Sacramento Bee, January 11, 2005

The Legislature's Democratic Asian Pacific Islander Caucus is scheduled to meet today to discuss an issue that has sparked a spirited debate within the group:

Should the five-member caucus grant a request by the Legislature's three Republican Asian Americans to be allowed to join?

"Appreciating the API Caucus' goal of 'representing and advocating for the diverse interests of the API communities throughout California,' we believe our participation would lend an important voice to your discourse," the Republicans wrote in a letter to Assemblywoman Judy Chu, the caucus chairwoman.

The letter, dated Jan. 4, was signed by Assembly Republicans Alan Nakanishi of Lodi, Van Tran of Garden Grove and Shirley Horton of San Diego.

Chu, D-Monterey Park, said she is receptive to the idea.

"I think we should entertain it (and) see if we can try to work formally in this caucus together," said Chu, who does not expect a quick decision.

Debate over party exclusivity in the Legislature's ethnic caucuses is not new. In 1999, the Democratic Latino Caucus turned down membership requests by Republican legislators.

Democratic members say the GOP would have to contribute money to run the Asian caucus, which Nakanishi suggested could be a sticking point.

"If you look at the Democrats in the Legislature, and what they get per capita from the speaker, they get a lot more because they're in charge," Nakanishi said.

The Assembly Democratic Caucus, under Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, allocates $100,000 a year to the Asian caucus for staffing and operational expenses.

Democrats caution the Asian caucus would also have to change its bylaws, which currently allow a lone dissenter to scuttle support for a particular issue.

"Literally, you could be held hostage by the Republicans and, clearly, you don't want that," said Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco.

Yee said he is "supportive of having Republicans join the caucus" - if the will of the majority is not thwarted and the GOP pays its way.

"There's no free lunches," Yee said, parroting a familiar GOP line.

Determining membership in ethnic caucuses is increasingly difficult in California, where multiracial babies make up 14 percent of all births. A growing number of residents describe themselves as members of more than one ethnic group.

The Legislature is no different. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico's mother was Japanese and his father Bolivian.

"It's my California story - one that's not unique to me," said the Newark Democrat, the first California lawmaker to serve in both the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus and Democratic Latino Caucus.

Lance Izumi, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, a market-based public policy organization, said that if the Legislature is going to have such caucuses, they should be open to all comers.

"Their decisions should also be based on the greater good of the whole state - not just their own provincial concerns," said Izumi, who is Japanese American.

As the Legislature has become increasingly diverse, the relevancy of having Asian American, Latino and African American caucuses at all also has been questioned.

Ward Connerly, who led the successful campaign for Proposition 209, the ballot initiative banning consideration of race in public hiring and contracting, calls "identity politics ... antithetical to basic principles of one indivisible nation."

Aurelio Rojas -- Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau.