Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley, was accused of some tit-for-tat legislative tactics this week, but her office says it’s much ado about nothing.

Hayashi chairs the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, while state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, chairs the equivalent Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee.

Hayashi’s medical peer-review bill – AB 120, sponsored by the California Medical Association – was to be considered Monday by McLeod’s committee, but Senate committee staffers thought there should be a comprehensive medical peer review bill which would be the sum of parts offered by Hayashi (in AB 120), McLeod (in her SB 700) and state Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley (in his SB 58). To that end, McLeod’s committee offered amendments and gave Hayashi and the CMA a week to mull them over, putting AB 120 on the schedule for the Senate committee’s July 6 hearing.

Several Legislative sources say Hayashi’s reaction was to try to pull eight bills – some of which were McLeod’s own, the rest of which came from her committee – from the Assembly B&P Committee’s Tuesday-morning hearing agenda. Then she tried to scuttle the hearing entirely, the sources claimed; apparently state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s office intervened so that as of late Monday night, the hearing was back on, though some of the eight bills still weren’t heard.

“It caused a great deal of anxiety on everybody’s behalf. She … had thrown a lot of people’s lives into flux,” said one Legislative staffer, noting people had flown to Sacramento for the bills’ hearing. “We all scratched our heads.”

“She, with that bill from day one that it got into the Senate, was saying ‘This is the CMA’s biggest priority,’ and everyone else was like, ‘Well, that’s nice,’” said another staffer elsewhere in the Legislature, adding a one-week delay of her bill to insert some consumer-friendly amendments with bipartisan support shouldn’t have caused such a reaction.

The situation ranks among “tiddly-wink issues” compared to the massive budget crisis, this staffer said, and the Pro Tem’s office wasn’t happy that it had to take time during this hellacious week to deal with it. It’s unclear whether this had anything to do with Steinberg’s decision this afternoon to postpone all Senate policy committee meetings until after a budget deal is in place.

But Cory Jasperson, Hayashi’s chief of staff, says that’s not how it went down at all.

“The Business and Professions Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, June 30th, was never cancelled or rescheduled. Only the Speaker has the authority to cancel or reschedule committee hearings,” he said. “All of the bills scheduled for the Tuesday morning hearing were heard by the Committee with the exception of three bills authored by Senator Negrete McLeod which the author requested be put over to a later hearing.”

“There has been a lot of confusion in the Capitol over the past few days around the uncertainty of committee hearings in the Assembly and Senate due to the fluidity of on-going budget negotiations,” Jasperson added. “Some committee hearings previously scheduled for Tuesday were rescheduled for Thursday and today the Senate postponed committee hearings indefinitely. For example, some Senate hearings this morning were cancelled mid-hearing and hearings this afternoon were cancelled just minutes before the scheduled start times.”

So it seems as if either there was some honest miscommunication about hearing schedules followed by some state Senate knife-sharpening for Hayashi’s hide, or Hayashi tried to flex some committee-chair muscle and got smacked down.

It’s still a lot of he-said/she-said, but add this to Hayashi’s dust-up with state Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, over their bills to save the San Leandro Hospital emergency room from closure, and it surely seems Hayashi hasn’t been making any friends in the other chamber this week.

Its path to the June 2010 primary ballot cleared by a federal judge last week, the California Fair Elections Act – which will ask voters whether to test out public financing of political campaigns by applying it to the races for Secretary of State in 2014 and 2018 – has now been endorsed by 18 Bay Area lawmakers.

“One year from election day, our campaign is off to a running start,” said campaign spokesman Mike Roth. “These strong, early endorsements from Bay Area legislators send a clear message that the California Fair Elections Act is gaining the momentum we need to bring about the changes voters want to see in Sacramento.”

The endorsement of state Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, was a gimme, as she authored the law that’s putting the measure on the ballot. Today’s other endorsers are state Senators Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose; Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro; Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord; Mark Leno, D-San Francisco; and Leland Yee, D-San Francisco; as well as Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco; Jim Beall Jr., D-San Jose; Joe Coto, D-San Jose; Paul Fong, D-Cupertino; Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley; Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo; Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco; Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City; Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley; Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland; Alberto Torrico, D-Newark; and Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch.

