LOCKYER SUBMITS BUDGET PROPOSAL

Attorney general-elect puts emphasis on civil rights, consumers, environment

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Democratic Attorney General-elect Bill Lockyer has
submitted a 1999-2000 budget proposal that calls for a 5 percent spending
increase for his civil rights, consumer and environmental units.

While his Republican predecessor, Dan Lungren, focused almost exclusively
on crime and punishment, Lockyer's campaign promises include beefing up
civil rights, environmental and consumer protections and passing an
enforceable ban on assault weapons.

Lockyer also wants to reform the death penalty appeals process, curb school
violence and regulate the state's gambling industry.

Focus on Proposition 215

The new attorney general told reporters in published reports that he wants
to focus on legalizing the use of medicinal marijuana in the wake of
Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative that was intended to allow seriously
ill patients to grow and use marijuana for pain relief with a doctor's
recommendation.

The initiative has largely failed because of efforts made through the
courts by Lungren and the federal government. But Lockyer says he wants to
make Proposition 215 work.

``That means cooperating with local communities if they have different
approaches. So San Francisco would be different than Kern County,'' Lockyer
said.

Lockyer hasn't announced his picks for many top-level positions, from the
criminal law division to civil rights and, perhaps, a new position in
charge of environmental enforcement.

Lockyer has asked Democratic Gov.-elect Gray Davis for $25 million in extra
funding over the current year's budget to hire more attorneys in some
departments and to strengthen the state's crime labs.

After campaigning on a promise to broaden the mission of the Attorney
General's Office beyond Lungren's primary focus on criminal enforcement,
Lockyer has moved quickly since his Nov. 3 election to convene task forces
and begin to develop policy initiatives.

During a recent meeting with veteran consumer activists, Lockyer listened
to ideas on how to beef up consumer protection.

He also held similar brainstorming sessions with environmental and civil
rights activists who, like the consumer groups, were often at loggerheads
with Lungren's pro-business philosophy.

Lockyer said he was astonished to find the division of civil rights
enforcement somewhere below the Registry of Charitable Trusts on an
internal organizational chart.

Range of issues

Eva Paterson, executive director of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil
Rights, said she was impressed with the broad range of advocates Lockyer
assembled to discuss issues such as affirmative action, voting rights,
rights of immigrants and refugees, women's rights and rights of the disabled.

``He said something that just warmed my heart that you don't expect to hear
from a government official. He said, `I'm here to make the world a safer
place.' Who do you hear that from these days?''