FIRST OFF . . .

An effort is under way in the state Legislature to restore funds for the California Arts Council that were vetoed in July by Gov. George Deukmejian. State Sen. Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose) and Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose) are backing measures to add $2.9 million and $2 million respectively to the council’s $14.5-million budget. If successful, the measures could restore about $1 million in challenge grants that had been promised to 42 arts groups statewide prior to the governor’s veto. A joint Legislative Conference Committee is scheduled to meet next week on the measures. “We hope to develop a large enough consensus so that the governor signs something,” said Leni Isaacs Boorstin, a member of the California Confederation of the Arts, the state’s arts advocacy agency, and a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.