Joel Maring: Bee being hypocritical in its support of Prop 54

Re “For more transparency, vote for Prop 54” (Page 11A, Oct. 1): Oh, the irony! So The Modesto Bee is in favor of Proposition 54, which would, among other things, limit or end the practice of “gut and amend” in our legislative process. Pay no mind to the fact The Bee championed the passage of AB1066, the farm worker overtime bill, which was brought back to the legislature for at least the third time by its proponent, Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) by those precise means. Gonzalez “gutted” a teacher compensation bill originally passing through the Senate Education committee in order to fast-track her cause beyond the phase that rejected it several times before. Now The Bee says that tactic should be ended.

Assemblyman Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) summed it up best: “The people that run this place … do this stuff all the time. If they don’t get their way on something, they continue to gut bills and run it through until they get their way.” Straighten you skirt, ModBee, your hypocrisy is showing.

Editor’s note: The Modesto Bee took no position on AB1066, referencing it only once in an editorial – on Labor Day – saying: “Unions aren’t entirely dead, at least not in California. Just this year, unions helped push through an eventual $15 minimum wage; helped pass bills (awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature) to pay overtime to farmworkers and to ensure parental leave for nearly all workers.” Our sister newspaper in Sacramento editorialized in favor of it on Aug. 26.

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Joel Maring: Bee being hypocritical in its support of Prop 54."