Lawmakers hit stack of state bills
Los Angeles Daily News
Aug. 8, 2006
Progress over politics emphasized
BY HARRISON SHEPPARD, Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – On their first day back in session after summer break,
state lawmakers swept Monday through hundreds of bills dealing with
everything from the Armenian Genocide to colored contact lenses,
trying to clear their desks before bills expire Aug. 31.
Lawmakers said despite the gubernatorial election looming in November,
they believe they can set aside partisan differences and collaborate
on important legislation, as they did earlier this year on the state
budget and the infrastructure bond package.
"For sure, Democrats want to get that top (governor’s) job back,"
said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles. "We all want that
top job back, but at the same time we realize how important it is to
get things done for Californians.
"The way one can characterize where we are is that political ideology
comes second to progress. That’s going to be the focus over the next
three weeks."
One of the bills approved Monday was AB 1524, by Sen. Jackie Speier,
D-San Mateo, which allows heirs of victims of the Armenian Genocide
who live in California to file legal claims against banks in an effort
to recover assets looted by the Turkish government in the early 1900s.
"Over 900,000 Armenian-Americans reside in California," said
Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles. "Many of their families
were killed in the Armenian Genocide from 1915 to 1923 and their
assets were abruptly seized by the Turks and placed in German banks.
No effort has been made by these banks to return their assets to
their rightful owners."
The bill, which has already passed the Senate, went through the
Assembly on a 65-2 vote.
A similar bill was approved Monday for victims of the Mexican
repatriation in California during the 1930s, in which legal U.S.
citizens of Mexican descent were forcibly and illegally deported to
Mexico. Some experts estimate that more than 400,000 legal citizens
were deported from California during a wave of anti-immigrant hysteria
and the loss of jobs during the Great Depression.
The bill, SB 1765, allows victims to file claims for loss of property
or injury due to the forced repatriations.
Another bill that passed prohibits the sale of colored contact lenses
without a prescription. The bill’s author, Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi,
R-Lodi, said the lenses, which change the color of a person’s eyes
without enhancing vision, can often be misused without a proper fitting
and care instructions, leading to infections and possibly blindness.
"These colored contact lenses are used indiscriminately by people,"
said Nakanishi, who is also an ophthalmologist. "In fact, if it’s not
looked after, it can cause infection and cornea ulcers. The ulcers
are bad – you can turn blind from it."
Some of the problems are caused when users, particularly teenagers,
share the lenses, which can lead to contamination and infection. They
may wear the lenses for too long without taking them out and cleaning
them.
Among other topics the Legislature is expected to tackle in the waning
days of the session are cable competition, minimum wage, greenhouse
gases and redistricting.
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