Jim Cooper's Orange County; 602; State Senators of Orange County: Seymour, Green, Royce; Tape Number 36

Jim Cooper's Orange County is made possible by grants from Disneyland park and its new attraction Star Tours now boarding passengers for a space flight adventure by signal landmark incorporated developer of Southern California real estate and builder of the landmark homes by the Peter and Mary Muth foundation by the cream Foundation and by supporting viewers of this television series. After a hectic final six weeks in a section of the California state legislature Orange County and five state senators and eight assembly members are in recess until the next session starts going to governors reduced 40 and a half billion dollar budget properly provide for the needs of California 27 million people. What effect will it have in Orange County where cutbacks in education and health care will be felt. How about the facts on the county's transportation problems. I'm Jim Cooper and today I'll talk with three state senators who have been working on these and other legislative issues and formulating their own goals for the coming year. Probably ranging from a possible toll road for Orange County to the Super Collider to the tax

rebate. Education welfare and health have all been debated in the past that many still are problem for the coming year. This is the time when legislators are formulating agendas priorities and goals for the coming important new year in our state of California. Now let's meet our Senators John Seymore Republican that is now going into his sixth year as a state senator for the thirty fifth district including Costa Mesa Fountain Valley orange to Aston Villa Park in Anaheim a former Maryland councilman of Anaheim. He now serves as chairman of the Select Committee on substance abuse. Vice Chair of the toxic and Public Safety Committee and serves on education and transportation committee Cecil Greene Democrat was elected to the thirty third state senate seat on May 18th of this year. He's chairman of the Senate public employment and retirement committee and serves on agriculture and water resources education local government and transportation committees. His district includes Wenna park Cyprus and Los Alamitos in Orange County and Lakewood and so he goes and Norwalk in L.A. County. Ed

Royce Republican has served in the 30 seconds. District state senator since 1982 you now serve the chairman of the Senate constitutional amendments Committee. He also served as vice chair of the committee on public employment and retirement and served on Health and Human Services Housing and Urban Affairs and Business and Professions Committee. It tick tick includes Garden Grove and FULLERTON And parts of Anaheim Preston and Santa Ana. I think many people don't realize what that last hectic week was in this specially that last day when you came in and by 9:30 on Saturday and went till 3 o'clock about Friday and what it will feel like Saturday morning. What about just the the crush the momentum of that last week you want to comment on that. Well Jim it you know it never ceases to amaze me that the push of work always ends up the last evening and there we are struggling on into the wee hours of the morning and tempers get a little short. When you've been locked up for most of the week as a matter of fact and and you sort of have to have a sense of humor to keep your

balance so that you cast the right votes and don't let your personality get in the way of doing what you think is right. Cecil Greene the you had a four months out your first hundred twenty days in that pressure cooker up there. You're sort of an endangered species as Orange County's only elected Democrat in the state legislature how do you feel about that. Well I see that my rule here in Orange County is a good one because with a partnership with my my partners here in Orange County on the Senate side they can bring the governor's views to the Senate and I can bring maybe the leadership or the majority leadership of the Senate to help Orange County. There had been a lot of bills and so forth that we've been able to partnership on to get through this time. And I think it has been a good partnership with the caucus from Orange County. And I think I have added to help for this particular county. What about you know the right. Well it it always amazes me how the the crucial decisions seem to

wait until the last week of session transportation and the tax refund and the crucial compromises seem to wait until the last day of session. But if you look at the major legislation passed out this year a majority of it probably came off the assembly of Senate floor on the very last day amazing which shows how the how the compromising goes on until the last minute and when there's when there's no other choice but to come to an agreement. That's when agreements are made and the bills are passed and that's almost on a minute by minute basis if there is a lack in the Caucasus to do horse trading and nothing. And many times one issue having nothing whatsoever to do with another are tied together. One caucus will come to deal with the other caucus that OK if this bill goes out in this particular fashion then that other one can go up but at that. If you don't agree none of them would. So I'd like to start with transportation certainly I can't think of anything more important in effect history than transportation. And your toll road bill had probably more ups and downs more Vicissitude than a congressional