A few opportunities for you to meet with your elected representatives…

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, will hold three budget summit meetings around her 14th Assembly District later this week, partnering with the nonprofit Next 10 so constituents can tackle the “California Budget Challenge” simulation and decide how to grapple with the state’s $24 billion deficit. “I am looking for feedback that I can take back to Sacramento,” Skinner says. The meetings are from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 18 in Emeryville City Hall, 1333 Park Ave.; from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19 in Room 1 of the Elihu Harris State Office Building, 1515 Clay St. in Oakland; and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 20 in the McHale Room at the Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Dr.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will host a roundtable discussion on Congress’ health-care reform efforts and steps needed to reduce healthcare disparities among minorities from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Monday, June 22 in the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, 408 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland. Health care community leaders, providers and stakeholders from throughout Lee’s 9th Congressional District have been invited to participate.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will share updates on Washington happenings – including economic stimulus efforts – at a Contra Costa Council/Tri-Valley Business Council luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, June 30 in the Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Dr. in Danville. Tickets for the event cost $35 for council members or elected officials, $45 for all others; reservations are required by June 24. Send your name, company, e-mail address, telephone number, number of tickets by type, amount due, and a Visa/Mastercard/American Express number with expiration date and authorized signature to the Contra Costa Council via fax, 925-674-1654, or by mail, 1335 Willow Way #253, Concord, CA 94520.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, hosted a conference call this afternoon for bloggers — mostly the liberal Democratic netroots, as it turned out.

It was contentious to say the least. Bass was hammered with questions about what she is and isn’t willing to give up in order to get a budget plan passed by this month’s end, and ultimately offered few details.

“We are going to fight as hard as we can for a balanced approach,” Bass vowed, adding that while that almost certainly won’t mean a 50-50 split between budget cuts and revenue increases, “we are going to do everything we can” to ensure the state’s $24 billion deficit isn’t solved by cuts alone.

“We really do have to put this incredible pressure on the governor to sign majority-vote revenue,” Skinner urged - fees or revenue-neutral tax swaps, as opposed to tax increases requiring a two-thirds majority and thus effectively stonewalled by Republicans.

Bass agreed, but wouldn’t identify specific revenues she wants to hike: “I just want them to total up to about $5 billion, minimum.”

Bass said her caucus is committed to changing Proposition 13’s property tax assessment restrictions so that residential owners remain fully protected while commercial owners are reassessed more regularly. But just as with abolishing the two-thirds-vote requirement for taxes and budgets, she said, no Republican will ever sign off on it, so it’ll have to be accomplished with an initiative placed on the ballot via petition signatures. And that’ll come long after the state runs out of cash and goes into default next month, she noted.

Bass said she’s worried that if the state defaults, “some entity” – which a blogger later narrowed down to a special master appointed by a bankruptcy court – could take control of state finances and enact cuts without lawmakers input. The blogger – I believe it was the relentless Michael Fox of The Liberal OC – said he couldn’t imagine how such a thing could happen given the state and federal constitutions’ guarantee of representative government.

More on whose arms are about to be twisted, after the jump…
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Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, announced a domino effect of committee seat swaps ostensibly related to former Assemblyman Curren Price, D-Inglewood, being sworn into the state Senate on Monday following last month’s 26th State Senate District’s special election.

I say “ostensibly” because tucked in among the moves was news that Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is replacing Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, on the Public Safety Committee. While all the other moves Bass announced today seemed to involve Price or those being moved to replace Price, the Ammiano-for-Skinner substitution seemed to have nothing to do with anything else.

You’ll recall that Bass stripped Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Alameda, of his Labor and Employment Committee chairmanship back in March, an apparent punishment for his having voted against parts of the budget-and-special-election package the Big Five had pounded out in February.

But I’m hearing from the Speaker’s office that this move isn’t retribution, just logistics and coincidental timing – Ammiano wanted to be on the committee, Skinner didn’t particularly, and it was easiest to do and announce the substitution while dealing with the ripples from Price’s departure.

“There’s nothing subterranean going on here,” agreed Skinner chief of staff Frank Russo, acknowledging that Public Safety hadn’t been among the committee assignments his boss had requested: “She offered to serve where she could best serve the Speaker.” And, he noted, even after this swap, Skinner still sits on four committees (Appropriations; Local Government; Utilities and Commerce; and Natural Resources, the last of which she chairs) so it’s hardly as if she’ll have nothing to do.

