The legislative session ended Aug. 31, but Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, is waiting on five bills he introduced to be passed into law regarding a statewide and district-specific issues.
Lackey said Tuesday he’s hopeful the governor will sign the following: AB 2544, which gives people the option to pay off parking tickets in a payment plan; AB 1865, which provides legal protections for guide dogs; AB 2685, which repeals a law that allows schools to suspend a student’s driver’s license if they are truant; AB 1987, which gives innocent plaintiffs, even upon conviction, the ability to reduce the amount of time they spend behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit; and AB 1996, legislation with punishments for being convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana.
Lackey cited passing into law AB 1192, which allowed retired peace officers to carry high-capacity firearms, as his biggest legislative accomplishment this session.
Gov. Jerry Brown also signed into law Lackey’s AB 2717, which brings the state into compliance with the Supreme Court ruling on not criminalizing a person for refusing to take a blood test for driving under the influence.
Bipartisan support was crucial to the bills he passed, Lackey said, and reaching across the aisle was “critical in days ahead to know that bipartisanship is not dead.”
“I think there are always things we can accomplish together when we focus on what we agree upon,” he said.
Lackey’s Democratic challenger in the 36th Assembly District race, Steve Fox, said if he were to be elected, he’d pass more legislation than Lackey again, as he said did when he previously served as assemblyman from 2012-14.
“The facts on my end is I have results, while he doesn’t,” Fox said. While I’m a conservative Democrat, the question is, ‘Do you want things done?’ If you do, I want your vote. If you compare my legislative record to his, you’ll find that I got a $420 million aerospace tax credit while I was in office, among other things. What has he done?”
Fox said the California Legislature being two-thirds Democratic was a reason why he did not think Lackey had enough legislative clout, as a Republican.
“It’s not his fault,” he said. “I used to be a Republican, but I changed parties because I liked it, and all my bills seemed to get through. I got big money, big returns. I got redevelopment money for the city of Palmdale, $2.7 million in housing funds. I tried to reach across the aisle, and now I don’t believe Lackey is getting nearly as much Democratic support. The proof is in the results.”
