Subject: california update 9 - 06 - 2001
for questions or comments regarding this report please contact g . britt whitman at ex : 5 - 4014 or kristin walsh at ex : 3 - 9510 .
executive summary
assembly ' s mou supporters " mia , " vote stalled
bailout hang - ups : land , bonds , and referendum
socal up for grabs ?
mou support waning
as of last night , assemblyman hertzberg reportedly had 25 votes in favor of the bailout that he could " count on . " there were 10 more votes that were " close " and stood a " reasonable chance " of being cast in favor of the bailout . however , that still left hertzberg 9 votes short of the 41 he needs . earlier today , sen . polanco , the bill ' s sponsor , privately indicated that the few remaining votes necessary to pass the amended sb 78 xx were in place due to lobbying efforts by gov . davis . no doubt the count will be close , but hertzberg will only take the bill up in the assembly for a vote today or tomorrow if he knows democrats can muster enough support .
the key issues related to getting the 41 votes to pass sb 78 xx are the following :
including the option to buy the transmission lines . for some this is a philosophical issue ; these members are quite adamant that the option to buy the lines needs to be removed from sb 78 xx .
excess profits and creditworthiness - in particular how edison can use any profits .
the philosophy underlying the bill itself as to whether a bailout is necessary given the experience with pg if the language comes out of the bill , the plan will no longer be acceptable to socal .
socal : selling out or going under
there is word in sacramento of companies " sniffing around " for a pre - packaged purchase of edison after the bankruptcy occurs . we will continue to investigate possible buyers and report when information becomes available .
it is also rumored that if an " inadequate " bill passes - i . e . , one that will not return socal to creditworthiness - socal may declare voluntary bankruptcy , then use whatever bailout is passed as a revenue stream in bankruptcy . the only requirement laid upon socal is to attempt to go back into the market by january 2003 , and there is no penalty for them failing to do so . there appears to be nothing in the bailout bill that would preclude them from using money from the bailout in bankruptcy .