Although Laatsch's legislative career is of special interest because of his ministerial career, there is no documentation on this aspect of his life in the papers, nor is there any indication of how this background influenced his political views. Rather, the majority of the collection consists of correspondence between Laatsch and his colleagues in state government, lobbyists, advocacy groups, and his constituents in the 80th Assembly District. Also in the collection are copies of some of his press releases and campaign publicity, and some legislative subject files.
The LEGISLATIVE CORRESPONDENCE is arranged chronologically by session and thereunder by bill number. Some gaps in the coverage will be noted. Laatsch's 1979-1980 legislative highlights included Assembly Bill 251 which concerned local options in the application of the state uniform dwelling code. He also sponsored Assembly Bill 485, which gave school boards authority to deal with students who issued bomb threats. There is also a large quantity of correspondence concerning the marital property reform legislation of that session.
In his second term Laatsch was cosponsor of AB 45 regarding interspousal property transfers and inheritance taxes. There is also a substantial amount of correspondence regarding AB 302 which prohibited abortion in publicly funded hospitals.
SUBJECT FILES contain information on various legislative topics and issues of local concern. It is likely that the collection includes only a small portion of the files of this type which once existed in Laatsch's legislative office. Also included here are copies of his press releases and some campaign literature. The campaign material includes tape recordings of radio spot ads, one of which is an endorsement of Laatsch's candidacy by Governor Lee Dreyfus.
