Blocking of Prop. 64 gets placed on hold.

Chalk tip a win for California businesses pushing for tort reform.

Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, has inactivated a bill that could renew lawsuits targeting businesses because he feared it wouldn't win enough votes. Business groups cheered the move, though many expect the bill to resurface.

Opponents contend that the measure would partly roll back Proposition 64 by allowing unharmed plaintiffs to sue companies for alleged environmental violations. Proposition 64, which voters passed last November, blocks unharmed plaintiffs from suing for alleged violations under Business and Professions Code 17200.

Proposition 64 was a reaction to aggressive law firms that critics say shook down small businesses under the 17200 code by threatening or filing scores of lawsuits.

Frommer's legislation made it through two committees and was ready for an Assembly vote. But rather than risk the bill getting killed outright, Frommer, who plans to run for state treasurer, chose to put it in on inactive status. He may try to reintroduce the bill after Jan. 1.

Although Democrats hold a 48-32 majority in the Assembly, the bill would likely have struggled to get the needed 41 votes to pass. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who most likely would veto the bill.

Environmentalists were among those disappointed that a vote wasn't held. But dozens of major oil companies that operate in California came out against the bill. The Sacramento-based Civil Justice Association of California had been running newspaper and radio ads against the proposed law.

--Orange County Business Journal