Assembly Will Broadcast Floor Sessions on Cable TV

It probably won’t supplant “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” but the Assembly is gearing up to begin statewide television broadcasts of its floor sessions as early as August.

The lower house TV shows will be patterned after congressional coverage provided by C-Span, which cable viewers across the country can watch daily.

“We have essentially isolated ourselves from the general public,” said Assemblyman Sam Farr (D-Carmel), who spearheaded the plan, now in the dry-run stage. “This gives the people more access to state government.”

The television idea has the blessing of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Brown envisions televising gavel-to-gavel coverage of floor sessions, important committee meetings and press conferences.

The Senate also is considering televising its sessions but is moving more slowly than the lower house. GOVERNOR

Will host a national governor’s task force meeting on excellence in the workplace in Sacramento on Monday and Tuesday. Will attend a dedication of the Pelican Bay state prison in Crescent City on Thursday. ASSEMBLY

Floor Action

Medflies: Passed and sent to the governor on a 74-0 vote a bill (SB 1754) by Sen. Ruben Ayala (D-Chino) to make it a felony instead of a misdemeanor to smuggle Medflies into California.

Gangs: Passed and sent to the Senate on a 58-9 vote a bill (AB 3595) by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) to extend until Jan. 1, 1994, a $1-million-a-year Los Angeles County grant program designed to help inner-city youth stay out of gangs.

Child Poisonings: Passed and sent to the Senate on a 42-17 vote a bill (AB 4160) by Katz to require highly toxic household products that could accidentally poison children to include bittering agents or child-proof caps. SENATE

Floor Action

X-Rated Magazines: Passed and sent to the Assembly on a 29-7 vote a bill (SB 1962) by Ayala to prohibit the sale of pornographic printed materials from news racks that aren’t supervised by adults.

Housing Bonds: Passed and sent to the Assembly on a 33-1 vote a bill (SB 2226) by President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) to place a $165-million housing bond issue on the November general election ballot.

Bill Introductions

High School Sports: SCR 18 by Sen. Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield) requests the state Department of Education to develop a form for use by high schools to report to the Legislature the annual number of sports injuries and insurance premiums paid by school districts.

Miscellany

New Press Aide: Assembly Speaker Brown has hired William Reese, former Los Angeles bureau chief of Newsweek magazine, to be his new director of communications. Reese, who also used to work for the Riverside Press Enterprise, will be paid $82,000 per year.