User:Hjal/William T. Bagley

William T. Bagley
William Thompson Bagley, born William Thompson Baglietto

Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP

William T. Bagley - Partner wbagley@nossaman.com 50 California Street, 34th Floor San Francisco, CA 94111-4707 Phone (415) 398-3600 Fax (415) 398-2438

Professional Profile: Bill concentrates on governmental, administrative and legislative law and processes. He solves local, state and federal governmental problems for the firm's clients in all areas of law ranging from Army-Air Force regulations to water law and wetlands. He represented Marin and Sonoma Counties in the Legislature, served the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on its Advisory Board, was appointed by President Ford as the first Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and served as a member and Chairman of the California Transportation Commission and as a California Public Utilities Commission Commissioner. Bill served as a member of the University of California Board of Regents (1989-2002) and was named Alumnus of the Year (2003) by the California Alumni Association.

Representative Work: Hartwell v. Superior Court, California Supreme Court (Developed theory of CPUC exclusive jurisdiction over water quality thus to preclude court jurisdiction.    Initiated and arranged meetings between investor-owned water utilities resulting in a significant merger between major California water companies. Montezuma Wetlands Project.  Achieved a series of Congressional actions changing Corps of Engineers processes to allow productive use of S.F. Bay dredge material via upland disposal to create wetlands and also strengthen river and delta levees. Chino Organic Power.  Proposal to convert dairy waste, using an anaerobic digester process, into methane gas used to generate electricity and make fertilizer while cleaning water and atmospheric pollution.

Professional Affiliations: American Bar Association, California Bar Association, San Francisco Bar Association, Marin County Bar Association

Education: J.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1952, Board of Editors California Law Review A.B., University of California, Berkeley, 1949, Phi Beta Kappa, Class Valedictorian, Permanent Class President

Admitted: California, State and Federal U.S. Supreme Court

Accessed October 8, 2006 at http://www.ngke.com/people/fullbio.asp?empid=B243023098 Route 101 from the Waldo Tunnel in Sausalito to I-580 in San Rafael is named the "William T. Bagley" Freeway. William Bagley was a State legislator and a member of the California Transportation Commission. Named by Senate Concurrent Resolution 46, Chapter 111 in 1987.

Accessed October 8, 2006 at http://www.cahighways.org/097-104.html

Los Angeles Times, 2001-Mar-15, by Kenneth R. Weiss, Times Education Writer, with Times staff writer Bob Pool contributing:

Protesters in UCLA Sit-In Call for End to Ban on Affirmative Action After a day of rallies calling on regents to act, students occupy Royce Hall, forcing officials to cancel a debate by mayoral candidates. About 200 students from University of California campuses across the state occupied Royce Hall on the UCLA campus for four hours Wednesday evening, forcing the cancellation of a debate by candidates running for Los Angeles mayor. ... Demonstrators initially said they were not about to budge until the regents took immediate steps to lift the ban, which has resulted in dramatic drops in the numbers of black and Latino students attending UCLA and UC Berkeley. But a few minutes before an 8 p.m. deadline to leave or be arrested, the protesters filed out. "We can leave with our heads held high," said Karren Lane, UCLA student and member of California Statewide Affirmative Action Coalition. "We got a commitment from the community to continue the struggle. That is a victory in and of itself." Student regent Justin Fong apparently appeased the protesters when he told them he would push to bring the issue to a vote at the May meeting. But even the most sympathetic regents said it wouldn't happen any sooner. They didn't want to bring up the contentious issue at this week's two-day meeting because not enough like-minded regents were present to reverse the board's 1995 decision. "We have the votes, if everybody shows up," said Regent William T. Bagley, who has been championing the cause. "What we want is a significant majority to convey the right message to the public . . . and send a message to future regents: Stay the devil out of politics." Bagley and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a regent, both have said they might bring up the issue in May or July. Such a repeal would be a symbolic gesture, given that Proposition 209, passed by California voters in 1996, takes precedence over university policy. That constitutional amendment bans race-based preferences in state agencies. "It's hollow symbolism," said Regent Ward Connerly, who orchestrated the ban in 1995. "Not one black student, not one Latino student, will get into the university because of such a vote. They cannot restore racial preferences, because it's in the California constitution." ... Accessed October 8, 2006 at http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/racism.html

California Magazine May/June 2006 | VOLUME 117, NO. 3, Letters

TAX DECODE I read and enjoyed the John Judis article (January/February) regarding Governor Arnold and Governor Ronald. The general history of the ’60s and ’70s in California is most relevant today. But, with respect, Judis is a revisionist and his history needs some correction. I was the author of both the 1970 Tax Reform (AB 1000, 1001) and the 1971 Welfare Reform acts. We negotiated these massive bills respectively for about six weeks directly with Governor Reagan and his key staff. Judis’s statement that former speaker Jesse Unruh was involved with tax reform is just not the case. Unruh left to run for governor in 1970. Also, the statement that Governor Jerry Brown’s budget surplus ($6 billion) in 1978 resulted from a rise in local property tax rates is not correct.

Here are the real and rather fascinating historical facts about Reagan-era tax and welfare legislation: Governor Pat Brown’s last general fund budget (1966) totaled $4.6 billion (today it’s $100 billion). By 1970 Governor Reagan’s budget was $10 billion, a 100 percent increase in four years. In a moneysaving effort, we did pass the Bagley-Beilenson Welfare Package in 1971. Presidential candidate Reagan later claimed that he/we thus saved $2 billion.

But back to taxes. In 1969–70, under then-Republican Speaker Bob Monagan, we proposed, and Governor Reagan agreed, to add the 9, 10, and 11 percent state income tax brackets. We also added a one-cent (18 percent) increase to the sales tax and virtually doubled (from 5 to 9 percent) the corporate tax. This measure raised almost $2 billion of new state revenue; it was the largest percentage tax increase in the state’s history. A significant part was/is remitted annually to local government for property tax relief. Mistakenly, however, we narrowed the tax brackets, and when burgeoning inflation occurred in the mid-1970s, everybody’s tax brackets jumped and the state’s income tax take expanded massively. Thus the big budget surplus that occurred during Governor Jerry Brown’s term (1975 forward) was provided by the ostensibly conservative Governor Reagan.

William T. Bagley ’49 Former legislator and UC Regent

Accessed October 8, 2006 at http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/calmag/200605/letters.asp