Oral History Interview with Bion Milton Gregory
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California State Archives State Government Oral History Program Oral History Interview with Bion Milton Gregory Deputy Legislative Counsel of California 1968-1970 Chief Counsel, California Senate Committee on Judiciary 1971-1976 Legislative Counsel of California 1976-2001 February 11, 23 and March 2, 8, 17, 2004, Sacramento, California By Paul Ferrell Oral History Program Center for California Studies California State University, Sacramento RESTRICTIONS ON THIS INTERVIEW None. LITERARY RIGHTS AND QUOTATIONS 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 Archivist or the Oral History Program, Center for California Studies, California State University, Sacramento. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to: California State Archives 1020 O Street, Room 130 Sacramento, CA 95814 or Oral History Program Center for California Studies California State University, Sacramento 6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819 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: Bion Milton Gregory, Oral History Interview, Conducted 2004 by Paul Ferrell, Oral History Program, Center for California Studies, California State University, for the California State Archives State Government Oral History Program. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERVIEW HISTORY....................................................................................................v BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY.........................................................................................vi SESSION 1, February 11, 2004 [Tape 1, Side A]...................................................................................................................1 Family history—Childhood and education—College Education—Community service—Military service in the Navy. [Tape 1, Side B].................................................................................................................29 Military service in the Navy—Internship at the Office of the Legislative Council—Bar exams—1968 Legislative session—Robert Monagan—Jesse Unruh—Legislative staff. SESSION 2, February 23, 2004 [Tape 2, Side A].................................................................................................................58 Robert Moretti—Leo McCarthy—Howard Berman—Willie Brown—Changes in the legislative staff—Curt Pringle—Work as Chief Council of the Senate Judiciary Committee—Re-apportionment—Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee—Clark Bradley—Robert Presley—Lobbyists—News media— “Astroturf” lobbying—Re-organization of senate districts—Howard Way. [Tape 2, Side B].................................................................................................................84 Howard Way—Jack Schrade—James Mills—Proposition 13—Alex Rodda—John Doolittle—Proposition 9—Lobbying—Campaign contributions—Governor Jerry Brown—Governor Ronald Reagan—Revision of community property laws— California withholding tax—Governor Jerry Brown—Jerry Brown’s presidential campaign—Governor Jerry Brown’s appointments—Rose Bird—Work as Assistant Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. SESSION 3, March 2, 2004 [Tape 3, Side A]...............................................................................................................111 Beginning work as Legislative Counsel—Rose Bird—Day to day work of the Legislative Counsel—History of the Legislative Counsel’s Office—Duties of the Legislative Counsel—Education and criminal law—Codification of laws— Environmental laws—Former Legislative Counsels—Coastal Commission— Laws regarding nuclear power in California—1977 fire at Legislative Counsel’s Office—Legislative Counsel’s Office computer systems—Proposition 13. [Tape 3, Side B]...............................................................................................................138 Proposition 13—Constitution Revision Commission—California Law Revision Commission—Commission on Uniform State Laws—National Conference on Uniform State Laws—Marriage in 1980—Wife’s career—Growth of the computer system in the Legislative Counsel’s Office—Assembly’s and Senate’s computer system—Legislative information Internet site. [Tape 4, Side A]...............................................................................................................165 Legislative information Internet site—Assembly computer system—Political mailings—Proposition 24—Pay raises for Legislative Counsel’s Office— California State Constitution—Legal gambling in California. SESSION 4, March 8, 2004 [Tape 4, Side B]...............................................................................................................190 Tom Hayden—FBI sting operation in Legislature—Initiative process—Term limits. [Tape 5, Side A]...............................................................................................................215 Legislative budget cuts—Term limits—Proposition164—Re-apportionment— Willie Brown’s assent to the Speaker of the House—John Burton—Phil Burton— Redistricting—Governor Schwarzenegger—House of Delegates for the American Bar Association. SESSION 5, March 17, 2004 [Tape 5, Side B]...............................................................................................................240 Filing amicus brief with the Supreme Court—Initiatives in the 1990s—Charles Quackenbush—Sexual harassment charges in the Office of the Legislative Counsel—Retirement from Legislative Counsel’s Office—Diane Boyer-Vine— Future of the Legislative Counsel’s Office—Work in private practice—Vehicle License Fee controversy. [Tape 6, Side A]...............................................................................................................264 End of interview. INTERVIEW HISTORY Interviewer/Editor: Paul Ferrell B.A., Humboldt State University M.A., California State University, Sacramento Interview Time and Place February 11, 2004 Gregory’s office in Sacramento, California Session of one and one-half hours February 23, 2004 Gregory’s office in Sacramento, California Session of one and one-half hours March 2, 2004 Gregory’s office in Sacramento, California Session of two hours March 8, 2004 Gregory’s office in Sacramento, California Session of one and one-half hours March 17, 2004 Gregory’s office in Sacramento, California Session of one hour Transcribing/Editing Deborah Lattimore and TechniType transcribed the interview audiotapes. Paul Ferrell checked the verbatim manuscript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling. Ferrell prepared the table of contents, biographical summary, and interview history. Bion Gregory reviewed the verbatim transcript and returned it with minor corrections and clarifications. He also verified dates and proper names. Tape and Interview Records The original tape recordings of the interview are in the university archives at CSU, Sacramento. Master tapes are preserved at the California State Archives. v BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY Bion Milton Gregory was born in Sacramento, California on June 29, 1940. He attended public schools and graduated from Grant Union High School in 1958. He earned a degree in Political Science in 1962 from Stanford University and his law degree in 1968 from Hastings College of Law. From 1962 to 1965 he served in the United States Navy as a communications officer. He was Deputy Legislative Counsel for two years beginning in 1968. In 1971 he became Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and served for nearly six years. Gregory became Legislative Counsel of California in 1976 and remained at that post until 2001, making him the longest serving Legislative Counsel in California’s history. As Legislative Counsel he worked with governors and legislators providing legal opinions on proposed and existing legislation. He oversaw a great expansion of the Legislative Counsel’s Office and enormous technological change. They went from typewriters to mainframe computers and today it operates an Internet information system that allows lawmakers and the general public to see the daily progress of bills as they move through the Legislature. Gregory’s long career in state government began with the growth of the full-time Legislature and ended in the era of term limits. From his unique position in state government he helped to solve problems, settle disputes and keep state government running smoothly. vi 1 [Session 1, February 11, 2004] [Begin Tape 1, Side A] FERRELL: Today is February 11th, 2004. This interview is with Bion Gregory for the State Government Oral History Program. My name is Paul Ferrell, and we are in Mr. Gregory’s office, just a few blocks from the State Capitol Building here in Sacramento, California. Mr. Gregory, you’ve had a long career in state government, but currently you’re in the private center as a partner in the law firm Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott. You retired from state government in [2001]. You were the Legislative Counsel longer than anybody else, from 1976 until 2001. But before that, you were Chief Counsel to the California Senate Committee on the Judiciary. You were, before that, deputy in the Legislative Counsel’s office. Before that you went to Hastings College of [the] Law. You had some time in the Navy, and before the Navy, you went to Stanford [University], and before that, there was high school, Grant Union High 2 School, and