This Frequent Flier Wins Thriftiest Lawmaker Award : Legislature: By such cost-saving measures as hand-carrying staff mail from Sacramento to district offices, Dave Elder racked up the lowest office expenses in the Assembly.

As a way to reduce postage costs, Assemblyman Dave Elder wears two hats during legislative sessions: lawmaker and mailman.

The San Pedro Democrat says that on his frequent flights to and from Sacramento, he carries staff correspondence that might otherwise be mailed between the Capitol and district offices. “That’s why I’m always loaded down with briefcases,” Elder cracked.

That also may be why Elder’s postage bill--$3,611--was one of the lowest in the Assembly during the 1989 legislative session, the latest for which such figures are available. And in terms of overall office expenses, Elder ranked as the Assembly’s thriftiest member, reporting a tab of $196,223--a figure 29% lower than the Assembly average of $274,941, according to recent reports.

“I am surprised. We were trying to be as low as possible, but I didn’t think I’d be the lowest,” said Elder, whose district includes San Pedro, Harbor City and Wilmington.

The top spender in the 80-member Assembly for the 1989 session was Republican Frank Hill of Whittier. Hill, who has since moved on to the state Senate, reported expenses of $322,380--more than 17% above the Assembly average.

Among South Bay Assembly members, the top spender was Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro). He reported expenses of $303,774, which ranked 13th among his colleagues.

In the 40-member Senate, the No. 1 spender for the 1989 session was Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose) at $626,286--about 24% above the Senate average of $477,003.

Among South Bay senators, the top spender was Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), whose district includes Inglewood. Her total of $457,615 in expenses ranked 22nd among her colleagues.

The expense reports, prepared by the Assembly and Senate Rules committees, cover about 20 different categories, including staff salaries, travel, cars, district office expenses, postage, telephones, furniture, equipment, supplies, subscriptions and photocopying. It generally costs more to run a Senate office than an Assembly office because senators represent larger constituencies.

The lion’s share of the expenses for each legislator are for employee salaries and benefits.

Cliff Berg, Senate Rules Committee executive officer, said a variety of factors influence the bottom line of a legislator’s expenses. For example, office rents in Newport Beach are considerably higher than rents in South-Central Los Angeles. Also, he noted that some lawmakers whose district boundaries cross several county lines are allocated more staff and may need to rent multiple district offices.

Hill, when asked about his 1989 expense report, complained about the way the spending is tabulated. He described the accounting system as “asinine,” charging that it was designed to hide the true number of staffers employed by some members of the Democratic majority in the Assembly. “It doesn’t reflect the true staff budgets,” he said.

The expense totals, in fact, do not reflect staff and other costs associated with committee assignments. Some committee chairmen--most of whom are Democrats--have additional staff and expenses connected to their extra duties.

Said one Democratic staffer, who asked not to be identified, “If someone has a major committee chairmanship, expenses are defrayed into the committees.”

Hill also criticized the report for failing to lump together all of the spending by such Assembly leaders as Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), whom he described as “the guy with the biggest staff in the Legislature.”

But Robert Connelly, chief administrative officer of the Assembly Rules Committee, dismissed the criticism as partisan, saying GOP lawmakers are upset because some of them “have spent a lot of money.”

Connelly defended the system, saying that the 20 or so categories listed “are the same for all 80 members.” He also pointed out that although Brown’s office expenses were listed as $269,392, another portion of the expense report showed that Brown spent an additional $2 million to run the Speaker’s office.

There can be wide variations of spending within single categories in the 1989 reports. For instance, Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood), who took office in February, 1989, only spent $4,683 on furniture and equipment, whereas Felando’s bill was $22,001.

Tucker, whose father held the seat until his death in 1988, said he purchased a new chair and one or two tables for his district office. Otherwise, he kept his father’s furnishings.

Felando said his office’s purchase of a new computer system was a major reason for his relatively high expense in the furniture/equipment category.

Overall, expenses reported by Assembly members totaled $22,589,109, an increase of 4% over the figure for the 1988 session, according to Connelly.

Spending by Senate members totaled $19,022,387, a decline of 2% compared to the 1988 session, according to Berg. “We’ve just not been spending money, conscious of the public’s concern,” Berg said.

But passage earlier this month of Proposition 140, which will force the Legislature to cut its operating budget by almost 50%, is triggering plans for much more extensive belt-tightening next year.

For instance, Sen. Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk) said he expects the ballot measure will mean deep cuts in his staff and his district office lease. “If you don’t have people, you don’t need the office space,” he said.

EXPENDITURES BY AREA LAWMAKERS State officials recently released the office-related expenses reported by the Legislature’s 120 members for the 1989 session. The reports cover staff salaries, as well as spending on such items as furniture, leased cars and telephones. In the Senate, Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose) was the top spender at $626,286. In the Assembly, Frank Hill (R-Whittier) topped the field, having spent $322,380. The following is a list of spending by South Bay lawmakers.

Senate Total spending Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) $457,615 Ralph Dills (D-Gardena) $379,336 Robert Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach) $345,550

Assembly Total spending Gerald Felando (R-San Pedro) $303,774 Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles) $276,991 Richard Floyd (D-Carson) $260,580 Curtis Tucker Jr.* $259,754 Dave Elder (D-San Pedro) $196,223

* Took office in February, 1989