More than 300 bills and constitutional amendments have been introduced in the state Senate this session, and two of the most contentious probably won’t make it out of committee to reach the state ballot. A constitutional amendment to redefine a tax should be approved; a bill to endorse a

$5 billion state water bond for construction of a peripheral canal around the Delta should not.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in January proposed a

$12 billion universal health insurance plan that would impose a 4 percent payroll tax on employers who don’t provide coverage and tax hospitals, including those that are nonprofit, and physicians.

Rightfully so, Schwarzenegger’s embrace of new taxes — he called them “fees” — was met with resistance, including from Republican legislators. Among them was state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, whom the governor endorsed last election for lieutenant governor. Tired of having Californians nickel-and-dimed with new fees, assessments and revenue enhancements, McClintock in Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 redefines them as what they are — taxes. Instead of “fees” being approved by majority votes of the Legislature, county boards and city councils, under the amendment, they could have life only with two-thirds approval. If a super-majority is necessary for landscape fees, it should be good also for Schwarzenegger’s universal health plan assessments.

If a tax is a tax by any name, so is a peripheral canal that would capture fresh water from the Sacramento River and skirt it around the Delta before being sent to the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California from the Tracy pumps.

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, attempts to camouflage the controversial water transfer plan under the all-American title of the Clean Drinking Water, Water Supply Security and Environmental Improvement Bond Act. It would establish the California Clean Water Project that would move the Delta intake facilities from Clifton Court Forebay on the West Side to the Sacramento River north of the Delta. Unless there are siphons along the peripheral canal, the Delta would be depleted of fresh water from the northern Sierra. However, Simitian’s Senate Bill 27 makes no mention of any creative thinking that’s been used to propose viable water options. Instead, Senate Bill 27 reads like a water grab by thirsty Californians.

The state Senate’s water dean, Michael Machado, D-Linden, should put a stop to Simitian’s annual hijinks.