Flood-Control Bond Vote OKd : Legislature: Santa Ana River project would receive $60 million if voters approve water bond proposal in November.

It took them all night to do it, but state legislators early Saturday finally got around to approving a bond proposal that includes more than $60 million for the Santa Ana River flood-control project.

The flood-control project money, contained in a $380-million water bond proposal that will be put before California voters in November, was part of a wide-ranging, $3.3-billion bond package that Gov. George Deukmejian had negotiated with state Senate and Assembly leaders and had insisted be passed in its entirety.

While Orange County’s part of the package was not the least bit controversial, it was held hostage during the final hours of the 1989-90 legislative session while party leaders squeezed the necessary votes out of their members to ensure the deal’s success.

That package included a host of bond measures for other projects, such as prison and public school construction, parks, low-cost housing and mortgage assistance for first-time home buyers.

The mortgage-assistance program, one of the governor’s pet proposals, was what almost derailed the deal. Assembly Democrats balked at the measure, which increased income limits for potential recipients of subsidized, low-interest mortgage loans. In some counties, first-time home buyers may earn more than $80,000 and still be eligible for mortgage assistance.

“This is a crummy program . . . a sham, a fraud,” said Assemblyman Dan Hauser (D-Arcata), who urged his colleagues to defeat the housing bond proposal even if it meant risking Deukmejian’s veto of other measures. “There’s a little bit for the poor, a lot for the rich and those of us in the middle are going to pay for it.”

Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach) also spoke against the measure. “We are actually going to increase the price rather than lower the price of low-cost housing,” he said.

With Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) holding open the roll-call vote on the housing bill for several minutes while Assembly Minority Leader Ross Johnson (R-La Habra) paced up and down the floor aisles lining up the votes, the measure, which required two-thirds approval, eventually gained the necessary 54 votes.

With that approval, Orange County was virtually assured of getting its flood-control money, but the vote on that issue didn’t come for another two hours, at 4:15 a.m. It passed with little comment or opposition.

Federal engineers have characterized the $1.4-billion Santa Ana River project as the most crucial in the western United States. It is designed to protect San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties in the event of a 200-year flood (a flood so severe it occurs just once every two centuries).

The state has agreed to pay 70% of Orange County’s $440-million share of the project.

But this year’s $32-million appropriation was dropped in July when Deukmejian made drastic cuts in the state budget.

The water bond issue includes enough money to pay the state’s share of the project for two years, said Mark Watts, one of the county government’s lobbyists in Sacramento.

Regardless of the bond issue’s outcome in the November election, the Orange County Flood Control District has enough money put aside to continue work on the project for about two years. And State Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) said that even if the bond issue fails, he is not worried that the state will try to back out of its financial obligation.

“The state’s commitment to fund its share of the project is real,” Seymour said.