of Architects also named him Legislator of the Year and Honorary Architect. He was asked to chair the Committee on Water Parks and Wildlife by then Speaker Willie Brown, during the period of California's 7-year drought, to act as a facilitator between rural, urban and residential water users including north vs. south, and spent an extensive amount of time to that end visiting those entities throughout the state. He authored key legislation involving the fisheries, water use and the method whereby the State Parks System would award concessions. The latter was especially the result of hearings he held regarding the scandal at Asilomar State Beach in Monterey, California(Monterey County). Registration of toxic storage facilities and underground tanks was part of a package that led to a registry called "the Cortese list". During the flooding disaster of 1986, Governor Deukmejian signed an emergency measure by Cortese that provided one hundred fifteen million dollars in flood relief money. The bill reached the Governor's desk within two weeks of being introduced. Another measure created the autonomous Valley Transit Authority in Santa Clara County. A Cortese measure provided several million dollars for a graphics animation center at the University of California,San Diego.The one bill that Cortese speaks of as being his most rewarding required insurance companies to cover the cost of mammograms. After at a two-year battle with insurance company opposition, the bill was signed into law and has saved lives. The American Cancer Society named him Legislator Of The Year in 1988. He also carried the Constitutional Amendment that allowed for state education bonds by a fifty percent vote. He carried the bill that guaranteed the vehicle license fee for local governments. As chair of the Local Government committee, Cortese was asked to intervene in the San Bruno Mountain dispute in Millbrae and was recognized by both sides as an "official" mediator. After countless hours of meetings, the dispute which had been ongoing for many years was resolved without legislation and without further litigation. Cortese also carried the legislation that led to the settlement of a major shore lands dispute (Pete's Harbor) in nearby Redwood City, California which had been litigated for fourteen years prior between owner Pete Uccelli and the State Lands Commission. In addition to chairing his own committees, Cortese at one point in his legislative career was asked by the Speaker to serve on several additional committees among which were,