Special treatment for stadium, other big projects, advances

The state Legislature on Friday approved a special legal process for a proposed 72,000-seat football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, and also started to expand the exemption from protracted environmental court challenges to other big projects.

The Senate passed SB 292, to fast-track challenges against Anschutz Entertainment Group's stadium, by a 32-7 vote. The bill passed the Assembly earlier this week and goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not spoken publicly about it.

Advocates said the stadium would be environmentally friendly and could create more than 20,000 jobs. "We can provide an economic stimulus by massive job creation which protects out environment," said Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).

AEG officials argued that they needed the 175-day limit on the duration of lawsuits to ensure the NFL and investors that the project would not be mired down in years-long litigation. A competing stadium proposal in the City of Industry won a last-minute environmental waiver from the Legislature in 2009.

Moments earlier, the Senate passed another bill that would allow other projects that cost more than $100 million to gain the same special treatment. The developments must be certified as environmentally friendly.

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said the bill he co-sponsored is aimed at reducing the state's 12% unemployment rate while upholding its tough environmental laws.

"We all agree we have an obligation to do everything in our power to try to help to put Californians back to work," Steinberg told his colleagues. "This bill is maybe our boldest effort yet to try to do that. "

The wider bill, AB900, now goes to the Assembly.

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

 Photo: Illustration of the proposed Farmers Field in downtown Los Angeles. Credit: AEG

Steinberg backs exemption for L.A. stadium proposal

In an interview with The Times, state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he supported a bill approved by the Assembly that would fast-track legal challenges to a downtown Los Angeles football stadium, and he plans to introduce a companion measure extending the benefit to other large developments.

"We are working very closely with the Assembly and governor to put forward a companion bill," Steinberg said. "The goal of the bill is simply to get people back to work sooner rather than later. "

Steinberg declined to discuss details of his bill, but legislative sources involved in the talks say it could apply to big-ticket projects that have a price tag in the hundreds of millions of dollars and also meet strict environmental standards. The governor would be empowered to choose which of those projects merited streamlined legal review.

The Senate leader said his bill would be modeled on SB292, the Los Angeles stadium bill, which passed the lower house hours earlier. "The structure of that agreement is sound," Steinberg said.

The existing bill requires challenges to the stadium to be filed in the court of appeal and be decided in 175 days. Proponents of the stadium argue that would give investors and the NFL confidence that the project won't be mired down in years of litigation. They contend the stadium will be carbon neutral and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Many developers would love to get such an exception and get faster resolution to time-consuming environmental lawsuits.

"We want to help get those complaints addressed and adjudicated faster. The goal is to respond assertively to the recession," Steinberg said, adding that he hopes to introduce the new bill Thursday. 

-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) talks to reporters during the budget debate this spring.

Credit: Associated Press

L.A. stadium bill introduced, draws criticism

State lawmakers on Friday submitted legislation that would expedite any legal challenges to a proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, and the measure drew objections from some environmentalists in and out of the Legislature.

Assembly Speaker John Perez and state Sen. Alex Padilla, both Democrats from Los Angeles, said their bill would balance the need to uphold environmental laws with they necessity to help a project by Anschutz Entertainment Group that could create more than 10,000 jobs.

"It would pave the way for the most environmentally friendly sports stadium in the country in addition to putting thousands of people to work," said Padilla. Fourteen other Assembly members and 11 senators, both Republicans and Democrats, have signed on as co-authors.

But with just four working days next week to act on legislation for the year, many legislators had not seen the bill's language, and some said they are in no rush to make a decision by Sept. 9,  which AEG has said is necessary to avoid jeopardizing the project.

"I think it's more important that we get it done right than we get it done fast," said Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), chairman of the chamber's Environmental Quality Committee. "Whenever someone tries to sell you something and sets an artificial deadline, it's time to remember the old adage 'buyer beware.'"'

Simitian said he is "encouraged" that the bill does not exempt the stadium from the state environmental laws and requires a full environmental impact report, but he added that "I have not seen a piece of paper" containing the bill's language.

As those details emerged, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who had tentatively supported the idea of an expedited court-review process on Thursday, said there are too many loopholes for the group to support the bill in its current form.

The bill does not contain strong enough language to make sure AEG meets goals for reducing air pollution and traffic congestion in a timely way, said David Pettit, senior attorney with the environmental group.

The deal, as proposed, would "give AEG special treatment in return for things that AEG would need to do anyway," Pettit said in a statement. "This weak, last-minute, backroom deal is a missed opportunity for Los Angeles and a dangerous precedent for California.  It can and should be fixed."

-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

NFL stadium developer opens wallet to lawmakers who supported project [Updated]

In the three months before and after Ed Roski Jr. got lawmakers to exempt his proposed NFL stadium from environmental laws, the Los Angeles County billionaire showered state and local officials and ballot measure committees with $505,000 in campaign cash, he disclosed today.

The donations were significantly up from the previous six months, when Roski doled out $49,000. The state Legislature voted in October to exempt Roski’s proposed football stadium in the city of Industry from state environmental laws, making moot a citizens lawsuit that had stalled the project.

The measure passed the Senate in the waning hours of the Legislature with just one vote to spare, even though some Democrats objected that it would undermine state environmental protections. Between July 1 and Dec. 31. Roski and his Majestic Realty made big donations to lawmakers instrumental in getting the last-minute bill passed. Many of them are running for statewide office, so donations could be in the five-figure range. Contributions to legislative candidates are capped at $3,900. Some candidates received more than that amount because they are running for statewide office.

Co-authors of the stadium bill and the amount they received from Roski and his firm include Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), $13,000; Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) $5,000; Assemblyman Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), $3,900; and Sen. Rod Wright (D-Inglewood), $500.

Lawmakers who voted for the bill and the amount they received from Roski and his firm include Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), $12,000: Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), $6,500; Assemblyman Mike Villines (R-Clovis), $6,500; Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge), $3,900; and Assemblywoman Norma Torres (D-Pomona), $1,000.

Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), who did not vote on the stadium bill, received $13,000 for his campaign for lieutenant governor.

Roski also gave $25,000 to Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown’s campaign for governor. The billionaire also gave $300,000 last month to a group called Californians for a Fresh Start, which would relax term limits for legislators. A spokesman for Roski did not return a call for comment.

[Updated at 2:46 p.m.: John Semcken, a vice president for Majestic, said the latest contributions were a continuation of Roski’s years-long involvement as a major contributor to campaigns in California and was not tied to the stadium bill vote. 

"We’re supportive of people we think did a good job in Sacramento whether they voted for or against us on that bill," Semcken said.]

-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento