S.D. Legislators Draw Up Wish List for 1991 Session : Government: San Diego’s 10 representatives in Sacramento introduce 298 bills, from the arcane to the wide-ranging.

Given their druthers, San Diego-area lawmakers would revamp the Legislature, scuttle plans for the international airport at the border and build an off-road vehicle park in the canyons of Otay Mesa.

Newspapers would be forced to charge sales tax. The state would open a new trade office in Vienna but shut down the Aliso Creek rest stop on Interstate 5, where illegal aliens congregate just south of the San Onofre immigration checkpoint.

Convicted murderers would die quicker. Lay midwives would be legal. And Coleman College in La Mesa would be excused from state regulation.

These are just some of the ideas contained in the 298 bills that San Diego legislators have introduced for the 1991 session.

The chances are zilch, of course, that all of the San Diego-inspired bills will survive the political gauntlet in the Capitol and become law. Even the least controversial of bills can be hamstrung by inside legislative power games or dropped for reasons unrelated to subject matter. The most innovative of measures are routinely sideswiped, cannibalized or subsumed into other bills.

But in the spring--when optimism buoys baseball fan and legislator alike--the bills represent the best and brightest of hopes for the seven Assembly members and three Senators who call San Diego home. Area legislators account for nearly 9% of the 3,481 bills introduced this year, according to LegiTech, a computer tracking service.

The ideas for legislative proposals, said Sen. Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), come from a variety of sources. “Part of it is a person’s individual interest and part of it is the committees they are on. And certainly (it depends) on the type of district they represent,” she said.

Sometimes, legislative ideas will follow tragedy. The sad tale of a car crash that left one North County girl dead and her twin sister disabled moved rookie Assemblywoman Dede Alpert (D-Del Mar) to suggest that all late-model used cars be retrofitted with shoulder harness safety belts in the back seats.

In addition, many of the bills being carried by San Diegans were actually written and shopped around the Capitol by individuals, groups or governmental agencies looking for changes in sometimes arcane regulations affecting their narrow interests.

Case in point: Assemblywoman Carol Bentley’s (R-El Cajon) measure to exempt Coleman College--a private, for-profit school owned by one of her campaign contributors--from state regulation. The move would save Coleman an estimated $120,000 to $150,000 a year.

Most measures are highly technical and non-controversial. Some, however, have wider ramifications. For instance, the theme of cracking down on criminals--especially drug dealers--dominated the bills introduced by San Diego-area legislators, who offered 13 anti-crime measures.

Following are short descriptions of selected bills introduced by the local delegation:

Assemblywoman Alpert. New to the Sacramento scene, the former Solana Beach school board member is carrying 18 bills, most of which are low-level education-related proposals that will fail to grab headlines. One would allow dog catchers to use red blinking lights on their trucks.

But one measure may cause a minor stir--a safety proposal that imposes seating limits on school buses. Alpert’s bill would allow only two secondary students per seat, a proposal she acknowledges will probably fail.

Other Alpert proposals: Setting up a statewide task force to study the sexual assault of children; classifying continuous sexual child abuse as a “violent felony” and mandating health coverage for children with phenylketonuria, a treatable condition that can lead to mental retardation.

Assemblywoman Bentley. At the heart of Bentley’s 39-bill package--one of the biggest of the area legislators--are measures enacting stricter and swifter penalties for drug dealers and convicted murderers.

Bentley, elected in 1988, said one of her most important bills would streamline the appeals process used by convicted killers such as Robert Alton Harris, who has been able to delay his execution date through court appeals. “I feel capital punishment is a deterrent, and we don’t have it . . . because of these frivolous appeals that are made,” she said.

Another controversial anti-crime measure would reverse California’s legal tolerance for marijuana by doubling the fine for anyone possessing less than 28.5 grams--from $100 to $250.

She also wants the state to expunge the name of any convicted felon from public bridges and buildings. Her inspiration: A highway overpass in her district named for San Diego financier Richard T. Silberman, former state budget director who was recently convicted of federal drug laundering charges.

Yet Bentley proposes taking it easier on errant homes for the developmentally disabled. She hopes to slash by 90% all regulatory fines assessed against these small facilities.

Bentley is also renewing a request to spend $8.8 million to lease Otay Mesa land for a new off-road vehicle park. Similar proposals have failed in recent years because of state budgetary woes, despite the fact that the money would come from a special off-road vehicle license fund and not public taxes.

Assemblyman Pete Chacon (D-San Diego). The 20-year veteran is carrying 34 measures, and he says his top two bills deal with his concern that minorities are being shut out of elections and government.

One measure would allow voters to register on the same day as an election. Existing law requires registration 29 days before election day--a requirement that Chacon argues discriminates against the working poor, who are preoccupied with making ends meet.