or other legislative message message I can think about. What about that. Well that bill was dead and alive. More than a cat's nine lives. I think that the ability for Orange County to determine if they want to do a toll road project is but one more tool in the kit. Jim it certainly is not a panacea for our transportation problems and we need all the creativity that we can possibly muster. And so a toll road that would in essence be built parallel to an existing freeway so that the motorist has a choice. And the fact that the toll would only apply until construction is paid for. That concept is about as narrowly crafted as you could but yet permits the opportunity to experiment. Maybe this will help. What about the toll road is it that the governor is evidently going to sign it and it have to be on a road that parallels the freeway so that I that the driver can have the option to do what about the likelihood which is which freeway do you think it's likely to be used one will be deciding that later

this month. I think the sentiment is to go with the San Joaquin Hills corridor which will run in essence parallel the San Diego freeway. My personal preference would be the eastern corridor which would run parallel to the new port. My feeling is that the new port which has more traffic and the freeway in the state is the one that really needs relief. But I think we can fast track the San Joaquin Hills corridor and so probably that's the one that we selected. You said there's a seat made was it was Senator green here how'd that work and how it worked out great. Cecil is a tremendous assist he was a tremendous assist on the tollroad bill many of his party philosophically were very strongly opposed that Cecil had the courage to say look my county needs this and. And so he broke ranks and in a way and voted with us. Well and you know what I think that the other. John is right in this this this is one of the things that I've been able to because I got there too late to sponsor my legislation this year. And so I've given my effort to going to the committee chairman and the committee is trying to break Bill's

loose that are important and that was one bill that was hung up in committee. And now after of John and I had some talks and I got mine as a bill. It helped to push it through. Not that I'm any power there I'm not I'm the freshman and I recognize that but at least maybe my one voice in my boat in my little bit of push didn't make that possible for in the county when I as a senator goes up there a freshman senator in the first four months doesn't usually get a bill put through but you did one about violence and that had to do with transportation to the violence on the freeways. Tell us very quickly about that well the shooting on the freeways is horrendous and I mean it's we have tremendous problems on the freeways with people people shooting at other people. And now my bill has to be 1 1 7 0 which I was able to pick up a bill with my name on it. Now for the first one that I got in session I got there too late to sponsor legislation but I did get it with through the last day. Again this bill in the last thing Bill it was a last a bill and it had it hand chances. Our ads to the current sentencing for anyone using a gun on a

freeway back my years back my years on ascent without parole in this type things so they can get anywhere a minimum now of 8 years up to a maximum of 14 years. I had that your subjective question when they know you're representing Orange County as well as L.A. County. When you meet with the Democrats over there you are being listened to that there are problems down here that ought to get in a service for Orange County. I believe so because we've been able to shake some of those bills loose with the Democratic leadership and not the same thing holds true I've been meeting with the Orange County delegation and I'm the only Democrat sitting there but we have the same philosophy as we want to help our counties as opposed to the other thing I get but you are of course supportive in that as a board and I think about the transportation bills for Orange County I think I think Orange County has had a particularly good year. We ordered a new plate a new Caltrans office. Now it's been probably 20 years since in the Senate I don't see what right had I you know I try simply build a rocket that put through. Correct. So that's one victory for the county. We have five new

spirit court judges and that funding will come from the state we have. In all made enormous strides especially in the area of how much funding Orange County gets for transportation in 1080 we probably got 80 million. Now we're up to close to 500 million dollars a year. It was maybe maybe eight years ago under the prior administration that we got less than 2 percent around 3 percent of the total funds spent in transportation in the state. Today we have over 10 percent. So Orange County has come a long way in terms of the share of transportation dollars. And I think that's because Governor Deukmejian understands that one area where Orange County was shortchanged under the brown administration especially was in transportation. We got in we were cut off from funds and so now that is being made up to us. We're playing catch up and we're playing catch up and we have a long way to go yet but we are making very real progress.

