California has long led the nation in many public policy trends, from mandating lower-emission automobiles to property tax reform. So when something new happens there, it pays for everyone — not just those who live there — to take note.

Helicopter noise has always been a hot-button political issue in the Los Angeles basin, and there is no shortage of politicians — from county supervisors to members of Congress — standing ready to exploit the complaints of a few disaffected homeowners for electoral gain.

They pander to the masses with emotionally-charged rhetoric that makes for good sound bites, but does little to bring rationality to the situation.

When an Army helicopter flew too close to the Hollywood Bowl in July 2012, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky decried helicopters as "dangerous and disruptive." Former Rep. Howard Berman said helicopters had turned the skies over Los Angeles into the "Wild West."

Berman, Rep. Adam Schiff, and California's two U.S. senators have repeatedly introduced standalone legislation in Congress that would compel the FAA to mandate helicopter routes and altitudes over L.A. Because these bills contained language that impinged on the rightful authority of the FAA, they never made it out of committee.

But that did not dissuade their sponsors, who slipped the regulatory language last minute into the $1.1 trillion omnibus federal funding bill that passed Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama in January. Under the law, the FAA has one year to show that voluntary noise reduction efforts are working or promulgate mandatory regulations.

First responders — police, fire, EMS — typically were never really concerned about this type of thing before because past bills have always exempted them. Most people seem to understand that a little noise is a small price to pay when lives are at stake.

Until now.

The language in the omnibus bill makes no exemptions for first responder aircraft — including EMS helicopters. It's not an oversight. It's not an accident. It was Schiff's intent, as he told a local radio audience days after the bill passed: "There are no exemptions."

Public-sector helicopters account for an estimated 70 percent plus of all rotorcraft flights in the L.A. basin. Almost half of all helicopters based there. For years they have worked with local community groups to mitigate their noise footprint voluntarily. They have been repeatedly assured by politicians that they would remain exempt from any mandatory noise rules.

But such promises are fleeting when there are political points to be scored.