Robbins Flies North to Cast Deciding Vote on Tax-the-Rich Bill : Legislation: Democratic senator keeps colleagues waiting. He was not aware the issue was scheduled.

State Sen. Alan Robbins briefly became the most important man in the state Capitol on Thursday--just because he wasn’t there.

As his colleagues waited impatiently for nearly six hours, the Tarzana Democrat scrambled to reach the Capitol to cast the decisive 27th vote for a Democratic tax-the-rich measure, which was hung up one vote short of the 27 necessary for passage in the 40-member upper chamber.

Robbins, who could cast the deciding vote, was nowhere to be found.

Robbins finally arrived in Sacramento in the late afternoon, flying from Los Angeles, where he had been on personal and legislative business. He was quickly chauffeured to the Capitol to support the controversial measure.

Even though the Senate session had been scheduled to last all day, action on bills slowed to a snail’s pace as his colleagues anxiously waited for Robbins. For the final 30 minutes or so before he arrived, senators groused about Robbins, talked to one another or chatted on the telephone.

At 5:42 p.m., several lawmakers broke into applause as Robbins strode into the chamber, perched atop his desk and grinned. Sen. Henry J. Mello (D-Watsonville) barked to his colleague:

“Come on Alan, bite your tongue and vote.”

With that admonishment, Robbins ended the uncertainty and sided with his Democratic colleagues in support of the measure, which would boost business taxes and personal income taxes on individuals who make more than $100,000 a year as a way to raise funds for education.

Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) maintained that Robbins, who has widespread property holdings, should have opposed the bill, cracking “he’s one of the few who would qualify” to pay the higher taxes.

Shot back Robbins: “It’s a privilege to go out of my way . . . to raise my own taxes.”

Robbins said he was absent because he had not anticipated that any major issues would be taken up Thursday on the Senate floor.

Around noon, Robbins was reached by a reporter at his lawyer’s Century City office, where he was having what he described as a social lunch en route to the airport. The veteran lawmaker said the visit was not related to a continuing federal political corruption investigation of him or several civil lawsuits in which he is a party.

“To be honest, I’m just having lunch. I’m eating a turkey sandwich with mustard and fruit salad,” Robbins said.

Robbins said he had the impression that “no major votes” would be held on Thursday and, as a consequence, had scheduled a visit to his physician and other business in Los Angeles.

He said, “There was no committee action that I was needed for either Tuesday or Wednesday and I had scheduled in advance to be in the San Fernando Valley on those days.” Among other things, he said, he was in his district to rally support for legislation to require that the Metro Rail transit line in the Valley be built underground.

Robbins said the staff of Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) was supposed to alert him by noon Wednesday whether his presence was necessary in Sacramento. But he said they failed to call him until later Wednesday afternoon and he had already made plans for Thursday morning.

When they phoned again on Thursday morning, Robbins said he agreed to fly to Sacramento. Robbins said he was delayed, in part, because a lifelong inner ear disorder prevented him from flying from Burbank on a small commuter plane. Instead, he had to wait to fly from Los Angeles International Airport on a bigger, fully pressurized plane.

Before Robbins arrived, Roberti said Robbins had wanted to be given an exact time he had to be present but “I can’t give him that.”

Asked if he was flying Robbins up to vote on the bill, Roberti said: “I can’t think of any other reason for Alan to come.” But he quickly added: “That’s mean.”

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