The Political Landscape:

The first two tries didn’t do it for Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, whose industrial hemp bill has now been vetoed twice by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but DeVore said Wednesday he isn’t giving up the fight.

The bill, co-written by DeVore and San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno, would allow California farmers to grow industrial hemp, which is non-hallucinogenic and can be used to make cloth, soap, paper and building materials. Opponents charge the crop causes problems for law enforcement because it’s easily confused with its illegal cousin, marijuana.

“I think that we’re going to try again,” he said, adding officials can look to North Dakota, where a similar law was passed. “There’s going to be some practical lessons learned from North Dakota that shows this is not the boogeyman to law enforcement that some people try to make it out to be.”

 Internet tax ban temporary, again

And in other failed legislation news, Newport Beach Rep. John Campbell on Tuesday had to grit his teeth and support a four-year continuation of the ban on Internet taxes, rather than the permanent ban he’s been pushing since he came to Congress in 2005. The ban, which prevents state and local governments from taxing Internet access, was passed by the House and now needs Senate approval.

“The leadership on the Democratic side did not want to go permanent,” Campbell said. Even though he and other legislators proposed bills for permanent bans, “they just shoved all three of those aside and put together this new one,” he said.

The most common argument is that federal and state governments stand to lose a lot of money if, for example, most people begin using web-based phone service rather than the land lines that are currently taxed. But Campbell argued if the country reaches a point where most business is done online, Congress could consider repealing a “permanent” ban.

Why worry about taxes on Internet use? “It’s a great way for people to have access to information, usually free, that they couldn’t get before,” Campbell said, and he wants to protect that access. If he’s still in Congress in four years, he said, he’ll try the permanent ban again.

 Councilwoman says wear sunscreen