The second thing is that a lot of what you accomplish in Sacramento is what you affirmatively do. But what you resist and fight against can be just as important. One of the most important things I ever did for the environment was to lead the fight against [1996 Republican Assembly Speaker] Curt Pringle’s appointees to the Coastal Commission. And that fight was a key part of making the environment a major 1996 issue and protection of the coast as a major 1996 part of the Democratic victory. I’m enormously proud of that. And sometimes you have to stand up to your own leadership. This last year, the Speaker met with me and said that he wanted every Democrat to support lifting the cap on malpractice medical insurance damages. And I told him at the beginning of the year and through the year that we were going to part company on that issue. That, in my view, was going to significantly drive up health care costs. Planned Parenthood said it would jeopardize their ability to deliver services. So I decided to break company with my speaker on that. Now this is the guy who appointed me chair of Rev and Tax, allocated my budget to me, appointed me to every committee on which I sit. And I made it very clear, "You do what you have to do, but I’m not going along on this." There’s a time when you have to have the guts to go out and do the legislative work you do. And there’s a time when you have to stand up to your own leadership and say, "No, I’m not going along with this."
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