Part-time lawmaking not likely any time soon

Alicia Robinson

While reducing the state Legislature to part-time hours could save

the state money, local political observers said the idea proposed

this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t likely to get off the

ground.

Though the plan might fly with voters, observers expect it to go

over like a lead balloon with the legislators whose jobs and

$99,000-a-year salaries it would cut.

“Frankly, if the Legislature were serving part-time, I would not

have run for this office because most of the people running do not

have the flexibility in their careers to drop everything for three

months at a time ... and then walk right back into their jobs as if

nothing happened,” said Chuck DeVore, Republican candidate for the

70th District Assembly seat.

Some of the same arguments can be made for and against having a

part-time Legislature. Current 70th District Assemblyman John

Campbell thinks holding a regular job would keep legislators in touch

with the world outside the capital, and former Assemblywoman and

state Sen. Marian Bergeson said lawmakers would be able to be more

active in their districts if they had more time.

“I would argue that there would be more people that would be

interested in the position because they wouldn’t have to walk away

from whatever careers they have,” Campbell said.

But DeVore said limiting legislators’ working hours would finish

the job he thinks term limits have begun -- driving out people with

experience or a clear understanding of making laws.

“Your lawmakers would basically not have the amount of time to

educate themselves on the issues and would truly be a group of

amateurs,” he said.

“Essentially the only two power structures that would matter at

that point would be the governor and the permanent bureaucracy,”

DeVore said.

Experts agreed that some of the time the legislature spends in

session now could be considered wasted -- Campbell recalled a bill

suggesting state buildings be designed according to the principles of

feng shui -- but that’s not necessarily avoidable, said UC Irvine

political science professor Mark Petracca.

“Somebody’s waste of time is another person’s deliberation,” he

said. “Our system of government wasn’t designed to be efficient, by

intention.”

The framers of the Constitution added checks and balances to

ensure that government wasn’t too powerful, and that means it takes

longer to get things done, he said.

And the two-thirds majority required to pass budget and spending

bills means much of legislators’ time is spent hashing out

differences between the two political parties, said Carl Mariz, a

Democrat running against DeVore for the 70th District seat.

“When you’ve got a legislature that is dominated by one party it

takes an awful long time to reach consensus,” he said.

The governor’s idea would probably be well supported by voters if

Schwarzenegger backed an initiative, Bergeson said.

DeVore agreed but added that he doesn’t think the part-time plan

will go beyond the governor’s offhand remark.

While Campbell said he’s open to discussing the idea, he doesn’t

think other legislators would be as receptive.

“I think it’s unlikely that it gets much traction in the

legislature because there are an awful lot of people that this is

their only job and it’s their best job,” Campbell said.