Both the California Legislature and Congress want the Obama Administration to better explain its policy on medical marijuana.

State Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, late Monday introduced a joint resolution urging the federal government to end medical marijuana raids in California and to “create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it.”

The Obama Administration has signaled a willingness to change federal policy – saying it’ll raid only traffickers who masquerade as medical dispensaries, using states’ medical marijuana laws as a shield – but hasn’t yet produced a clear implementation plan. There’ve been several raids in California since the apparent shift, leaving federal agents and prosecutors in the awkward position of determining who is and isn’t obeying state law.

Leno’s resolution, SJR 14, not only asks President Obama and Congress to “move quickly to end federal raids, intimidation, and interference with state medical marijuana law,” but also asks the federal government to establish “an affirmative defense to medical marijuana charges in federal court and establish federal legal protection for individuals authorized by state and local law…” Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling in the Oakland-based Gonzales v. Raich case, marijuana defendants can’t defend themselves in federal court using a medical or state-law defense.

“Patients and providers in California remain at risk of arrest and prosecution by federal law enforcement and legally established medical marijuana cooperatives continue to be the subjects of federal raids,” Leno said in a news release. “This resolution will clearly state the Legislature’s opposition to federal interference with California’s medical marijuana law and support for expanded federal reform and medical research.”

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee is pushing for clarity in the Obama administration’s policy by adding language to the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill.

Sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., the language states, “There have been conflicting public reports about the Department’s enforcement of medical marijuana policies. Within 60 days of enactment, the Department shall provide to the Committee clarification of the Department’s policy regarding enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources against individuals involved in medical marijuana activities.”

Hinchey and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, in each of the last several Congresses have sponsored an amendment aimed at ending Drug Enforcement Administration raids on state-legal medical marijuana patients and providers.

The Assembly this week unanimously approved a bill that would create a pilot project in Alameda, Los Angeles and Sacramento counties requiring installation of ignition interlock devices (IID) on any vehicle owned or operated by someone convicted of a drunk-driving offense.

“A restricted license still allows a person to drive drunk,” said Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angles, the author of Assembly Bill 91. “Since we have the technology that can help prevent drivers from getting behind the wheel after drinking, we should be using it. Not only would this legislation help reduce the likelihood that innocent people will be harmed by drunk drivers, it also promotes sober driving habits.”

An IID links into a vehicle’s ignition system so that a driver must blow into the device in order to start the vehicle; it won’t start unless the driver’s alcohol level is below the limit of .08 blood-alcohol content. Courts now have the discretion to require the devices’ installation, but aren’t mandated to do so.

States where IID installation is mandatory for first-time offenders have seen significant decreases in repeat DUI offenses, Feuer said: New Mexico’s drunk-driving recidivism has declined by more than 60 percent since it enacted an IID mandate for first-time offenders, while West Virginia saw a drop of more than 70 percent.

California taxpayers won’t pay the cost; offenders would be required to pay for the IIDs. The pilot project would go from July 1, 2010 to Jan. 1, 2015, and the Department of Motor Vehicles would have to report to the Legislature by mid-2014 on the project’s effectiveness.

The state Senate now takes up the bill.

Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley, introduced legislation today to designate Interstate 580 through Castro Valley as the Sergeant Daniel Sakai Memorial Highway, in honor of one of the four Oakland Police Department officers slain by a gunman in March.

“Sergeant Daniel Sakai served with valor, and his tragic death was a tremendous loss to the community,” she said in her news release. “By naming this section of Highway 580 after Sergeant Sakai, we have the opportunity to pay tribute to his courage, and forever be inspired by the heartfelt dedication and strong values he demonstrated throughout his life.”

Sakai, 35, lived in Castro Valley and is survived by his wife and their 4-year-old daughter.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 79 goes first to the Assembly Transportation Committee.

From Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Alameda:

“The Governor’s proposal to balance the $24 billion budget shortfall without the use of additional revenues is neither a fair nor realistic solution to the budget crisis. I find it morally objectionable for the Governor’s proposals to specifically cut Cal-Works, Healthy Families, Cal-Grants, In-home service care for the elderly, and even access to State parks. The Governor’s proposal also fails at its intended goals: it fails to address our deficit and it fails to reflect our priorities.

