Wilson Signs Bills Facilitating Military Housing : Legislation: The aim is to prevent the demise of an Air Force center in El Segundo and the loss of more than 6,700 jobs.

Gov. Pete Wilson has signed two bills aimed at keeping an Air Force space division in El Segundo and thousands of related jobs in the South Bay.

If the facility, the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, moved it likely would result in the direct loss of more than 6,700 jobs and a $1-billion drop in payroll in the Los Angeles area, according estimates supplied to the Legislature by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

To head off the base becoming a target of federal budget cuts, two South Bay lawmakers successfully pushed legislation giving the Air Force an incentive to stay in the South Bay by providing housing to military personnel based in El Segundo.

At issue in the debate over the legislation was whether state funds designated for affordable housing, including assistance to the homeless, should be used to retain the military base.

One of the measures, authored by state Sen. Robert Beverly (R-Redondo Beach), allows the state, Los Angeles County and the cities of Inglewood, Hawthorne and El Segundo to form a joint powers agreement to provide an estimated $1 million over the next two years for temporary housing assistance to Air Force personnel.

Wilson signed the measure on Tuesday.

“The governor’s action is especially significant in that it shows the strong commitment of the state to meet the housing needs of the 250 military families currently living in substandard housing,” Beverly said.

Local officials have hammered out a plan designed to retain the base in El Segundo by providing 20 acres at Angels Gate Park in San Pedro for up to 250 military homes.

Beverly said his legislation will ensure that the military personnel “will be provided housing assistance . . . while new housing units are being constructed.”

The second bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Curtis Tucker (D-Inglewood), allows the county, El Segundo and other cities to shift up to 50% of their low-and moderate-income housing funds to build permanent housing for the Air Force. The governor signed it into law on Monday.

George Wiley, an aide to Tucker, said that if Congress fails to set aside all the funds needed for the permanent Air Force housing, the Tucker measure enables cities to raise money for homes.

“If there are any funding gaps at all, that’s where our bill comes into play,” Wiley said.