So you countermand have had a timetable to have been slipping on the project for Orange County I'm sure you're aware of that. Anything can be done. One of the important measure that's the time on on that subject when the important measures that we failed in I did not succeed in at least in the Assembly was the contracting out Bill. Senator Marion Burgess of the Senate and all of us voted to put that bill out it got over the soundly and got hung up in the political debate over affirmative action that is a critical bill. Because if I'm hiring out privately and you go to the private sector and when Caltrans is as slow as they are and understaffed as they are this bill would provide the opportunity go out to the private sector and get the job done. As Senator Royce has already indicated we've got the funding rolling now we've got to do a lot more we may have to look at a gasoline tax increase we may have to go back to the voters and say well we know you turned down a penny increase in the sales tax of the time but when you go for half a penny. So we've got funding moving now but now you guys are pouring concrete so that what are your priorities for

January. Indeed we can when we're talking it already are January coming on very die. One of the things about that you've been interested in and I know it as a crime legislation what is already regarded as your accomplishment major accomplishment this fascination in crime. Right now we have well in terms of a bill in the legislature I had a bill to protect the victims of rape by allowing them to withhold their names from publication. But in terms of the effort that I'm working on right now it's a senate constitutional amendment which will be on the ballot in 1088 in November. Which overturns the bulk of Rose bird's decisions and will instead substitute the federal court system for the procedures which Byrd introduced and overturn most of her decisions. So we are very delighted with the way that effort is going to be the principal basis for the legislation is to allow a judge when he he needs to be able to cite a

motion to prevent frivolous continuances. To state that the victim has the right also for a fair and speedy trial and therefore there is some balance in the judicial system which Rose Bird eliminated with her. Her interpretations of the law and this in turn would allow cases we have. We have the craft case here in Orange County. It's gone on for four and a half years hasn't even come to trial yet. We spend over 2 million dollars on the defense today. This will allow cases like that. That particular case to come to trial in a far more speedy fashion and instead of having a separate trial for every single murder committed by the the accused in this case I believe he's accused of excused of killing over a dozen. There can be one trial so that that is the my primary goal right now in focus. I'd like to talk live about education that's an important thing in this and this is a quote from my

from. Mr. HORNIK state superintendent schools he is upset about the refund the tax refund but the refund is going to be coming to both single taxpayers and very taxpayers he said that that refund 1.1 billion dollars it means we're taking one hundred fifty thousand dollars out of every school to give people a 50 30 $75 rebate. Californians are not for that in the future will have to deal with the effect of these cuts cutbacks listing schools he's lifted schools roads and health care at public services that would suffer because of the rebate. In other words he's saying education should have had that rebate rather than the taxpayers who want to figure like that. I'd like to speak to that because you know I have worked with him for beholding for a long time except he and I parted ways this year over this issue. It wasn't a question in my mind. Jim what do you do with the money the voters told us what to do with the excess monies we received when they passed the Gann limit and therefore in

my opinion by law we were duty bound to return that money to the taxpayers and I think was a red letter day. Fact I made this little speech on the floor that we will never have enough money we will never have enough money to answer all the needs and all the problems so thank goodness we do have a limit. Now looking to the future in there for the tax rebate was totally appropriate and I commend our governor or being so iron willed as to do anything differently. Look into the future however if Mr. hony and he has money in this you do have to go to the voters probably in June of next year to ask them if they want to change the game and thats fair. My personal view is education does need more money. No doubt about that. They also need more reform and thats why the governor appointed a task force to say look in the last five years we have committed 6 billion new dollars new dollars into education. How are we doing. And the jury's still out on that one. We shown some improvement