The other measure would require large school districts with minority populations of at least 21% to hold district-only elections, a move Chacon said will help minorities overcome barriers to “entry-level” public offices. A similar bill passed last year but was vetoed by then-Gov. George Deukmejian.

Chacon has also sponsored a bill that would impose a 15% smut tax on obscene materials and devices sold in adult book stores to raise money for rape and child-abuse victims. Heeding complaints from black ministers in his East San Diego district, he wants to make it more difficult for store owners to sell high-alcohol wine coolers.

Finally, Chacon has proposed establishing state tree-pruning standards. The idea: Make sure that trimmers hired by public agencies are doing right by Nature. “Why allow them to butcher trees at the same time we have programs to plant trees?” he said.

Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside). At 15 bills, his is the lightest legislative load of the delegation. He says he will dedicate most of his time to steering appointments by Gov. Wilson through to Senate confirmation. Of local interest is his bill to construct walls along Interstate 5 near the private St. Patrick’s Elementary School in Carlsbad.

But the 17-year legislative veteran said he is particularly eager to follow through on one measure that would open an overseas trade office in Vienna. The idea is to encourage Austria and the emerging Eastern Bloc countries of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland to buy California agriculture and high-tech components, he said.

And the former Marine becomes downright fervent when discussing his favorite bill--one that denies some funding increases to school districts that ban military recruiters from their campuses. Craven said he became “incensed” when he learned that such a prohibition exists in the Richmond district, in Contra Costa County.

“There are a lot of students in school who can find in the military a career, respect, pride and discipline, and that’s very, very important,” said Craven, a former recruiter himself. “Not everyone who graduates from high school can go to Stanford.”

Sen. Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Bonita). Not known for carrying blockbuster legislation, Deddeh’s 1991 package of 30 bills contains one of the more controversial and hotly contested proposals of the session--eliminating sales tax exemptions for newspapers and snack food.

With that bill, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation finds himself in the thick of the budget controversy as the state looks down the barrel of a deficit that could reach $10 billion. Although his proposal would net $433 million for cash-starved state coffers, it has also engendered strident opposition from newspaper publishers and fund-raising organizations such as the Girl Scouts.

The eight-year veteran is also carrying a bill at the request of San Diego officials that would give local governments more time to file suits and collect damages from asbestos makers in the removal of hazardous material from public buildings.

A Deddeh bill would raise money for a new San Diego County municipal court building by assessing a $10 fee to everyone referred to traffic school. Another would increase utility bills with a statewide surcharge on gas and electric consumption. He also wants to make it easier to confiscate firearms from gang members.

Deddeh would make it illegal for a woman to obtain an abortion because she doesn’t like the baby’s sex.

A native Iraqi, Deddeh has openly agonized about the recent Mideast war, and, early on, urged American caution and understanding when dealing with Saddam Hussein. This year, he is sponsoring a bill that would make it easier for Desert Storm service personnel who fought Hussein to file taxes and receive full interest on refunds.

Assemblyman Robert C. Frazee (R-Carlsbad). In his aw-shucks style, Frazee confesses his 1991 measures “are not things of great consequence.” And for most part, that’s an apt description of his 27-bill package. One, for instance, would rename the old governor’s mansion in Sacramento.

Yet one Frazee bill is significant to anyone who travels north on I-5 toward the San Onofre immigration checkpoint: It would close the Aliso Creek rest stop a few miles south of the checkpoint.

The rest stop is a gathering place for illegal aliens who wait until the checkpoint is unmanned by the U.S. Border Patrol before they resume their trek northward to Los Angeles and beyond. On a busy night, crowds mill around while catering trucks set up shop and cars line the entrance ramp out to the freeway.

The 12-year legislator said he wants to close it down because it is “a place with no law enforcement” but with plenty of potential for trouble. “It’s a staging area for the movement of illegal aliens,” he said. The move is supported by the Marines at Camp Pendleton, which surrounds the rest stop, but is opposed by Caltrans, which operates it.

Assemblyman Mike Gotch (D-San Diego). Elected last year, this is the former San Diego City Councilman’s first attempt to make state law. His 20 proposals reflect an environmentalist, slow-growth streak, which was Gotch’s hallmark in city politics before he went to work for developer Doug Manchester.

They would set new standards for recycled beverage containers; repeal a law requiring a development plan for the city-owned Famosa Slough; make it easier to appeal plans for coastal development and codify a court decision allowing cities to deny developer requests for general plan amendments if they do not provide enough schools.

Gotch also wants to reinstate the requirement that motorists carry proof of insurance. He would make it tougher for a minor to have guns or ammunition--something allowed under existing state law with a note from a parent.

