They Don’t Always Follow the Party Line : Legislators Sometimes Take a Maverick Stance

Members of San Diego County’s delegation in the Legislature vote more often than not with their party leaders on key issues, but they will stray from the partisan line when prompted to do so by their hearts or home districts, The Times has found in a study of the year’s most prominent issues.

The 11-member delegation--seven Republicans and four Democrats--apparently harbors no mavericks. Most members say they go along with the leaders of their parties more out of philosophical affinity than loyalty. But every representative from the county broke ranks with their party leadership on at least one key issue during 1987.

Unlike some other county delegations, San Diego’s group in the Legislature rarely speaks with one voice. With a mixture of Republicans and Democrats, and liberal and conservative members of both parties, the San Diego delegation can perhaps best be described as eclectic.

Republican Sens. William Craven of Oceanside and Jim Ellis of San Diego went their own way most often, splitting with Senate GOP Leader Ken Maddy of Fresno on more than a third of key Senate votes reviewed by The Times.

On the other end of the scale, Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego) marched in almost lock-step with his party leader, casting just one of 16 votes differently from Assembly Republican Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale.

Although members in both houses cast more than 3,000 votes during 1987, most of those were on routine items of little or no controversy. Many bills are approved dozens at a time after being grouped on special “consent” agendas. Only a relatively few floor votes are divisive enough to tell anything about a member’s leanings or loyalty.

The Times’ review covered 16 Assembly votes and 15 in the Senate.

The Variety of Bills

Included were votes on bills to extend bilingual education programs, allocate $700 million to schools and local governments rather than return it to the taxpayers, allow parents to prepay their children’s college tuition at today’s prices, and require the distribution of a videotape on AIDS to California’s junior and senior high schools. Each of these bills was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Other bills on the list that were vetoed would have increased the minimum wage to $4.25 an hour and allowed most California private-sector workers to take up to four months unpaid “parenting” leave without risk of losing their jobs.

Also studied were measures requiring affirmative action goals on construction of a proposed federal atom smasher; the elimination of tax deductions for business expenses at clubs that discriminate, and forbidding abortions for unwed minors without their parent’s consent or a court order. Other bills will align California’s tax code more closely with the federal system, make it more difficult to sue for civil wrongdoing, ban smoking on intrastate airline flights, and allow public toll roads to be built in California. Each of these bills was signed into law by Deukmejian.

Another bill, passed by the Assembly but not yet taken up in the Senate, would allow Caltrans to hire private engineers for highway construction projects while requiring the department to follow affirmative action guidelines when awarding such contracts.

Together, San Diego’s 11 legislators had 172 opportunities to vote on these bills on the Assembly or Senate floors. They voted in concert with their party leaders 131 times, or about 76%. Although only the Assembly Republicans receive formal recommended positions on every bill, the votes of the party leaders tend to reflect the sentiment of the majority of their followers.

Tax Conformity

In many cases, San Diego lawmakers were not recorded as voting for or against a key bill. In the Legislature, not voting has the same impact as voting “no,” because bills need a majority of members’ votes for passage, not simply a majority of those voting.

Tax conformity--the effort to align California’s personal and corporate tax systems with the federal tax code--was the issue that caused the most San Diego lawmakers to split with their leaders. With all four of the top legislative leaders as well as the Deukmejian Administration in favor of the two bills, they passed both houses easily. But a majority of San Diego members, apparently not acting together, opposed both bills.

Craven, the Oceanside Republican who has been in the Legislature since 1973, was the county member most likely to differ with his party leader and the majority of his caucus.

Craven sided with Democrats when he voted to boost education funding, extend requirements for bilingual education and increase the minimum wage. He did not vote or voted “no” on four bills that were favored by leaders of both parties in the Senate: tax conformity for individuals and for corporations, elimination of deductions for business expenses at clubs that discriminate, and civil liability reform for the private sector.

The veteran lawmaker said that he only rarely feels pressured to vote with his Republican colleagues. As a rule, Craven said, the Senate Republicans do not take caucus positions on bills. In fact, Maddy, the party’s Senate leader, and Sen. John Doolittle (R-Rocklin), his more conservative second-in-command, often vote on different sides of the same issue.

