1996 California Environmental Scorecard LE ND RE A CA H H IT W 23rd Annual Guide to Environmental Legislation & Votes California League of Conservation Voters CLCV: POLITICAL ACTION CONTENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION he California League of Conservation Voters is the non-partisan political action arm of 1996: Year in Review . .1 T C a l i f o rnia's environmental movement. The League's mission is to protect the environmental quality of the state by working to elect environmentally responsible candidates to state and Best & Wo r s t. .1 federal office, then holding them accountable to the environmental agenda. Voting Summary . .2 The League conducts rigorous re s e a rch on candidates and concentrates on the races where our The Agenda: Bill Descriptions 3 - 5 re s o u rces can make a diff e rence. We back our endorsements with expertise, assisting candidates Notes on the Score c a r d . .5 with the media, fundraising and grassroots organizing strategies they need to win. Each election y e a r, we place experienced organizers, known as the Grizzly Corps, in the most crucial Assembly Floor Vo t e s. .6 - 9 e n v i ronmental contests in the state, then work to get out the vote on Election Day. In 1996, CLCV Senate Floor Vo t e s . .10 - 11 fielded 15 Grizzlies in 14 campaigns and contributed over $325,000 on behalf of candidates. F i v e - Year Av e r a g e s . .1 2 The League is also a legislative watchdog. Each year, we track scores of environmental bills and votes in Sacramento and work to make sure legislators hear from environmental voters. At 1997 Legislative session's end, we publish the C a l i fo rnia Env i ronmental Score c a rd to help voters distinguish R o s t e r . .Inside Back Cover between the rhetoric and reality of a lawmaker's record. This edition of the Scorecard records the most important environmental votes of the 1996 session. Now in its 23rd year, the Scorecard — distributed to 25,000 League members, other © 1996 California League of e n v i ronmental organizations and the news media — is the authoritative source on the state’s Conservation Vo t e r s e n v i ronmental politics. 965 Mission St., Suite 625 ADVISORY COUNCIL San Francisco, CA 94103 Ruben Aronin, E a rth Communications Ofc. Micci Martinez, Clean Water A c t i o n (415) 896-5550 Mike Belliveau, C o m munities for a Better Ed Maschke, C a l P I R G E nv i ro n m e n t Laurie McCann, Friends of the Rive r 10951 W. Pico Blvd. David Chatfield, Clean Water A c t i o n Carlos Melendrez, E D G E Los Angeles, CA 90064 Martha Davis, Mono Lake Committee Angela Meszaros, E nv i ronmental Justice (310) 441-4162 Luis De La Rosa, LA Center for Law & Ju s t i c e C o a l i t i o n John Gamboa, The Greenlining Institute Marilyn Morton, The Pa rsons Corpora t i o n I n t e rnet: [email protected] or Mark Gold, Heal the Bay Barry Nelson, S ave San Francisco Bay h t t p : / / w w w . e c o v o t e . o rg / e c o v o t e Antonio Gonzalez, S o u t h west Voter A s s o c i a t i o n R e gi s t ration Pro j e c t Mel Nutter, LA League of Conservation Vo t e rs Andy Goodman, E nv i ronmental Media John Perez, UFCW Region 8 P e rmission granted to quote from A s s o c i a t i o n Gary Phillips, M u l t i c u l t u ral Collab o ra t i ve or re p roduce portions of this Juana Gutierrez, M a d res del Este de David Roe, E nv i ronmental Defense Fund publication if properly cre d i t e d . Los A n ge l e s Marty Rosen, Trust for Public Land Randall Hayes, Ra in fo rest Action Netwo rk Bruce Saito, LA Conservation Corps Hans Hemann, S i e rra Club Califo rn i a Jim Sayer, G reenbelt A l l i a n c e Printed on recycled paper using Bonnie Holmes, S i e rra Club Califo rn i a M A L D E F soy-based inks Marta Samano, Brian Huse, National Pa rks & Conservation Bill Wa l k e r, Env i ronmental Wo rking Gro u p Designed by Mark Deitch & A s s o c i a t i o n Associates, Inc., Los Angeles Bong Hwan Kim, Ko rean Youth & C o m munity Center ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The League thanks the following organizations and individuals for their contributions to the 1996 C a l i fo rnia Env i ronmental Score c a rd: Audubon Society, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Leo Briones, Californians Against Waste, California Electric Transportation Coalition, CalPIRG, Joe Caves, Clean Water Action, Mark Deitch & Associates, Inc., Environmental Wo r k i n g G roup, Mountain Lion Foundation, Pesticide Action Network, Planning & Conservation League, Price Consulting, Sierra Club California, Trust for Public Land and V. John White & Associates. 