994, June 3, 17, 24, July 8, 29, August 26, September 2, 1995 Tarzana, California By Steven L. Isoardi Oral History Program University of California, Los Angeles RESTRICTIONS ON THIS INTERVIEW None. LITERARY RIGHTS AND QUOTATION This manuscript is hereby made available for research purposes only. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the California State Archives or the Head, Department of Special Collections, University Research Library, UCLA. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to: California State Archives 1020 0 Street Sacramento, CA 95814 or Department of Special Collections University Research Library P.O. Box 951575 UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575 The request should include identification of the specific passages and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Tom Bane, Oral History Interview, Conducted 1994 and 1995 by Steven L. Isoardi, UCLA Oral History Program, for the California State Archives State Government Oral History Program. PREFACE On September 25, 1985, Governor George Deukmejian signed into law A.B. 2104 (Chapter 965 of the Statutes of 1985). This legislation established, under the administration of the California State Archives, a State Government Oral History Program "to provide through the use of oral history a continuing documentation of state policy development as reflected in California's legislative and executive history." The following interview is one of a series of oral histories undertaken for inclusion in the state program. These interviews offer insights into the actual workings of both the legislative and executive processes and policy mechanisms. They also offer an increased understanding of the men and women who create legislation and implement state policy. Further, they provide an overview of issue development in California state government and of how both the legislative and executive branches of government deal with issues and problems facing the state. Interviewees are chosen primarily on the basis of their contributions to and influence on the policy process of the state of California. They include members of the legislative and executive branches of the state government as well as legislative staff, advocates, members of the media, and other people who played significant roles in specific issue areas of major and continuing importance to California. By authorizing the California State Archives to work cooperatively with oral history units at California colleges and universities to conduct interviews, this program is structured to take advantage of the resources and expertise in oral history available through California's several institutionally based programs. Participating as cooperating institutions in the State Government Oral History Program are: Oral History Program History Department California State University, Fullerton Oral History Program Center for California Studies California State University, Sacramento Oral History Program Claremont Graduate School Regional Oral History Office The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Oral History Program University of California, Los Angeles The establishment of the California State Archives State Government Oral History Program marks one of the most significant commitments made by any state toward the preservation and documentation of its governmental his- tory. It supplements the often fragmentary historical written record by adding an organized primary source, enriching the historical information available on given topics and allowing for more thorough historical analysis. As such, the program, through the preservation and publication of interviews such as the one which follows, will be of lasting value to current and future generations of scholars, citizens, and leaders. John F. Burns State Archivist July 27, 1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERVIEW HISTORY...........................................i BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY......................................iii SESSION 1, December 3, 1994 [Tape 1, Side A]............................................1 Spends early childhood moving from town to town-- Family background--Parents, Howard and Mary Bane, move to Mint Canyon--Father is employed at various jobs--Bane works as a hod carrier during the Depression--Father obtains a job as a state highway inspector--The family moves to Trinidad, alifornia--The family settles in Burbank--More on working as a hod carrier--Obtains a position at Bullocks-Wilshire department store while attending Los Angeles City College--Father's high principles--Works as a mail carrier-- Marries Claire Louise Brown. [Tape 1, Side B]...........................................23 Decides to enter the insurance business--Changes party registration from Republican to Democrat-- Becomes involved in the Burbank Democratic Club and the Los Angeles County Democratic Committee-- The Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce announces that organized crime controls Burbank's city government--Manages Jess Nathan's campaign for the California State Assembly--Everett G. Burkhalter--Directs campaign of a congressional candidate--Runs against William E. Roskam Jr. for the Forty-second Assembly District seat-- Speaking out against discrimination. SESSION 2, December 17, 1994 [Tape 2, Side A]..............................................44 The formation of the California Democratic Council--Members of left-wing political organizations become involved in southern California Democratic clubs and county committees--Communist party members form the Independent Progressive party to support Henry A. Wallace's presidential campaign--More on the California Democratic Council--Organized labor in the Forty-second Assembly District. [Tape 2, Side B]..............................................56 More on running against Roskam--Writes campaign literature for Burbank City Council race-- Differences in campaign style between Bane and Roskam--More on father's high principles-- Reasons why Bane won the election against Roskam. SESSION 3, June 3, 1995 [Tape 3, Side A]..............................................65 Arrives in Sacramento in 1958--Jesse Unruh's support of Bane's opponent in the assembly election--Labor's opposition to Unruh--Bane's approach to campaigning--His family's work ethic--Reasons for retiring from public office-- First encounters with Unruh--Ralph M. Brown-- Bane negotiates the offer of a chairmanship from Unruh. [Tape 3, Side B]..............................................85 Serves as chair of the Committee on Industrial Relations--Becomes friends with Unruh-- Appointment to the Rules Committee--Low quality of legislators in Bane's early days in the assembly--The California Constitution Revision Commission--Alan Robbins--Robbins's work for the Constitution Revision Commission--Revisions to the constitution to increase salaries and enable legislators to hire consultants--More on Unruh-- Willie L. Brown Jr. SESSION 4, June 17, 1995 [Tape 4, Side A]............................................102 Working with Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Sr.-- Carries legislation requiring county registrars to give copies of precinct sheets to both the Democratic and Republican parties--Mailing poll notification cards as a strategy to reelect Pat Brown in 1962--Unruh is elected Speaker of the Assembly. [Tape 4, Side B]............................................117 More on the Constitution Revision Commission-- Legislators Robert W. Crown, Jerome R. Waldie, and James R. Mills--Mills's book A Disorderly House: The Brown-Unruh Years in Sacramento. SESSION 5, June 24, 1995 [Tape 5, Side A]............................................128 The Constitution Revision Commission's accomplishments--Decides to run for Congress in 1964--Endorses the Rumford Fair Housing Act-- Reasons for retiring from the legislature in 1989--Bane's support of the Rumford Fair Housing Act costs him the 1964 election--Realtors place Proposition 14 on the ballot to overturn the Rumford Fair Housing Act--Pat Brown asks Bane to join the California delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention--Bane works to prevent the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegation from being recognized at the convention--Unruh supports the appointment of Carmen Warschaw as national Democratic party committee person. [Tape 5, Side B]............................................146 Bane leads the opposition to Warschaw's appointment--Unruh witholds financial support from Bane's congressional campaign--The 1963 assembly battle over the budget--Assembly Resolution 125--Working with lobbyists--Ruling allowing legislators to hire consultants-- Question of whether former legislative staff members should be allowed to run for office-- More on Alan Robbins--Unruh's influence as speaker. SESSION 6, July 8, 1995 [Tape 6, Side A]............................................164 More on the 1964 Democratic National Convention-- More on Bane's opposition to Warschaw's appointment as national committee person-- Opposes 1964 ballot initiative Proposition 14-- Supports anti-discrimination legislation--More on preventing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party delegation from being recognized at the 1964 Democratic National Convention--California party leadership's support of Lyndon B. Johnson-- Leaves political office in 1965--Serves as president