Huber's anti-meth bill passes, government streamline bill gains traction

Amador County's state representative Alyson Huber has been fighting political battles on two fronts this year, trying to help law enforcement break a methamphetamine stranglehold on California while trying to stop costly government spending on outdated state boards and commissions. Recently, both goals are gaining serious momentum.



When Huber first came into office, in 2008, one of the first updates she got from Amador, El Dorado and Sacramento county law enforcement agencies was that crime rates around methamphetamine addiction were dominating the region's justice system. She also learned that cops had a legal disadvantage when confronting meth dealers; despite the drug's devastating impact on crime, families and the environment, California law currently levels far lighter penalties on criminals selling methamphetamine than those selling cocaine, heroin or PCP. The result is that there's no mandatory jail term for meth dealers in order for them to receive probation.

Hoping to give law enforcement a better tool to combat the problem, Huber authored Assembly Bill 640, which calls for a mandatory 120 days in jail for meth dealers as a condition of probation - treating them the same under the law, as other convicted drug dealers. When Huber recently visited Jackson for a "community coffee" get-together, she continued to stress her hope that the bill will get passed soon.

"All you have to do is talk to anyone working in law enforcement or look at the numbers around the entire state," Huber said. "Meth is hurting us in most places more than any other drug.

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Huber's AB640 has been strongly backed by Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, who has testified on Huber's behalf about the severe impact meth has on local families and crime rates.

In July, AB640 made it through the Senate Public Safety Committee. This week, it was introduced on the senate floor and passed 23-6. It's now headed for the governor's desk.

Huber's other major endeavor has been the creation of AB1659 and AB2130, which together create an oversight power to regulate and disband a number of California's many state boards and commissions. Huber justifies the bills by pointing to a 1989 report by the Little Hoover Commission, which found that California's 400 boards, commissions, committees and authorities were operating "to a large degree autonomously and outside of the normal checks and balances."

Last December, Huber told the Ledger Dispatch that the problem with many state boards and commissions is that they are created to tackle problems; but often continue to operate without end, regardless of whether the problem continues to exist, or justifies having money spent on it. Some individuals collecting lavish paychecks on state boards and commissions are former legislators and ex-politicians. "There has to be a sunset clause to end the spending on these groups that we might not need any more," Huber said. "I think we California could save billions of dollars in the long run."

Last week, Huber's office announced that the Senate fiscal committee, "on a bipartisan vote," passed AB1659 and AB2130. The bills are now eligible for a vote on the Senate floor. Huber called the news "a step in the right direction."

Excerpted from www.ledger-dispatch.com