Assembly Committee Action:Criminal Penalties: The Assembly Public...

Assembly Committee Action:

Criminal Penalties: The Assembly Public Safety Committee approved a bill (SB 241) by Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord) to add a mandatory two years to the prison sentences of repeat offenders convicted of robbery, kidnaping, rape and sodomy involving people 65 and older, disabled and blind people and children under 14. A 6-1 vote sent the bill to the Ways and Means Committee.

Credit Card Purchases: The Assembly Finance and Insurance Committee approved a bill (SB 848) by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) to prohibit retailers from imposing surcharges on credit card purchases. A 9-4 vote sent the bill to the floor.

Senate Floor Action:

Public Utility Bills: Approved and sent to the governor on a 25-5 vote a bill (AB 476) by Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles) to require the Public Utilities Commission to set up an advocacy unit within the agency to represent the interests of consumers on rate increase applications.

Diesel Vehicles: Approved and sent to the governor on a 32-2 vote a bill (SB 152) by Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) to require diesel-powered vehicles to pass smoke density emission tests for registration purposes as soon as the technology is available, probably next year.

Child Abuse: Approved and sent to the Assembly on a 39-0 vote a bill (AB 141) by Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles) that would require training in child abuse assessment and reporting for state-licensed marriage, family and child counselors, social workers and psychologists. It is an outgrowth of the McMartin Pre-School child molestation case.

Miscellany Gov. Deukmejian Recall Move: A Pacific Grove man, Michael Bogatirev, has filed with the secretary of state’s office a petition to recall Gov. George Deukmejian for allegedly failing to adequately represent environmental concerns. The petition must be signed by 945,204 registered voters, which represents 12% of all of the votes cast for the office in 1982, by next Jan. 30. If the recall drive qualifies, a special election would be set. A spokesman for the governor had no immediate official comment on the petition but said, “We certainly aren’t nervous about it.”

Fair Pay Initiative: Political gadfly Paul Gann has filed papers to launch an initiative drive to place a ceiling on salaries of elected and appointed officials. It would freeze the governor’s salary at $80,000 yearly and salaries of other constitutional officers at $52,500. It also calls for limiting the salaries of other elected and appointed officials to no more than 80% of the governor’s salary. All future pay raises would take effect only after approval by a vote of the people. Gann hopes to place the issue on the November, 1986, ballot. He needs 630,136 signatures of registered voters by June 26.