California League of Conservation Voters E-newsletter

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Assembly Moderate Caucus, continued

Assembly Moderate Caucus environmental scores

As of the last week of May, AB 1940 had sailed through two committees with little opposition and was poised for passage in the Assembly. However, by May 27, the Moderate Caucus informed Assembly Member Chan that they would withhold their votes for the bill, depriving it of the margin it needed to pass the Assembly floor and move to the Senate. In response to the Moderate Caucus’s pressure, Assembly Member Chan felt she had no choice but to move the bill to the inactive file (rather than to allow it to come to a vote and fail).

With recent developments—such as the Environmental Protection Agency seeking a multi-million dollar fine against chemical company DuPont for failing for two decades to report possible environmental health harms (see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37628-2004Jul8.html)—the Moderate Caucus finds themselves even behind the Bush administration on this issue.

“By avoiding recorded votes, the Moderate Caucus has short-circuited the very process that allows legislation to be shaped and changed through discussion,” said CLCV Executive Director Susan Smartt.

“Squelching laws that will protect our environmental health in order to benefit corporations and polluters is hardly popular with Californians,” added Smartt. “That's why rather than standing up and being counted for their votes, this group is legislating through back room maneuvers, such as being absent for important votes or by telling bill authors that they will not support proposals before they even have a chance to be heard in committees. These tactics make their environmental voting records look greener than they really are.”

The Mod Squad's environmental scores range from 48% all the way to 100%, and CLCV has endorsed some of them for the upcoming fall elections. “We need to send a message to these lawmakers that their constituents want them to prioritize environmental protection,” remarked CLCV Northern California Director Rico Mastrodonato. “Elected officials from John Kerry to Arnold Schwarzenegger have embraced the premise that protecting the environment and improving our economy go hand-in-hand. The Moderate Caucus should take their lead.”

Out of the 48 Assembly members who are Democrats, the Los Angeles Times reports, 18 belong to the Assembly Moderate Caucus. See our chart of the Moderate Caucus members and their environmental scores. The Moderate Caucus, which pushes a business-centric agenda, usually can count on about 10 votes on any given bill. Since bills require 41 votes to pass, the Moderate Caucus can effectively kill whatever legislation it chooses. Future potential targets include SB 1397, a bill to mitigate pollution from trains in Southern California. (See our Action Alert for AB 1397 and urge your Assembly member, especially if they're a member of the "Mod Squad," to support SB 1397.)