PD Editorial: 'Mushroom bills' make bad law

George Carlin got a lot of mileage out of oxymorons - or at least those phrases that seem to contradict themselves.

“The term jumbo shrimp has always amazed me,” Carlin said in one of his often-imitated comedy routines. “What is a jumbo shrimp? I mean, it’s like military intelligence - the words don’t go together, man.”

Some people might say the same thing when seeing these words strung together: productive legislature.

But in this time of the do-nothing Congress, state legislators in Sacramento just wrapped up a two-year session marked by accomplishments and bipartisan cooperation.

Before adjourning early Saturday morning and heading home to campaign, state lawmakers came together on a landmark groundwater regulation measure. Other important legislation that required bipartisan cooperation included the rainy-day fund measure on the Nov. 4 ballot and a new funding formula for public school teachers’ pensions. Legislators worked together in 2013 to create greater flexibility for local school boards and to break a long-standing deadlock over driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.

All in all, it was a rather productive session.

Some credit must go to legislators for finding room to compromise when it may have been easier to posture.

We believe they were helped along by two voter-approved reforms intended to make elections more competitive and, in turn, elected officials more responsive: the independent redistricting commission and the top-two primary system.

Unfortunately, one of the Legislature’s worst practices continued to thrive.

All too often, policy changes are made in near secrecy.

Using a process known as gut and amend, senators and Assembly members introduce new legislation in the final hours of the session. The contents of a bill that has passed through committee hearings and floor debates are removed, new language is inserted, and the new bill is placed on the agenda for a final vote, with perhaps a cursory committee hearing or a few words of debate on the floor.

One such bill wasn’t even in print when it was presented for its first hearing - a 2:19 a.m. Saturday, less than an hour before the Legislature adjourned for the year. The bill, backed by various labor unions, requires the state to set regulations for “corrosion prevention work” on public infrastructure projects.

“Minutes after the hearing ended,” the Sacramento Bee reported, “the bill passed off the Senate floor on a party line vote, without a word of debate.”

The Bee’s report on “mushroom bills” detailed a second piece of after-midnight legislation, this one allocating $3 million to a struggling Contra Costa County hospital.

Cities and counties can’t enact local laws in that fashion. They’re required by state law to post an agenda 72 hours before they act. No such law governs the Legislature. Some lawmakers argue that they couldn’t react to emergencies if they faced the same strictures as city councils and board of supervisors.

But the open meeting law for local government does account for emergencies. And we’re hard-pressed to imagine any emergency involving painting contractors and corrosion.

Gov. Jerry Brown should veto both this bills and insist that legislators consider them through the normal process next year. Meanwhile, the Legislature should adopt rules to ensure that the public isn’t closed out of the process.