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The measure, SB1899, would allow the refiling of claims for damages arising out of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In effect, it would give people who failed to meet the one-year statute of limitations to submit claims another chance to go to their insurance companies to seek damages. It also would allow people who were unhappy with their original settlements, or who can show they were treated poorly during their original negotiations, to refile their claims. This has the poetential to involve hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new claims, although at this point it is impossible to put a price tag on the ultimate size of the bill.

The bill's origin is pure politics: Senate leader John Burton took a total unrelated, obscure piece of legislation related to family law and, in Capitol parlance, "hijacked" it by gutting its original contents and inserting the provisions related to earthquake. That action occurred about the time of an emotional publlic hearing in Granada Hills by the Senate Insurance Committeee, at which an array of property owners testified that their claims had been mishandled by insurance companies. Burton's bill was a direct response to those complaints. In three weeks, the bill was approved in committee and emerged from the Senate in a 32-1 vote -- the lone dissenter was conservative Riverside Sen. Ray Haynes -- and it now resides in the Assembly. It has received no significant media coverage.

The Northridge earthquake occurred six years ago, but this year it is a hot political topic. That's because among the allegations targeting Quackenbush is the contention that allowed a half-dozen quake insurers off the hook for huge penalties by allowing them to donate far smaller amounts to a nonprofit foundation he set up to help consumers and finance quake-related research. However, none or little of the money went to those causes. Rather, millions of dollars went to purposes, such as television advertising, that appeared to benefit the commissioner politically.

But while Quackenbush has been the target of exhaustive investigative reporting by a variety of news organizations, the Burton bill, the single most signficant piece of legislation to emerge from the still-developing scandal, has been given scant attention.

The Northridge quake caused more than $15 billion in insured losses and is expected to surpass the damages of Hurricane Andrew, making it the nation's costliest natural disaster. More than 600,000 claims were filed following the quake, and the overwhelming majority of them have been resolved. Burton's bill, in effect, would allow the reopening of an unknown number of those claims, making insurers jittery indeed. As currently written, it would take effect in January 2001 and allow refilings for a 12-month period.

The fact that SB1899 left the Senate on such a fast-track surprised nobody. The bill deals with a hot topic of crucial concern to politicians of both parties, and Burton rules the upper house with an iron hand. But its fate in the Assembly is far from certain.

The well-heeled insurance lobbyists know this, and they have launched a no-holds-barred campaign to block the bill, water it down or kill it entirely on the Assembly side. To some extent, the fate of this bill is intertwined with the fate of the commissioner. If Quackenbush can emerge in tact from his political woes -- an increasingly unlikely scenario -- the impetus for the bill may wither. But if the heat intensifies on the commissioner, the bill is likely to win approval in the Assembly after a round of emotional hearings and floor votes.

The bill is a marriage of pocketbook and politics, a volatile mix that drives much of the crucial policy making in the California Legilature.

--Dan Borenstein in the Contra Costa Times, reporting: "Sixteen years ago, she almost became the nation's first female vice presidential candidate. Now speculation centers on whether U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein will be the second woman picked to run for the No. 2 job. California's senior senator usually is the only woman mentioned on the list of potential running mates for presidential candidate Al Gore. 'On the Democratic side, the names you hear are Dianne Feinstein and Dianne Feinstein,' said Ruth Mandel, former director of the Center for the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University. Feinstein's spokesman says her public response has been simple: She is a candidate for re-election to the U.S. Senate. But Feinstein, like most on the list, has met with Warren Christopher, the former secretary of state heading Gore's running-mate search. May 28.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/stories_news/feinstein_20000528.htm

--Robert Salladay and Zachary Coile in the San Francisco Examiner, who reported that "With her bluntly cut blond bangs, pale blue eyes and quiet voice, Ninon Mayrbaurl is not the person you would expect to be sent to jail 15 times. The 31-year-old Santa Rosa native has been convicted of burglary, but her major offense is what she considers a medical condition: a drug addiction that may have started when she tried marijuana at age 7, snorted cocaine at 15 or smoked crack at 18. She has watched much of her 20s drift by in the concrete cells of various Bay Area jails. After a few weeks or months back on the street, she is arrested on another drug possession charge or fails a drug test and violates her parole... The Campaign for New Drug Policies measure, scheduled for the November ballot, would require people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses -- including nonviolent prison parolees -- be sent to drug treatment centers instead of prison or county jail. The measure would be the most significant reform to the drug laws since California passed its "three strikes" sentencing law in 1994. May 28.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/hotnews/ stories/28/drugssun.dtl

--Kate Berry in the Orange County Register, who reported that "Consumers face the possibility of power blackouts this summer, prompted by a surge in the use of electronic gadgets, a booming California economy and a rough transition from deregulation. A rare springtime 'brownout' on Monday -- the first statewide power emergency this year -- forced hundreds of California businesses to cut power for a few hours. Because the alert came early in the year, rather than during a summer heat wave, energy officials expect more power outages to occur. Only one emergency alert was called all last year, in September." May 27.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/elec027mcci1.shtml

--Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee, who reported the hidden side of California's "smog impact fee" legislation: "Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly and quietly passed legislation Thursday to refund the $300 'smog impact' fees that were illegally imposed during the early 1990s on those bringing cars into California from other states. After years of litigation, the courts ruled that the smog fees were, as the Legislature's own lawyer advised in the first place, unconstitutional. After the court ruling, Gov. Gray Davis declared that the fees would be refunded to all 1.7 million motorists who paid them, plus interest. ... And that, it would seem, will close out this political melodrama. Not quite. There's still an unresolved aspect to the great smog fee imbroglio: whether the lawyers who successfully pursued the case, including one who is a major Davis campaign contributor, should receive many millions of dollars in fees for their work." May 26.
http://www.capitolalert.com/news/capalert02_20000526.html

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.

ORDER NOW THROUGH OUR WEB SITE: http://www.capenq.com/order

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

ORDER NOW THROUGH OUR WEB SITE: http://www.capenq.com/order

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