The commissioner faces a grilling by a committee run by his most determined critic in Sacramento, Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame, in what promises to be a ferocious examination of Quackenbush's role in settling cases with insurers and his campaign finances.

The hearing Tuesday by the Senate Insurance Committee is just the latest in a series of events targeting the Republican commissioner, and it is unlikely to be the last: Another Senate hearing is scheduled later in the week by a Judiciary subcommittee, and the Assembly Insurance Committee plans another round of hearings next month. Meanwhile, the Fair Political Practices Commission is conducting its own investigation into the commissioner's campaign finances, and state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a Democrat, has a court hearing on June 1 to determine whether a nonprofit fund the commissioner created with insurers' money should have some $6 million in assets frozen.

The issue is simple. Did Quackenbush let a half-dozen insurers off the hook for more than $3 billion in potential penalties stemming from alleged claims mishandling following the 1994 Northridge earthquake? The commisioner persuaded insurers to contribute some $12 million to a nonprofit consumer education and research fund to resolve the cases. The problem is, the money didn't go to helping consumers or conducting research, and that's what has Democrats seeing red in the Legislature.

The Quackenbush scandal -- "scandal" is an accurate term here -- has captivated the Capitol like none other in recent memory. In part, that's because Democrats control both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office, all of whom would be delighted to eliminate a major GOP political figure. His wife said as much over the weekend to The Sacramento Bee, and there is certainly a kernel of truth in what she says.

But it also stems from the nature of the case. It involves multimillion-dollar payments, insurance companies and a powerful regulator, and that's a mix that is certain to capture the public's attention. Moroever, Quackenbush has made things easy for his enemies. By his own admission, he made errors in judgment about the way his department was run, he didn't keep a close enough watch on the way the nonprofit fund was set up and payments from the fund benefitted him politically, at least indirectly.

The media, fed by a steady stream of tidbits from knowledgeable sources, have provided an almost daily series of revelations about the case, ususally on the front page. More revelations are sure to come, as ranking officials in the Insurance Department, concerned about their legal liability, begin leaking their version of events to reporters.

But Quackenbush's worst problem is Speier. She is a determined, intelligent Democrat long known as one of the most capable members of the Legislature, and well versed in insurance and consumer issues. She is also very, very tough: As an aide to the late Congressman Leo Ryan, she was shot and left wounded on a jungle airstrip in Guyana by People's Temple gunmen during an inspection tour of Rev. Jim Jones' compound. Years later, her husband, a doctor, was killed in an automobile accident with an unsinured motorist who ran a stoplight illegally. She had planned to run for a statewide office earlier, but abandoned her plans for personal health reasons. She also wants to be insurance commissioner, and has authored a constitutional amendment to make the office an appointed one.

If Quackenbush had to pick his worst nightmare in the Legislature, it would probably be Speier.

And on Tuesday, the public will see them in a head-to-head confrontation.

--Carla Rivera in the Los Angeles Times reported: "In her 24 years as a licensed day-care provider, Martha Sabbs says, she has never had less than a full day. She picks up several of her seven charges from their homes or schools. She makes them meals and helps them with their homework. She took out a loan to build an addition to her home where the children can play and learn. It seems like full-time work to her, and yet when she adds up her state-reimbursed wages at the end of the day, she says her hourly rate hovers somewhere between $2 or $3. She is not alone. Family day-care operators who provide subsidized care for the children of welfare recipients have long complained that they make less than the minimum wage and are not reimbursed in a timely fashion." May 19.
http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20000519/t000047299.html

--James P. Sweeney of Copely News Service in the San Diego Union-Tribune, who reported that "Federal gaming officials told California Indian tribes yesterday to expect increased federal scrutiny and regulation as they enter a new era of legal casino gambling. Tribal leaders welcomed any help, but politely suggested they don't need any more state or federal regulators to keep an eye on their flourishing industry. The National Indian Gaming Commission invited tribal leaders from throughout the state to an informal briefing on what to expect in the months ahead. "First and foremost, the NIGC's mission is to ensure the integrity of tribal gaming...that buffalo must remain white," said commission Chairman Montie Deer. Tribal gaming, which generates more than $8 billion a year nationally, has been hailed as the new buffalo in Indian country." May 19.
http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/fri/news/news_1n19gamble.html

--Dan Walters in The Sacramento Bee, who reported: "Suppose California had a state agency that had accumulated $45 billion in debt and spends $4 billion a year to finance grandiose 'economic development' schemes, often offering lavish subsidies to private businesses for projects that only rarely fulfill their promises but nevertheless enrich developers, bond attorneys and bankers. Sounds scandalous, something worthy of news media inquiry and perhaps a legislative investigation, doesn't it? Well, there is no such state agency, but in all other respects it's an accurate description of 'redevelopment,' the program that 350 California cities (and some counties) operate, supposedly to clean up 'blight.' The original urban renewal purposes have been lost as local governments use redevelopment powers to acquire land and subsidize private schemes with bonds and tax abatements, primarily to generate more sales tax revenues. May 19.
http://www.capitolalert.com/news/capalert03_20000519.html

--Virginia Ellis in the Los Angeles Times, who reported: "California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush used fake sensational news stories to coerce major insurance companies into making contributions to controversial earthquake foundations, a senior staff member has admitted. The phony news stories, purported to be what the Los Angeles Times might publish on its front page, were enlarged and presented to the insurance companies as a preview of what they might see if they did not cooperate, the staffer said. Contradicting his testimony before the state Assembly Insurance Committee last month, Deputy Commissioner David Langenbacher said in a May 10 letter to the committee that 'blow-ups were included as examples of possible articles that might reflect potential outcomes of our negotiations.'" May 17.
http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20000517/t000046552.html

Regarding Davis' plan to exempt public school teachers from personal income tax:

What about nurses? Firefighters? Law enforcement? These are people who provide services 24-hours a day, 365 days a year -- they do not have summer vacation, winter break, spring break, minimum days, and are also "underpaid."

