AB 374  ,a death with dignity bill, will come up this week. (Um, I hope I didn’t miss it, but the status page makes no mention of a vote). So, this isn’t necessarily an easy question for people on either side of the spectrum. A libertarian view would say the government shouldn’t interfere in decisions like this. But it is not inconceivable to see a progressive opposing this.

Frank Russo has an excellent story about the bill:

Berg’s framing, and that of supporters is based on choice and individual autonomy. While there were questions about practicalities of the bill and how it would work in practice, with opponents claiming it would allow for insurance companies and those who stand to benefit, having undue influence, Berg pointed out the layers upon layers of protection written into the bill, and the Oregon experience.

Conservative Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams saw it as a preservation of life issue and one that he had a duty to impose his belief on others. He stated, “You better darn well believe I want to impose my morality on these people.”

AB 374 gives options, not answers. Morality should be left to a state’s citizens, not its legislators.

(Wow, this really does sound like a challenge. – promoted by atdleft)

I truly appreciate the support and encouragement I have received from colleagues and friends as I started this week to learn for myself if food stamp benefits are enough to eat adequately and nutritiously, while balancing a busy life.  I can already tell you that the experience has truly lived up to its name— it really is a challenge.

Yesterday I began the day with a bowl of cereal, which isn’t a huge departure from what I usually eat.  But as the day wore on, I began to notice the many food choices that were available to me before the challenge, but are no longer.  A generous staff member happened to bring in four dozen hand-dipped chocolate strawberries.  An array of cheeses and fresh fruits tempted me in the Assembly member’s lounge.  All of it was off limits. 

At lunchtime I prepared a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  The afternoon didn’t get much easier as directly following session I made a quick stop at an event overflowing with delicacies that a person on food stamps certainly couldn’t afford. 

Having not eaten since my lunch soup, I headed back to work for a 7 p.m. continuation of our Budget Conference Committee.  A glass of water carried me through to it’s conclusion at 9:30 p.m. 

When I arrived home at 10:30 p.m., the evening’s bowl of cereal could wait no longer.  The temptation to have a second bowl was tempered by the knowledge that the two boxes of cereal I bought on Sunday need to get me through the entire week.

As hungry as I am, this challenge has gripped me.  My intent is to continue it through the week.

The legislation is coming and going through the California Legislature. For more coverage, look to California’s website journalist, Frank Russo at the California Progress Report:

There was a lot of action both on and off the floor of the California Assembly yesterday that would take at least a week to tell. 117 bills, some big and passed with little debate, others debated at length over seemingly minor or side issues, and some that failed and will be voted on again before the end of the week’s deadline were voted on. Many of the votes broke down on party lines.

Hillary Clinton continues to lead California by a significant margin according to the latest SUSA poll. (h/t to Political Wire)  Last month's are in parens.

Democrats                         Republicans

Hillary Clinton 46 (48)           Rudolph Giuliani 28 (34)
Barack Obama 28 (27)         John McCain 21 (21)
John Edwards 14                    F. Thompson 21 (11)
Other 8                                          Mit Romney 11 (12)
Undecided 4                              Newt Gingrich 8 (9)
                                            Undecided 3 (5)

More over the flip. 

There is much more movement in the Republican poll than the Democratic one, due to the emergence of Fred Thompson as a likely contender.  He is in the running here in California and if he does not stumble out of the gates he should get another bump from his announcement.  And this is interesting.

Among Conservatives, Thompson is up 12 points month-on month, and has gone from 4th place to 1st. There is volatility among Hispanics, who make up 17% of likely Republican Primary voters in SurveyUSA's turnout model: Giuliani has lost 23 points month-on-month, down from 46% to today 23%. Thompson's support among Hispanics is up 5 fold, from 5% to 24%. Margin of Sampling Error is high for this small subgroup, but the movement is striking nonetheless.

On the Democratic side, Clinton is holding steading on to a substantial lead.  There has been little that has occurred over the last month to shake up the numbers.  This poll was conducted prior to the debate on Sunday.

This is deadline week in the California State Assembly.  Hundreds of bills will be voted upon so that they can be moved on to the Senate.  Obviously, major special interests want to have something to say about which bills pass and which leave.  The best way for them to impact that is through campaign contributions.  And this year, they’ve got a new campaign to which to contribute.

The law bars them from donating more than $7,200 directly to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). But nothing has prevented teachers, doctors, gambling enterprises, insurers and others from giving much, much more to a cause close to Nuñez’s heart.

Those interest groups wrote checks for as much as $250,000 to help bankroll a ballot measure that would tweak California’s term limits to give Nuñez another six years in the Legislature. Seventeen unions, corporations, utilities and professional associations have donated a combined $1.68 million for a signature-gathering effort to put the measure before voters next February.

The contributions, all made within the last two months, come as lawmakers led by Nuñez are deciding on hundreds of bills of concern to the donors. The groups had already spent a combined $3.5 million in the first three months of this year trying to influence the Legislature, governor’s office and state agencies, state records show.

This is not a problem in and of itself, unless the bills that come out of the Assembly match up favorably with the campaign contributors.  We’ll be watching.  But the appearance is certainly not pristine.

over…

Jay Stewart, executive director of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Better Government Assn. in Chicago, said he doubted that union members and corporate shareholders were clamoring for a term-limits overhaul. But the large donations are certain to be noticed by Nuñez, he said.

“Common sense tells you that if you support an issue near and dear to any legislator … to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, you’re probably going to get your phone call returned,” Stewart said.

There’s a list of donors here.  A lot of them are trade unions.  We’ve always known that special interest dollars on all sides corrode the trust that people have in their government.  The best way we can change this is to lobby on behalf of AB 583, the pilot program for public financing of elections which will be voted on tomorrow.  However, this won’t impact special interests giving to initiative committees that, in this case, extend the term of service for legislators.  So initiative reform is something that we need as well.