1996 CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL SCORECARD 1996: SPECIAL FAVORS FOR SPECIAL INTERESTS Best & Wo r s t BEST LEGISLATORS: Sens. Tom Hayden and ov. Pete Wilson set the tone for this year in the final days of 1995, when he became the Jack O'Connell, in whose committees many Gfirst governor ever to call a special session solely to pass special-interest legislation of the worst Assembly bills were killed. defeated in the previous session: a two-year extension on the use of the toxic pesticide WORST : Assemblyman Keith Olberg, chair methyl bromide, which was to be banned after March 1996. of the Natural Resources Committee, who The methyl bromide extension, which environmentalists were originally given no chance told the LA Tim e s his strategy was to send of even slowing down, turned into a pitched three-month fight, as enviros rallied grassro o t s up more anti-environmental bills than the and editorial opposiion statewide. But when it was over, the bill was law — a stain on the Senate could knock down. Only one (AB legacy of its author, retiring Sen. Henry Mello — and a pattern was set for the year: Special 3048) made it to the governor's desk, after favors for special intere s t s . extensive amendment. That, of course, could be said of most years. The diff e rence in 1996 was that Republicans AS S E M B L Y'S LOSS, SENATE'S GAIN: Byron Sh e r , whose move to the Senate boosted finally gained control of the Assembly, and new Speaker Curt Pringle set the foxes loose in efforts to thwart the Assembly's agenda . the environmental henhouse. Two of the most consistently anti-environmental votes in the Assembly — Keith Olberg and Bernie Richter — were the new chairs of the Natural COMEBACK KIDS: Sens. Steve Peace and R e s o u rces and Toxics committees, and the agenda of the GOP caucus could only be Mike Thompson, whose scores dropped in described as extremist. (The most notable change in this year’s scores vs. 1995 was a dro p '95, rebounded to the Most Improved list. of 11 points in the Assembly GOP average.) Peace took a principled stand against methyl bromide; Thompson's SB 2086, O l b e rg seemed to be trying to set a record for most anti-environmental bills introduced in promoting alternatives to rice-burning, a single session. Richter made no pretense that his committee’s hearings were fair and was one of the few good ideas to reach the impartial. Two Orange County freshmen, Gary Miller and Bob Margett, inroduced bills that governor's desk. sought to exempt California from the global treaty banning ozone-depleting chemicals. In GREENEST GOP'ER: Assemblyman Jim the Senate, two other Orange County Republicans, John Lewis and Rob Hurtt, introduced a Cunneen, at 71 the highest- scoring stack of bills attempting (unsuccessfully) to dismantle the South Coast Air Quality Republican since Tom Campbell (76 in Management District. 19 8 9 ) . ortunately, many of the worst Assembly bills died or were watered down in Senate BEST BILL THAT DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE: Fcommittees. (The sheer volume of bad Assembly bills, and the fact that so few re a c h e d SB 2080 (O'CONNELL), the Childhood Lead the Senate floor, produced an unusual 1996 Scorecard that counts 24 Assembly floor votes Poisoning Prevention Act, setting state vs. only 12 Senate votes.) But the upper chamber produced its share of horrors, and not all standards for lead hazard control. came from Republicans. What all had in common was that they placed the agenda of pow- WORST BILLS THAT DID: SBX3 1, extending e rful, monied special interests above the health, safety and quality of life of Californians. The the use of methyl bromide for the sake of worst examples: SB 649 ( CO S TA) and SB 1750 ( MA D D Y). cheap strawberries; and SB 649, gutting an Costa’s bill took the teeth out of California's oldest environmental law, an 1876 statute 1876 law in order to let polluters off the setting strict liability for the discharge of oil or chemicals into the state's waters.