Giving credit where it’s due: Juan Alanis shows humility, moves bill forward | Opinion
Juan Alanis might be serious about making a difference in Sacramento.
You can’t blame observers for having their doubts. The first thing the Modesto Republican did after being elected to the California Assembly looked like an obvious move to curry favor with the tough-on-crime right while alienating the left.
The Modesto Bee Editorial Board warned that Alanis’s signature legislation, Assembly Bill 335, bore the hallmarks of a political stunt. A wholesale repeal of Proposition 47 — the 2014 judicial reform that the GOP loves to hate, blaming it for crime and homelessness — had no chance of success, and Alanis knew it.
At the same time, Alanis talked about governing from the middle, insisting he was focused on making friends across the aisle.
Digging in his heels on AB 335 “could hamper his stated objective of working with Democrats on issues of real substance,” the Editorial Board wrote in mid-February.
Fast forward to this week, when a rewrite of AB 335 would have the Little Hoover Commission study how Prop. 47 has affected store owners putting up with increased thefts.
That data is needed. The new version of the bill is realistic. And it isn’t a poke in the eye to Democrats.
The result: AB 335 won unanimous support from the Assembly Public Safety Committee, where Alanis is vice chairman.
“I have said since the first day I introduced AB 335 that if there is a way to find bipartisan common ground on this issue, I will take it,” he said in a release.
When you’re one of 18 Republicans in an Assembly with 62 Democrats, there is no shame in valuing pragmatism above pride. Small steps are better than no steps.
Off to a decent start
Alanis has a unique opportunity to be a representative voice of Stanislaus County.
Think about it. Most of our legislators on the state and federal levels represent far-flung districts stretching to other places. State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil has 12 other counties to worry about. Assemblyman Heath Flora’s district goes all the way up to Sacramento, while US Rep. John Duarte’s runs all the way down to Fresno. Our other congressman, Tom McClintock of Elk Grove, represents seven other counties.
Alanis has a slice of north Merced County, but the bulk of his district is in Stanislaus County.
AB 335 obviously still has a long legislative path yet to follow. But it’s to our advantage if Alanis already has learned something about compromise.
This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