no doubt about that. But have we shown enough improvement. Are there better ways perhaps to better teacher training perhaps through some changes in the teachers tenure system. That and perhaps some changes in curriculum that we can get a higher quality a bigger bang for our buck. So I think those questions have to be answered before we pump new additional monies into education. But bottom line sure we need more money. On the other hand I'm glad we do have a limit. And what that limit forces us to do is to set priorities just like you and I have to do in our personal budgets. You know and John is right we do need to get them and I'm all for the gamut and the people put it there and we should pay attention to it. However I take a little different view of the what you would you rather have given the money back to education. I first went that way yes. And then when I saw in the last few weeks of those negotiations I saw stubbornness on both sides. I think what happened there was that you

stonewall the saying I will only do such and such and then the other side is saying I will only do such and such. And what happened we lost 400 million dollars of money that and went to binding on that 400 million dollars that really should have gone to education. The bill was there and we lost it it became Prime not only 700 billion but it became one billion one hundred million dollars. Is the rebate. It should have been seven hundred million dollars. Well accepted. Cecil's right there we may have been perceived stubbornness on both sides but I argued on the floor that the Democrats who refused were going to the budget to provide a 700 million dollar tax rebate thereby providing an additional 400 million dollars primarily for education. They wouldn't go along with that. So then they were faced with the cold hard fact is of the law as of July 1. Now it's 1.1 billion so their stubbornness cost education over two hundred sixty million dollars.

What about if you want to have my observation my observation was that the governor was willing as John has just articulated was willing to support education to the tune of 400 million dollars. But he said 75 percent of the people in the state voted for that Gann initiative. Therefore we have to return to the taxpayers the the 750 million when the leadership in both houses on the Democratic side refused to make that compromise. That's what that's what produced the bind where we were not able to put through legislation until the very last hour. And at that point we had already missed the opportunity to provide the 400 million for education because the Gand limit was written in such a way that if we did not come to a compromise by the July 1st the forum out would be return to the text and that and I at one time and this is as I say went happen that's what happened seem about as a result of stubbornness so that still leaves us though with in a state of California a rich state like California that were one of the worst states in the whole Union.

As far as the ratio of teachers to class size or class size bottle but we should remember Jim that we also know that trouble you. We are also in a state where we have the highest ratio probably or close to it in terms of administrators to teachers administrators and clerical. The ratio is is probably in the neighborhood 109 to 100. You compare this with other states that I don't have an address the problem of the fact we have rare classes are too big and I I can I concur that we need more funding for education but as John Seymour has said one of the critical things we want to see is some reforms some additional reforms in the educational area and I don't doubt that in January when we go back in there will be there will be funding bills for more funds for education in this state. But coupled with that I know that a sizable percentage of the legislature and certainly the governor wants to see some very real give and take and some refried on arms over the fact book to reinforce the the question is just the in.

In my six years I think I've learned this lesson well. If you give money without reform you'll never get three four and so the only way you can achieve reform is hold on to the money until there's agreement on the reform and I hope that's what we do and I think that's where we're all coming from now is that money will not totally solve our education problem but reform and redoing it with money will solve it. And one of the cuts where we're coming from one of the real concerns that have been addressed in that it would not have solved in this session would not solve a second before that the session before that of the state legislature and that's water about assuring long range water supplies for Orange County and Southern California in general when the proposition the peripheral canal failed. The problem didn't go away it just meant that the peripheral canal proposal failed. The governor tried another plan that failed. We stand today with no clear blueprint of how we're going to assure long range water from Northern California because of this political battle. Which one of you want to talk about that the long range legislative battle remains unsolved.

This is one Jim that I've gotten into quite heavily since I've been there and have a going to have good water. I'm on that committee. The senator has Senate bill 36 and the Senate bill thirty two which is not a panacea it's not a total answer it's a very expensive program that he has put in place. Recently we saw a bill that was killed at the last in session was one hundred million dollars in which to repair the levees up in the Delta which would come from our Tideland oil money here in Southern California to help the Thailand up there. It's part of the overall package. However again you get into this stuff holding one bill hostage for another bill which is unfortunately happens and that that bill failed. It's up for reconsideration it will still be coming but it will be delaying it. And I see Senator Elias yellows package as a good water package for southern California and Northern California. But it's the north oust fight.

