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Winter 1977 | Spring 1977 |
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 The 1977 Legislative Session opened with a blaze of pageantry, flowers, drums, and feasting. Then the legislators got down to the work of introducing bills and resolutions with a vengeance. By February 23, the final day for introduction of bills, the House had introduced 1765 bills, and the Senate 1532. Just reading the titles of these bills as they come along is a huge job. Your LWV lobbiests are managing to keep ahead of the deluge, however, and are following the progress of those measures which are related to our program concerns. CON. CON Top priority has been given to the passage of a bill to set up the Constitutional Convention in such a way that it will encourage the broadest possible representation. League is coordinating the lobbying efforts of the coalition called CITIZENS FOR CON-CON. We have testified before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The coalition's main aims include: a non-partisan special election for delegates in November of 1977, with the convention beginning in May of 1978, a convention of about 100 delegates elected from two-member districts formed by dividing existing Representative districts. The House bill calls for 105 delegates, and the Senate bill for only 53, with elections in May 1978 and the convention in July. Because of the differences in the two bills, the matter is now in a conference committee. SUNSHINE League's second priority is "Sunshine" in Public Employee Collective Bargaining. (Our new consensus statement is found in the Fall 1976 LEO HANA.) While there are several collective bargaining bills around, none of them speaks to the sunshine issue. However, discussion in the House Public Employment and Government Operations Committee indicates a concern on the part of some legislators for the role of the citizen in public employee collective bargaining. ENERGY Energy is our third priority, and we are particularly following legislation concerning energy conservation in building standards and transportation. CZM In Land Use, we are particularly involved in the question of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). League testified in favor of the administration CZM program, designating the entire state a Coastal Zone, as all our lands "have a direct and significant impact on the coastal waters." We support provision for County input into the development of guideline, and an expanded Coastal Zone Commission of 15 members, seven of whom are from the general public and four appointed by County mayors. SOLID WASTE Don't forget our call to action on the "bottle bills". Write or call your legislators to add your support for the measures that have the potential of reducing waste and conserving resources and energy. AND... League is also testifying on Campaign Spending to support measures that will make our law equitable and enforceable. League lobbiests are registered and working, but can we can always use more help. If you have a yen to see what really happens inside that beautiful Capitol, give the League office a call, and we will introduce you to the legislative process. Even if you don't want to sign up to lobby, through the League you can become more familiar with the Legislature. Come give it a whirl when you are in town. As the session progresses, we'll alert you to the need for letters or phone calls to help further our program. Muriel Roberts |
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