Undoubtedly when someone new is elected to public office, there
are some bumps and surprises along the way. I was elected to office
straight out of the private sector. I had strong business and
agriculture experience, but had not previously served in
office.
Undoubtedly when someone new is elected to public office, there are some bumps and surprises along the way. I was elected to office straight out of the private sector. I had strong business and agriculture experience, but had not previously served in office.
So being new to public office, there were some parts of the process that surprised, and often shocked me. One of the most frustrating things I came across in Sacramento, is a process commonly known as “Gut & Amend.”
Gut & Amend is what happens to a piece of legislation when the original language is completely removed-the gutting of the legislation-and entirely new language is amended in.
For example, there was a piece of legislation – Senate Bill 328 – that as of Sept. 8, 2003, was a measure that would make technical clarifications to the laws dealing with state courts. On Sept. 12 (the last day of this year’s session), the measure came back to the Senate Floor as legislation that would provide free tuition to illegal immigrants.
Now, regardless of how you feel about the policy, the process is appalling.
This new version of the SB 328 was not heard in any committee, it went straight to the Floor and passed on a party-line vote. Earlier in the legislative session, an Assemblymember attempted similar legislation, but that measure did not pass the Senate Appropriations Committee because of its high cost to the taxpayers.
It disturbs me to see policies rammed through the Legislature at the last waning hours, of literally the last day of the legislative session. The version of SB 328 that was passed was brand new and circumvented the entire legislative process. There are specific rules in place that provide for public input and deliberate legislative action. There is an introduction deadline and a waiting period so that no action can be taken on a newly introduced piece of legislation for 30 days. This was meant to give citizens a chance to review legislation and provide input to their elected officials. All of this disappears with Gut & Amend.
The rules of the Senate exist for a reason. If we are to have a truly thoughtful lawmaking process, then we need to take the time to properly scrutinize legislation. The founders of our country did not dream of a legislature that rammed through proposals at the last minute, with little public scrutiny or press coverage. They meant for an orderly system that through reasonable consideration would lead to the best legislation for the State of California.
Sen. Jeff Denham,
R-Salinas
