Legislators Reconvene in Mood of Bipartisan Charity and Fellowship

The Legislature ended its winter vacation Monday and reconvened its 1985-86 session amid bold predictions of bipartisan “peace and harmony,” scarce commodities at the Capitol for years.

Although the lawmakers last gathered only a month ago when they met briefly for an organizational session, they greeted each other on their return to the Assembly and Senate chambers like participants at a high school class reunion.

In the Senate, jovial Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) showed up with a toy robot that lurched down the aisle. He jokingly introduced the robot as a cost-cutting replacement for his longtime assistant, Jerry Haleva.

Good fellowship prevailed as well in the Assembly, where Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) went one step further than newly elected Republican Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale, who had forecast peace and harmony.

“Better than peace and harmony,” Brown bubbled. “Peace, harmony and enthusiasm.”

He also announced he intends to keep his promise and appoint Republicans to chair committees. No member of the GOP has chaired an Assembly committee for two years under Brown because none voted for him for Speaker in 1983.

However, he had pledged earlier that if Republicans voted to reelect him, he would reward some of them with committee chairmanships. He was reelected by acclamation in the 80-member house, which now has a makeup of 47 Democrats and 33 Republicans.

“Every member of this house is eligible for consideration for a chairmanship,” Brown said Monday, “and it will not be based upon what political party you happen to belong to.”

However, the Speaker has so many political debts to pay that he is considering creating three new committees and splitting an existing one to establish more chairmanships. During the last session, there were 23 permanent committees.

Brown said he is thinking about reactivating the old Governmental Efficiency and Economy and the Constitutional Amendments committees and creating a new panel to deal with bonded indebtedness of government entities and pension fund investments.

Additionally, Brown said he is considering splitting the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee into two separate bodies.

Committee Assignments

He indicated he hopes to have the chairmanships and committee assignments completed by the end of the week.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said the Senate Rules Committee is expected to announce Senate chairmanships and assignments on Wednesday.

As the Assembly members filed into the chamber to take their seats, some were surprised to learn that during their vacation the seating had been rearranged so that Republicans would be grouped together on the Speaker’s right and Democrats on his left.

Generally, members of the Assembly have been assigned seats without regard to party affiliation. The shuffle was requested by Nolan, who wanted his members in one spot so he could communicate with them more easily.

Lawmakers will gather in a joint session at 5 p.m. today to hear Gov. George Deukmejian deliver his State of the State address.