“The Republican caucus in the Senate is a rather loosely knit organization,” Craven said. “You have to take each situation and apply it to your locale and see if that’s effective. They don’t beat you on the head. They don’t threaten you.”

Craven was one of only two Republicans to vote with Democrats in June on a bill to spend $700 million on education and local government rather than return it to the taxpayers. He said he voted for the measure because contact with his office was running about 9 to 1 against a tax rebate. But when Deukmejian vetoed the bill and Democrats tried to override the veto, Craven did not vote, and the effort fell one tally short.

A Political Decision

“That was political, obviously,” Craven said of his decision. “To vote to override a veto is somewhat injudicious for a Republican, particularly one in a position of having to go to the governor to get funding for other projects in the district. There’s no use fighting City Hall when I have to go back through the main door and say ‘Look, I need money for this.’ ”

While Craven’s voting on key issues tended to be more moderate than his party’s leadership, Ellis strayed in the other direction. Six times he either voted “no” or did not vote when Maddy voted “yes.” Ellis’s sentiments were closer to Doolittle, the other Senate GOP leader.

Among the bills on which Ellis did not vote were the two tax conformity measures, which he said he would have opposed, and two civil liability bills, which Ellis said he would have supported had he been on the Senate floor at the time of the vote. Ellis voted against the bill to eliminate the tax deduction for business expenses at clubs that discriminate.

“I think that anybody should be able to have a club and admit anyone they want,” Ellis said. “If women want to have a women’s club, that’s all right. I don’t have to belong to everything, nor do I think others have to.”

Craven and Ellis said they find the Senate considerably more flexible than the Assembly, where they each served two terms before moving to the upper house. When Craven was in the Assembly, he said, the Republicans often voted by “unit rule,” meaning that all members of the caucus were expected to vote as one. Anyone who strayed risked being ostracized by his party colleagues.

Now, according to Assemblyman Stirling, the unit rule is used only rarely in the Assembly. He attributes the cohesiveness of the Republican caucus to efficiency rather than discipline.

Each day the Assembly meets, GOP members are given a “floor alert” that describes the potential impact of every bill on the agenda. The alert also lists how Republicans have voted on the issue in committee and offers a recommendation from the party’s staff.

“With the floor alert, everybody in the caucus knows how everyone else feels about that issue,” Stirling said. “What we do is key off each other’s opinions, watch each other’s comments.”

Stirling said factors other than party loyalty come into play on most bills.

Business Expenses

“You see male versus female, black versus white, north versus south, rural versus urban, rich versus poor, schools versus prisons,” Stirling said. “There is an unending array of agendas that supervene the party agenda.”

Still, Stirling differed with Nolan, the Assembly GOP Leader, on only one of the 16 votes reviewed by The Times. That split came when Stirling voted to end the deduction for business expenses at clubs that discriminate. Nolan opposed the measure.

“I would not vote for a bill that outlawed your right to free association,” Stirling explained. “But I would vote for government not to subsidize an organization that discriminates on the basis of race or gender. Americans have a right to associate with whomever they please, but they don’t have a right to subsidize that with the taxes of the people who are being discriminated against.”

Assemblyman Robert Frazee (R-Carlsbad) broke from the pack on only three key issues: the two tax conformity bills and the measure to allow parents to prepay their children’s college tuition. But Frazee said he suspects he “deviates as much as anyone” from the Assembly Republicans’ recommended positions.

“You always hear about the caucus positions and how we are supposedly forced to vote a certain way, but I’ve never cast a vote against my better judgment just because the caucus wanted me to,” he said.

Among the Assembly Democrats from San Diego, Steve Peace of Chula Vista strayed furthest from the positions staked out by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Peace voted against both tax conformity bills, which Brown and most Democrats supported. He voted in favor of requiring unwed minors to obtain parental consent or a court order before having an abortion, a measure that Brown and most Democrats opposed. He did not vote on a bill to allow the state to issue $560 million in bonds for the proposed federal atom smasher, which he opposes, and he also abstained on the bill to require distribution of a videotape on AIDS to junior and senior high schools.

Absent for Vote

Peace was also recorded as absent for the final vote on the bill to ban smoking on airline flights that begin and end in California. But he said he supported that nonpartisan bill and intended to vote in favor of it.

