Caldera to Leave Assembly for Job in Washington

SACRAMENTO —  Democratic Assemblyman Louis Caldera of Los Angeles, who has taken a leading role in anti-gun efforts, announced Wednesday that he is giving up his seat to take a job with the Clinton administration.

Caldera, 41, who has represented downtown Los Angeles since 1992, will become managing director of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Caldera, whose appointment must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, will be the No. 2 official at the agency after Harris Wofford, the former Pennsylvania senator. The agency oversees President Clinton’s national service initiatives--Americorps, the National Senior Service Corps and Learn & Serve America.

The programs, which boast a million volunteers, seek to provide varied services such as youth mentoring, assistance to the elderly and flood relief. Americorps, a domestic Peace Corps, has 30,000 participants who receive a stipend for their work.

“It’s a terrific opportunity to be involved in what I think is a very important initiative to promote volunteerism and community service,” Caldera said. “It has the power to help.”

Caldera said he intends to remain in the Assembly until the fall, when the Legislature leaves for its winter recess. He would have been forced out by term limits at the end of next year.

But if the Senate moves quickly on his confirmation, Caldera could leave before the end of the session. In that case, the future of the most significant bill he has carried--one to ban the sale and manufacture of cheap handguns--would be in further doubt.

The bill, AB 488, won passage in the Assembly earlier this month with a bare minimum 41 votes. Another bill to strengthen state law against semiautomatic assault weapons also won in the 80-seat Assembly with the minimum 41 votes. Without Caldera’s votes, both bills would have failed.

The measures face fights in the state Senate this summer. If they win passage in the upper house, the measures would return to the Assembly, where 41 votes would be needed to approve any Senate amendments. The battle also could spill into next year, when Caldera likely will not be in the lower house.

“Our chance of getting our bill to the governor’s desk is good,” Caldera said. “Whether I’m the author or someone else is, these bills aren’t going to go away.”

Previously, Caldera’s most sweeping bill was one signed into law during his first term that requires children under age 18 to wear helmets when riding bicycles.

Although he supports abortion rights and gay rights legislation, Caldera has gained a reputation for being a moderate. Most notably, Caldera crossed state Democratic Party leaders last year by backing a statewide ballot measure that sought to limit lawsuits against publicly held corporations.

Caldera is a Harvard-educated lawyer and a West Point graduate. He was a deputy Los Angeles County counsel before being elected to the Assembly.

His new job will pay $108,000 to $148,000 annually, a White House spokesman said. A state legislator’s pay is $75,600.

Gov. Pete Wilson could call a special election to fill the unexpired term, depending on when Caldera leaves. Several potential candidates are considering a run. The seat is considered safe for Democrats.