And it shouldn't be there but it is unfortunately that well that is the part that is sad for all of us. There's a way to to bring that fight to an end. And I'm optimistic that we may be able to do that next year in the way we have to do it closer is we have to assure the northern legislators and their northern constituents that we will protect their environment and we will protect the delta the Delta that we will in fact build the fish greens to protect the wildlife. And if the fish should that are involved and also that we will repair the levees in exchange for water moving south. That's a delicate balance. People feel very strongly about water in northern California much more strongly than Southern California and rationally enough it's almost good. You can take my wife and take my kids but don't you touch my water tray. That's how emotional they are. But on the other hand I would hope that next year the emotionalism will will subside. We can address the issues you if you set a blueprint the blueprints there yeah we know what needs to be done.

We have to muster the political will to get it come put into it and had to put it in attack mode. Don't you think that on this particular issue the Eldorado resident or where a major pumping is now is a reservoir that all the runoff come through all of that farm area for land the water going into that reservoir is polluted water. They're sending the worst water to Southern California and also up in that area. They're drinking the worst water that can come out of the whole delta and that has to be remedied. If you talk about priorities for the coming year what are the ones you're starting to work on. Unfinished business as you like to see happen next year. OK I think the first priority should be contracting out we've discussed that built as a contracting out nature of an army dumping out sand projects transportation is going to remain Orange County's first priority and getting that bill which which is now in the Senate getting that to the governor's desk and getting his signature I think will be our number one priority. What are your priorities to look at you take a look at this coming year. Well I'm I'm in two probably two

priorities. One is insurance which to me is a very heavy thing we have to have some insurance changes this year and the other thing is education I think education by all three and transportation all three of those aren't major station transportation right now the crime issue all the others. Senator Royce and some of the other senators will be running as a package as my packages basically will be those three issues. But you're willing to work on a bipartisan level I'd be lovelier than I but there are a lot of go out on his bill and his bill and I think I look at the at the Orange County senators and Assemblyman as my partner. Senator Seymour the way I see the priorities Jim it's transportation education crime and then for me personally an ongoing interest as I've had ever since I've gotten up there an interest in a drug and alcohol abuse and working in that field. But I must ask you a question about a headline to come up with that senator Seymour's been asking to be made to state treasure hunt. What about that story. I yes I have asked the governor to consider me but he's got a long list

of good candidates and I really consider myself a dark horse. I've only been around six years Jim and others that he's considering have a lot more seniority than I got when we had all been long shots and they've come in. Well I'll take that. He thinks it was unethical he would go out of the legislative mill you know if you took a job like that and you've been yes it wouldn't either end humid and afford me the opportunity to be part of the financial planning for this state on into the next century. And with our needs for infrastructure and we talked about water highways transportation that is absolutely critical. And so to have the opportunity to serve in such a capacity and and get the biggest bang for the. Taxpayer's dollar would be very exciting. You're looking for the next year as another banner year in addressing our number one problem of transportation. Yes some realistic progress like we talk about the gaps and seen our delegate and Cecil's touched on a number of times as absolutely right Cecil has been a great partner

seen our delegation both in the Senate and the assembly come together even closer to make this transportation issue in the resolution of the art of war and poverty art on that basis thank you very much Alan. Our time is almost up now and I want to thank our senators for being with us today please be with us next week when I look into the very real fight over how much growth Orange County should have in the future. I'm Jim Cooper. Thanks for being us. Jim Cooper's Orange County is made possible by grants from Disneyland park and housing it's

a new attraction. Star Tours now boarding passengers for a space flight adventure by signal landmark incorporated developer of Southern California real estate and builder of a landmark OEMs by the Peter and Mary moon foundation by the cream Foundation and by supporting viewers of this television series.