College Tuition Hearing : Seymour Calls Hayden Liar in Public Tirade

State Sen. John Seymour, in a rare public outburst, exploded Wednesday at Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) during a subcommittee hearing on legislation that Seymour says would help parents pay the cost of their children’s college education.

Seymour, an Anaheim Republican, accused Hayden, the Assembly panel’s chairman, of depriving him of a fair hearing on the bill, which addresses the same problem that Hayden tackled in a measure that was vetoed last year by Gov. George Deukmejian.

“You sir, are a liar,” said Seymour, whose staff earlier had alerted reporters that a confrontation with Hayden was imminent.

Hayden, who remained calm during the encounter, later characterized the outburst as a “tantrum” that was “unbelievable.”

After Seymour’s tirade, which lasted 30 minutes, the committee listened to opposing arguments on the bill, then postponed a vote.

Seymour launched his personal attack on Hayden as soon as the Assembly subcommittee on higher education turned to his legislation, which would provide parents with tax-free interest on money that they save to pay for their children’s college tuition.

Hayden’s bill, patterned after a Michigan program already operating, would have allowed parents to prepay the current cost of a college education, with the state’s guarantee that the child could then attend college without paying any additional money.

Seymour said that Hayden wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter, urging his fellow Democrats to reject Seymour’s bill. This violated Hayden’s earlier, private promise to the senator that the measure would receive an unbiased hearing, Seymour charged. Democrats outnumber Republicans 5 to 4 on the subcommittee.

Hayden’s letter, a copy of which Seymour provided to The Times, described Seymour’s measure as the “conservative alternative” to Hayden’s approach and said that lower-income families “will find it to be a hoax when their children reach college age.” Hayden said the bill was flawed because it did not guarantee that parents would be able to afford their children’s college costs.

Seymour called Hayden’s letter a “deceitful piece of garbage--lying trash.”

“This is the bottom of the cesspool as far as I’m concerned,” Seymour shouted at Hayden. “I think it’s not only cowardly, it’s the lowest thing in the political system. Your word is the only thing you’ve got around here. As far as I’m concerned, you violated it. You lied to me.”

Hayden characterized the letter as no more than routine correspondence among legislators.

“It is my obligation to let members of the committee know where I stand on a bill,” Hayden said. “That does not obligate anyone. . . . We’re all grown-ups here. People will vote their conscience.”

Seymour’s bill is supported by the California Postsecondary Education Commission and the Assn. of Independent Colleges and Universities. The measure was co-authored by seven Republicans, seven Democrats and an independent.