Contributor

John Campbell

John Campbell (R-Irvine) is an Assemblyman representing the 70th District in Orange County. Mr. Campbell is the Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. He is the only CPA in the California State legislature and recently received a national award as Freshman Republican Legislator of the Year. He represents the cities of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Tustin, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Woods and Lake Forest. He can be reached through his Assembly website and through the website for his California Senate campaign.

Legislation By Panic
Hiding a brew of bad law from public view
[John Campbell] 09/11/03

Quick Update: The Assembly was in session for over 12 hours Wednesday and so many bad bills were passed that I cannot even describe examples in a single column. I will have to update in the next few weeks.

But you ain't seen nothin' yet.

This completely out of control legislature is likely today to pass SB796 (Dunn--Orange County). This bill will order a fine of $200 per employee per pay period for even the most minor of labor code violations. The labor code is 3 books thick. Everyone probably messes up on something. If Aerojet General in Huntington Beach were to post their employee notices in the wrong font size for a year, for example, they would be subject to a penalty of $31,200,000. If that isn't bad enough, they could not contest the amount of the penalty and the plaintiff's attorneys would get $7,800,000 of this. This may be one of the worst bills of the year. It is a trial lawyers dream, brought to you by Senator Dunn, who is himself a trial lawyer. It will make the so-called "17200" extortion lawsuits seem like child's play. As I write this, the bill has just enough votes to pass. Tomorrow is the legislature's last day of the year. Friday we will see:

1) if businesses will be required to pay for health insurance for all employees or pay into a state-run health plan. This is the California version of "Hillary-care."

2) if the Democrat's poor excuse for worker's comp reform will pass. If it does or it doesn't, it is unlikely to help the situation much because it fails to deal with the biggest issues.

3) or if there will be a bill to violate property rights by allowing Indian Tribes to lay claim to almost any property across the entire state as a "sacred site." As this bill is currently drafted you might need to get the local tribe's approval to put in a patio cover in your house.