“In this budget year alone, we have instituted $23 billion of cuts, over 20% of our $105 billion budget. These cuts represent a tremendous amount of pain for California, a serious reduction in services to our constituencies, and a reduction in the prosperity of our state.

“Our budget must reflect our priorities. It must reflect what kind of state we want to be. I believe our state should be one that gives priority to children, seniors, and support for working families, all of which requires us to invest in our state. I hope we will look at revenue solutions that are realistic, that help the state support its safety net programs, and that provide Californians with the services they require and demand as they work to bring our state through this economic crisis.”

From State Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley:

“That was Governor Schwarzenegger’s best speech yet. He understands, as I do, that voters sent an undeniably strong message during the special election last month: cut spending, do your job and live within your means with no new taxes. Senate Republicans have been preaching this message of fiscal conservatism for years.

“The Governor understands, as we do, that our options are few. There is no combination of taxes and fees that will close this yawning $24 billion deficit, nor does the legislative will exist to raise taxes again. Raising taxes is not the answer. We cannot borrow our way out of this mess. Banks do not consider California to be a good loan risk, and with our track record of overspending, I can’t blame them. The only option left on the table is to cut spending, reform inefficient government agencies, live within our means and never make the mistake of spending more than we have again.

“Now, let’s get to work!”

More, after the jump…
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He got polite applause, which is de rigeur: The fact is, nobody in that room likes him, and he bears bad news.

The governor as expected continued to insist the May 19 special election indicated that people want their elected officials to do their jobs, make the hard choices, and not raise taxes. As I’ve written earlier, there’s a lack of consensus on what the extremely low turnout and election results really mean, especially when it comes to taxes versus spending.

“California’s day of reckoning is here,” bringing “a transformation of what services Sacramento can provide and how those services are delivered,” the governor said, citing the bone-deep cuts – no, the amputations (eliminating the CalWorks, Healthy Families and Cal Grant programs, among others) – he has proposed. “I know the consequences of those cuts are not just dollars – I see the faces behind those dollars.”

Those faces are kids without teachers, Alzheimer’s patients without in-home care, police and firefighters pink-slipped, he said. “I hear the deomonstrations outside of our capitol. It’s an awful feeling, but we have no choice. Our wallet is empty, our bank is closed and our credit has dried up.”

We must “live within our means,” he said. “We can only spend the money that we have.”

Though he referred to our “outdated and volatile tax system,” he made no mention of possible new revenue streams – perhaps it returning the top bracket of income taxes to where it was under governors Pete Wilson and Ronald Reagan, or inserting a new income tax bracket so that someone making $1 million a year isn’t taxed at the same rate as someone making $50,000 a year, or allowing commercial property to be reassessed at fair market values.

He spoke instead about “great opportunities here for structural reform,” finding innovative ways to stretch the taxpayer dollar and provide services at lower costs – like moving from paper to digital textbooks. “In so many areas of government, there are opportunities here for reform.”

He spoke of consolidating more than a dozen state departments, boards, commissions, and swore he’d not cut a dollar from schools, health care, public safety or parks without first eliminating the California Integrated Waste Management Board (the state agency designated to oversee, manage, and track California’s 92 million tons of waste generated each year, with a current annual budget of $235.3 million – none of it from the general fund, all of it from fees) and other entities like it. He also spoke of selling off state property to pay down the state’s debt, which will ease debt-service burdens on the general fund.

Schwarzenegger gave an unsubtle I-told-you-so, noting his 2004 speech about “blowing up the boxes” in Sacramento and consolidating agencies. “Now we are in a crisis and we are running out of excuses and we have run out of time and the people have run out of patience.”

“Let’s all work together on all of those issues and make it happen,” he said, urging lawmakers to enact most of these structural reforms before leaving for the summer recess in mid July.

“There’s no doubt that the challenges before us are enormous, they will test our will, they will test our resolve, they will test our leadership,” he said, citing recent media reports including New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s recent, dire review of California government.

“Let’s prove all of the pundits wrong,” he said. “Let’s think big, let’s think outside the box, let’s think long term and lay a new foundation for California’s future.”

Full transcript of the speech as prepared, after the jump…
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