Peace noted that the Assembly Democrats, unlike the Republicans, do not have recommended positions on every bill. If they did, he said, he wouldn’t pay much heed.

“My notion of what the Democratic Party is all about is to be independent,” he said. “It’s inclusive rather than exclusive. Its whole strength historically has been to build coalitions among people who have very different backgrounds.”

HOW SAN DIEGO COUNTY LAWMAKERS VOTED IN SACRAMENTO

Marian William Wadie Jim Bill Peter Robert Issue Bergeson Craven Deddeh Ellis Bradley Chacon Frazee AB 37 abs *yes yes abs no yes no AB 53 *no *no yes *abs *no yes *no SB 572 yes *abs yes *abs *no yes *no AB 239 yes *no yes *abs *yes yes no AB 278 abs abs yes abs *yes yes *yes AB 368 no abs yes no no yes no AB 1173 yes yes yes *abs yes yes yes SB 241 yes *abs yes *abs yes yes yes AB 1752 yes yes yes yes no yes no SB 566 yes yes yes yes yes yes yes AB 2274 yes yes yes yes yes *yes yes SB 63 no *yes yes no abs yes no SB 136 yes yes yes *no no yes no SB 516 n/a n/a n/a n/a no yes no SB 1067 *yes abs *yes abs *abs *no yes SB 1413 yes yes *yes yes yes *yes yes SB 1658 no *yes yes abs no yes no

Lucy Sunny Steve Larry Issue Killea Mojonnier Peace Stirling AB 37 *abs abs yes no AB 53 yes *no *no yes SB 572 yes *no *no yes AB 239 yes *yes yes *yes AB 278 yes no yes no AB 368 yes no yes no AB 1173 yes yes yes yes SB 241 yes yes yes yes AB 1752 yes no yes no SB 566 yes yes *abs yes AB 2274 no *abs *yes yes SB 63 yes no yes no SB 136 yes abs *abs no SB 516 yes abs yes no SB 1067 yes *abs *abs yes SB 1413 *yes yes no yes SB 1658 yes no yes no

abs: absent or did not vote

n/a: bill not voted on in that house

* bold face: indicates member’s vote differed from party leader

AB 37. Extends requirements for local bilingual education programs. Vetoed. AB 53. Conforms California Tax Code for individuals to recent changes made in federal law. Signed. SB 572. Conforms Tax Code for corporations to recent changes made in federal law. Signed. AB 239. Ends tax write-off for business expenses at clubs that discriminate against women or minorities. Signed. AB 278. Allows parents to prepay their children’s college tuition costs at today’s prices. Vetoed. AB 368. Allows most California private-sector employees to take up to four months unpaid “parenting leave” and then return to their jobs. Vetoed. AB 1173. Makes it harder to sue public agencies and elected officials for liability for personal injury. Signed. SB 241. Makes it harder to sue manufacturers, doctors, and businesses for civil wrongdoing and makes it more difficult to collect punitive damages. Signed. AB 1752. Requires state to seek 15% participation from minority-owned firms and 5% from women-owned firms in any work done on proposed federal atom smasher, also known as the superconducting super collider. Signed. SB 566. Allows state to issue $560 million in revenue bonds to fund proposed federal atom smasher. Signed. AB 2274. Requires unwed minors to obtain parent’s consent or a court order before having an abortion. Signed. SB 63. Allocates $700 million to schools and local government rather than refund it to taxpayers. Vetoed. SB 136. Requires distribution of educational video tape on AIDS to junior and senior high schools. Vetoed. SB 516. Allows Caltrans to use private engineers for freeway construction but requires department to seek 20% minority and women participation in such contracts. Passed by Assembly, no vote in Senate. SB 1067. Bans smoking on airline flights and bus and train trips that begin and end in California. Signed. SB 1413. Allows construction of California’s first public toll roads on routes in Orange County connecting San Diego to Los Angeles. Signed. SB 1658. Increases minimum wage to $4.25 an hour from $3.35. Vetoed. Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach)

Sen. William Craven (R-Oceanside)

Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Chula Vista)

Sen. Jim Ellis (R-San Diego)

Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-San Marcos)

Assemblyman Peter Chacon (D-San Diego)

Assemblyman Robert Frazee (R-Carlsbad)

Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego)

Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas)

Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista)

Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R--San Diego)