I personally am tired of hearing how teachers are underpaid. Several of my friends entered the teaching profession and earn upwards of $40,000 per year, including full benefits, and work only two-thirds of the year. On an hour-to-hour basis, most of them earn more than I do working in a professional public sector capacity. I constantly hear from them, "I'm so underpaid. I can't afford anything." Funny, when I was making the same amount of money, I was able to purchase my own lovely house in a nice, established neighborhood without any sort of assistance at the age of 25.

I was raised by a teacher mother and a state worker father, so I am not being insensitive to what the profession entails. In fact, my 63-year-old mother recently took the golden handshake from her school district and is now teaching at a parochial school. Her current salary combined with her STRS retirement is not as much as she was making as a teacher in the public school system, yet under Davis' plan, as a teacher at a private school, she would not be eligible.

My brother and I were both educated in the public school system and graduated from U.C. Berkeley without one cent of student loans -- all on a combined income of maybe $80,000 per year (in today's dollars). It's about prioritizing personal spending and deciding if your chosen career path is one that you love enough to work out the financial aspects. If it doesn't add up with fulfillment/monetary gain, move on. That's what the rest of us do and you don't hear us complaining.

- R. Johnson
Sacramento, Calif.

To the Editor,

I'm among the first to agree to any real breaks for teachers who traditionally are paid less than their level of responsibility.

I see two things wrong with this form of corporate welfare:

1. Like the Lottery wrongly used to reduce real-time budgets instead of augmenting them, it will be an excuse to withhold raises to offset the teachers' tax benefit.

2. The Governor's exclusion of private school teachers, even if credentialed, is a clear indication of the wrong-headedness of single-inference Cartesian thinking prevalent in all issues today.

Private school teachers generally work for 15 to 25 percent less than their public school counterparts though not cursed with mind-numbing but "safe" tenure. If anyone deserves the Governor's proposed tax break, it is the private school teacher who saves the taxpayer untold millions of dollars every school year. Of course, that teacher is not likely paying into the political coffers of organized labor gone amok in public employment where it doesn't belong.*

The private school teacher therefore has little hope of being recognized for the one thing that really matters in education: dedication!

- Gerald V. Todd
Bakersfield, Calif.
May 15, 2000

*I'm definitely NOT opposed to organized labor. I'm also scared silly about the inevitable result of public employees being so organized as it can only lead to the changeover of our free society to socialism. That experiment has failed miserably wherever it was tried. Why must we be the next victims?

2000 POCKET DIRECTORY OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE ---------------------------------------------- 27th Edition of "the little red book" is now available! Current contact information on each legislator, including photos, committee assignments, Capitol and district office addresses, phone numbers and staff. Separate listings of all Senate and Assembly standing, select, special research, joint and sub committees, with members, staff, phone and room numbers. Don't be without this indispensable directory!

2000 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES VIA EMAIL ---------------------------------- Receive late-breaking changes to the Pocket Directory monthly throughout the year -- via email. To keep your directory up to date, you will be provided with any "information changes" that occur after the February publishing date. In addition to "changes," the updates will include profiles of new members, alerts to new committees and other legislative news items. Easy way to keep your directory current!

2000 U.S. CONGRESS DIRECTORY ---------------------------- Convenient 4" x 9" spiral-bound directory includes photos, key staff members and committee memberships of the 100 U.S. Senators and 435 U.S. Representatives. Separate listings of Senate and House committee and subcommittee memberships, the President's cabinet with key staff members, the State governors with addresses and phone numbers, and the Supreme Court members with phone numbers.

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or fax the EASY ORDER FORM from our brochure to (916) 442-1260

1999-2000 WHO'S WHO IN THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE ------------------------------------------------- 8" x 11" loose-leaf binder of political and personal biographies of all 120 legislators, including each legislator's photo, education, career, campaign issues, legislative interests and accomplishments. Each district information page has exclusively created easy-to-read district and "locator" maps. The Who's Who makes a wonderful legislative yearbook keepsake.

1999-2000 CALIFORNIA STATE AGENCY DIRECTORY ------------------------------------------- Information on the governor's appointments! This handy 4" x 9" directory lists all agency and department-level organizations and most division and branch-level offices. Includes names and titles of state officials, with addresses, phone and fax numbers. Where a vacancy exists, the position is listed without a name. The next more complete edition will be published in the Fall of 2000.

COMING LATER THIS YEAR

Open & Public III ----------------- Open & Public II is no longer available -- it is being updated now and will be available in September 2000. For a current guide to public meetings and the Ralph Brown Act, see The Legal Notebook.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

* The Legal Notebook * Navigating the Legislative Process * Conflict of Interest Laws for Local Government Officials * Paper Trails: A Guide to Public Records in California * California Election District Zip Code Directory * Election District Diskette * Mailing Labels on Diskette * Senate, Assembly & Congress District Wall Maps

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