Pollution, Education, Insurance Bills Signed

SACRAMENTO —  With just two days left to make decisions on 1999 legislation, Gov. Gray Davis signed laws Friday requiring special protection for children from environmental hazards, patching holes in his education reforms and allowing car accident victims more leeway to sue insurers.

Still on his desk were more than 170 bills, including two that proponents fear he will veto, probably on fiscal grounds: one raising nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals and the other increasing staffing at nursing homes.

Many bills signed Friday marked the end of long crusades. For Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), the governor’s endorsement of the Children’s Environmental Health Protection Act proves that persistence pays off. The bill, SB 25, requires the state to revise air pollution measures to better protect children.

Escutia, a mother of two, became concerned about the issue three years ago, after people in her district said their children might be getting nosebleeds and even cancer from factory emissions. Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a similar bill last year.

Davis’ signature on the insurance lawsuit bill, SB 1237, left attorney Mark Robinson speaking in superlatives. “This is our biggest victory in 40 or 50 years!” said Robinson, who had worked on the legislation for more than two years as president of the Consumer Attorneys of California.

The bill, also by Escutia, allows victims to sue the insurance company of the person at fault when they believe that they have not been offered a fair or timely settlement.

Insurance companies predict that it will lead to more lawsuits and have threatened to launch a referendum drive to stop it. Robinson said he believes that it will make insurers more responsive to consumers.

On education, the cornerstone of Davis’ term to date, the governor established three programs to encourage parent involvement--the piece of the puzzle that observers had said was missing from his reforms.

One of the three programs in AB 33--named for its lead author, Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona)--would provide stipends for teachers to meet with parents after hours at parents’ homes and at schools.

New charter schools received a boost in a law increasing the maximum start-up loan amount from $50,000 to $250,000. And mid-career professionals who have decided to switch to teaching could receive a two-year preliminary credential if they have a master’s degree and five years’ experience (presumably acquired while holding an emergency credential).

Davis also further punished the test publisher that released error-filled results this year, signing legislation holding the company accountable in the future. The new law, SB 366 by state Sen. Dede Alpert (D-Coronado), forces Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement to sign one contract with the state instead of more than 1,000 individual school districts.

In other action, the governor:

* Made it mandatory, beginning in July 2001, for all children entering preschool, day care or kindergarten to be vaccinated against chickenpox.

* Vetoed a bill that would have kept polls open an hour longer, until 9 p.m., which Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) had championed as especially important in areas with long rush hours, such as Los Angeles. Davis said he was concerned that the bill would delay tabulation of votes.

* Significantly increased fines for traffic violations along the Metro Rail Blue Line in an effort to cut down on deaths caused by collisions with trains.

* Established a three-year UC research program to determine marijuana’s value as a therapeutic drug.

* Reformed obscure technical aspects of child support law that have plagued some parents. The legislation prevents child support agencies from billing parents more than a year retroactively in welfare cases.

* Created a commission to oversee the planning and construction of a governor’s mansion, which Davis has said is for his successors, not him.

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Times staff writers Nicholas Riccardi and Douglas Shuit contributed to this story.