My friend Jon Fleishman and I are on opposite shores of the political divide, so I wasn’t surprised to read his recent Facebook post complaining about 900 new state laws that took effect on January 1. Jon went on to castigate the legislature for its efforts and apply the familiar conservative trope that the legislature “should have never convened.”
The reality in Sacramento, now as in 1971-72 when I worked there as a young legislative staffer, is that the vast majority of bills introduced never become law. In 2023-24 there were nearly 5,000 proposed changes to law, meaning that close to 80 percent were rejected during evaluation by the Assembly and Senate. I’d also bet that, as was the case more than fifty years ago, many bills that are passed make relatively minor changes to existing law.
But it must be argued that for Orange County, the state’s third largest by population, legislation has been and will continue to be a critical element in our success.
The first key piece of legislation was enacted in 1889 when the county was created, parceled off from Los Angeles County. There are several colorful stories that accompany the official version of how the bill passed; my favorite was told by AJ McFadden, a member of the family acknowledged as founding the modern economic engine of the county by building a pier in Newport Beach. In an oral history, McFadden said initial efforts to achieve legislative victory were thwarted; it was only after $10,000 was raised by local boosters and spread around the Assembly and Senate that the wisdom of allowing the birth of Orange County was recognized.
The passage of the Master Plan for Higher Education was, in my opinion, one of the most significant legislative achievements in our state’s history. The bill implementing it was authored by Assemblywoman Dorothy Donahoe and signed into law by Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown in 1960. It is important for Orange County because it led to the creation of UC Irvine and California State University Fullerton. Both these institutions, particularly UCI, have played a critical role in the growth and development of our county.
(Whenever Pat Brown would visit Orange County, he would tell the story of how UCI was built. “I won every county in California when I was first elected, except Orange County,” he would begin with a grin. “I told the UC Regents we needed to build a university down in Orange County to improve the education level of the electorate”). I heard Pat Brown tell that story, but it was not true–the master plan had already identified Orange County as a site for a new UC campus. But it was a great story and Brown relished the telling and retelling as often as he came here.
It was another division from Los Angeles County that made my list of important legislation for Orange County. The year was 1987; setting the stage for a sales tax increase for transportation began with a bill to create a separate Caltrans district. Orange County had long lost out to Los Angeles on transportation funding in large part due to a bureaucratic formula determining how money was allocated. The business community rallied to the cause and the separation bill authored by Assemblyman Ross Johnson was passed. Critically, the establishment of the new district led to the bill authored by Senator John Seymour that allowed voter consideration of a half cent increase in the sales tax collected in the county for transportation. That led to Measure M and its successors, which have raised billions of dollars for transportation improvements here.
My last example of important legislation is the bill promoting creation of a veteran’s cemetery in Orange County, at the Gypsum Canyon site. Without the efforts of, among others, Assemblywoman Sharon Silva, planning for a dignified and sacred final resting place for those who have served our nation would not be taking place as this is written.
So I hope Jon Fleishman will read this and perhaps pen a reply. Jon and I both respect well reasoned and factual debate from our respective points on the political spectrum. I encourage Voice of OC readers to read his substack columns at www.sodoesitmatter.com or follow him on Facebook as I do.
Michael Stockstill is retired. He is the co-author of a book on the history of the planning and development of the Irvine Ranch. He lives in Irvine.
Opinions expressed in community opinion pieces belong to the authors and not Voice of OC.
Voice of OC is interested in hearing different perspectives and voices. If you want to weigh in on this issue or others please email opinions@voiceofoc.org.