Sen. Killea. While mulling over a possible campaign to become the next San Diego mayor, the eight-year legislator has put together a 39-bill package that she says is her most exciting to date. The issues affected include state bonds, prenatal care, legislative reform, consumer protection and transportation.

Killea’s most controversial bill would dramatically change the Legislature. It would scrap the current two-house system of Assembly and Senate and combine the chambers into one, 120-member body--a bold move the lawmaker says she hopes will relieve Legislative “gridlock.” She gives her idea a slim chance to get through the Legislature, where self-preservation is the strongest instinct.

Other Killea ideas that may raise hackles include legalizing lay midwives, sure to be strongly opposed by the powerful medical lobby. Killea said allowing non-nurses to help in normal births is an important way to help make low-cost health care available to poor women.

In divorce settlements, Killea wants to require judges to defer the sale of a home if it is in the child’s interest. She would require businesses contemplating bankruptcy to say so to their customers and creditors.

A Killea bill would divert some of the Coronado Bay Bridge tolls for public transit improvements, a move that could make it more difficult to lift the charges in the future. She would dedicate more state money for bicycle projects as well.

The Democrat also wants to form the San Diego Wastewater District to consolidate the sewage agencies in the area. She would sell $400 million in bonds to pay for water reclamation projects.

However, a Killea bill would preclude initiatives from putting bond packages on the ballot. She argues that allowing voters or special interests to propose new state debt on the ballot is illogical and counterproductive to legislative attempts to come up with a comprehensive investment plan for California.

Assemblywoman Tricia Hunter (R-Bonita). Hunter is a registered nurse, and it shows in her ambitious 38-bill bundle of bills this year. Fourteen of her measures deal with nursing, Medi-Cal payments or prescription drugs.

Hunter said she hopes one proposal--requiring the state to make a priority list of the services it pays for under Medi-Cal--will pull together fragmented efforts in the Legislature to deal with comprehensive health care.

“What does every citizen have a right to expect in health care? I think we need to define what basic health care is,” said Hunter.

Hunter bills would create state certification for the people who clamp off the heart during open-heart surgeries, but eliminate state certification for those who train seeing-eye dogs. She would require people receiving blood transfusions to be notified about the risk of AIDS.

She wants to realign a proposed private toll road leading from the Mexican border so it bypasses, instead of runs through, existing homes in her district. She wants to lift prohibitions against golf carts crossing major streets in Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, La Costa and Palm Desert.

The Republican, elected in 1989, is also proposing two measures aimed at curtailing payments to welfare recipients. She wants to save $220 million by prohibiting them from taking the state renter’s credit; she also wants to pare future cost-of-living increases in welfare by pegging them to local rent increases, instead of granting them statewide.

On crime, Hunter wants to broaden penalties for selling cocaine near schools to include any illegal drug. She also wants to make it easier to prosecute sex crimes such as sodomy.

Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Rancho San Diego). Never a stranger to controversy, the outspoken Peace is carrying a handful of bills that are likely to draw political fire.

Top on the list: A measure requiring state regulation of toxic and garbage dumps on Indian lands, such as the Campo reservation in East County. A similar Peace bill was vetoed last year, although the lawmaker warned that unscrupulous disposal companies are using the Indians to skirt environmental standards.

The eight-year legislator is also trying to stop two projects in his eastern San Diego and Imperial County district. He wants to require proof that a proposed private toll road through eastern Chula Vista would improve air quality--a nearly impossible hurdle. He would also block construction of a San Diego-Tijuana international airport by flat-out prohibiting local agencies from issuing bonds to build it.

“It’s an absolutely silly proposal that has no merit,” Peace said.

He would ban smoking in all work and public places, a completely different tack from last year, when he wanted to outlaw discrimination against smokers.

Peace also wants to crack down on “copy-cat” charities by requiring all solicitors to be bonded; make it easier for golf courses to use the voracious grass carp in fairway ponds to keep the water free from weeds; give people diagnosed with terminal diseases the option to cash in their life insurance without suffering adverse tax consequences and require publicly owned airlines to recycle all of their beverage cans and disposable plastics left over from in-flight meals.

The legislator said he considers the most important of his 38 bills to be those that earmark $1 million in state tideland revenues for water projects around the heavily polluted Salton Sea, as well as presenting $150 million in bonds to voters to clean up border pollution. He also wants the state to help attract an experimental thermonuclear fusion project to UC San Diego, as well as develop plans for desalination plants.

And there is the arcane: A bill allowing the Imperial County town of Calipatria to annex a 2,500-inmate state prison 6 miles away so it can virtually double its population overnight and collect more in per-capita state funds.