Put partisan bickering aside, renew Megan's Law

IT'S bad enough that partisan squabbling prolonged the state'sbudget crisis, but apparently it was also behind the Assembly'sfailure to pass an extension of Megan's Law. The infantile bickeringin Sacramento has reached new lows.

Gov. Gray Davis has asked state legislators to return from theirinterim recess to pass the extension before Oct. 1, after which thestate would lose $5 million in federal funds to expand the law tocollege campuses. Megan's Law, passed in 1996, allows the publicaccess to the state data base of registered sex offenders. It wasnamed after 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed by achild molester who had moved down the street from her New Jerseyhome.

As usual, the failure to do their jobs finds Democrats andRepublicans blaming each other. Democrats accused the Republicans ofturning their backs on children. The Republicans claimed Democratskilled the bill by refusing to adopt reforms. The rhetoric is sothick it makes you want to gag.

The squabbling centered around a bill introduced by AssemblywomanNicole Parra, D-Hanford, AB1313, that would extend the law and expandit to notify college campuses of sex offenders attending class orliving or working on campus. That expansion would qualify the statefor the $5 million federal payment.

Parra's bill actually received a vote of 51-0 but fell short ofthe two-thirds majority, or 54 votes, needed for passage. Even when abill has no opposing votes, it can't get through the partisan logjam.

Republicans complained the law wasn't strong enough. They want thedatabase to be posted on the Internet and to include the home andwork addresses and the type of vehicle of the sex offenders.

To be sure, the bill is not perfect. Earlier this year theAssociated Press revealed that California had lost track of 33,296,or 40 percent, of the sex offenders who should be registered. Thelist is hopelessly out of date. In many cases it only included theinformation the sex offender first entered, not subsequent addresses.

However, these were not the concerns that kept the Assembly frompassing the extension of the law. It hardly makes sense to let a lawdie simply because it's flawed. Political observers say Republicansrefused to fully support Parra's bill to get back at Senate Democratsfor failing to pass spending measures desired by Assembly Republicansduring budget negotiations. Tit for tat and the public safety iscompromised.

State lawmakers should return to Sacramento and pass the extensionof Megan's Law. They should be ashamed that their partisan bickeringhas put the public safety as well as $5 million in federal funding atrisk.