O.C.’s Legislators Are Keeping a Tight Hold on State’s Purse Strings : Government: About 150 of the group’s 181 measures didn’t require new expenditures of public money. Lawmakers defended others as good investments that would pay social dividends in future.

Any Orange County politician who wants to serve in the California Legislature knows that the road to the Capitol starts with one important step: promise voters to hold the line on--or even cut--government spending.

A review of the bills successfully sponsored by Orange County’s seven Assembly members and three senators shows they have pretty much kept their word.

Of the 181 bills area lawmakers passed out of the Legislature and put on Gov. Pete Wilson’s desk, only about 30 measures would have increased government spending or continued programs funded by special fees, according to budgetary analyses contained in dozens of legislative files.

Just a handful of the spending measures involved sums in the millions of dollars. Most were for amounts that are little more than loose change in the state’s $57.4-billion budget.

Whether the amounts were large or small, Orange County lawmakers defended the spending measures as good investments that would pay social dividends in the long run.

“You can put me down as a prudent spender,” said Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), whose get-tough bills giving some criminals longer prison terms would increase state correctional costs.

“It’s assumed if you’re from Orange County and you’re going to Sacramento that you have a fiscal consciousness,” said Umberg, the delegation’s lone Democrat. “You have to make sure that you’re doing your part to get the taxpayers bang for the buck.

“But it doesn’t mean you don’t go up there and try to establish certain priorities that are important and, in doing that, you cause money to be spent,” he said.

Case in point: a bill by Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) extending the $2 surcharge on motorcycle licenses. The fee, which takes $1.4 million annually out of the pockets of Californians, is used to pay for a motorcycle safety program that is popular among bikers, preserves lives and saves millions of dollars down the road, she said.

“When the people of the state have to pay (in medical costs) for motorcycle injuries for the rest of a person’s life, there’s a lot of savings” in the safety program, Allen said. “There’s a tremendous cost to the state for people who are paralyzed, or can’t use any of their limbs or are dead. That is the kind of trade-off you look at over the long range.”

Like her Orange County colleagues, Allen defended her spending measures by saying they imposed no new taxes and didn’t add to state bureaucracy. Instead, she said, they were intended to “re-prioritize” the state’s shrinking budget.

Estimating the cost of legislation is an imprecise science. It is not unusual for two budget analysts to come up with very different numbers when examining the same piece of legislation. Thus, cost estimates are often the subject of heated debates in legislative committees.

What isn’t debatable, however, is that Orange County’s overwhelmingly conservative Republican delegation has been among the most notorious penny-pinchers in the Capitol.

Some, such as Assemblymen Ross Johnson (R-Fullerton) and Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), even earned the nickname “cavemen” for their unswerving resistance to government growth or spending. Especially notorious for his anti-government positions is John R. Lewis (R-Orange), now a state senator, whose tenure in the Assembly was marked by the fact he introduced few bills and voted “no” on almost everyone else’s.

But what was once a matter of Orange County ideology has now become the rule of survival in recession-ravaged Sacramento, where budget experts say the state will face another $7.5-billion shortfall during the next year and a half. During the past two years, multibillion-dollar deficits have forced Wilson and lawmakers of every stripe to make huge cuts in state programs.

In such an atmosphere, it hasn’t been difficult for the Orange County delegation to stick to its conservative, non-spending ways, a Times review shows.

During the past two years, Orange County lawmakers passed 181 measures through the Legislature. Most were signed into law, but a few were vetoed. Analyses of those bills by legislative committees, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office and the Department of Finance show that about 150 of the measures--or 83%--required no new expenditures of public money.

Some saved money.

For instance, a bill by Assemblyman Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach), who lost his reelection bid, gives the state’s Franchise Tax Board added authority to settle longstanding disputes over income taxes, a move that will add $3 million in new administrative costs but return a $300-million windfall in settlements to the general fund, according to one analysis.

State Sen. Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim), now bound for Washington as a rookie congressman, sponsored a measure that would have saved the state more than $50 million a year in prison guard salaries by surrounding all prisons with electrified fences. The bill died when a companion piece of legislation was vetoed by Wilson, however.

Yet even during dire financial times, there were about 30 measures advanced by Orange County lawmakers that required more government spending. That is about 17% of the total bill load.

According to one budget analysis, Umberg carried one of the most expensive of those bills. The former federal prosecutor sponsored a measure, signed by Wilson, that would allow schools to count space used for Healthy Start programs as an allowable state expense. The program is aimed at providing health and social services at or near schools accessible by low-income children and their families.

The Department of Finance said Umberg’s law would credit school districts throughout California with an extra 2.4 million square feet, making them eligible to claim $288 million more from school construction bond funds already taxed by the state’s burgeoning student population.

Responded Umberg: “That’s completely bogus!” He added that it is highly unlikely that all the schools will claim the money.

Likewise, an aide to Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) disputed a projection by the Legislative Analyst’s Office that Bergeson’s package of bills expediting freeway construction could cost taxpayers as much as an additional $50 million a year. Bergeson’s bills would allow the California Department of Transportation to “contract out” design work for backlogged freeway projects to private consultants.

Chris Kahn, Bergeson’s chief of staff, said studies have shown that the rates charged by private consultants are no greater than the amount the state pays Caltrans engineers. He added that the money earmarked for the backlogged projects doesn’t come from the state’s general fund, but has already been paid into a special account funded by gas tax increases.

One bill by Royce will use about $150 million in state funds to help cushion the blow of a 1990 state Court of Appeal decision that held that some cities, notably Anaheim, must refund that amount to defense contractors for improperly imposing a sales tax on materials used in federal defense work. The state will provide the money up front and the cities will have 10 years to pay Sacramento back.

Most of the Orange County spending bills, however, came in much smaller increments.

One by Allen settled a long-simmering dispute in east Orange County by giving the Fullerton School District $534,000 to make up for the student aid it will lose when Yorba Linda pupils begin transferring to high school classes closer to home.

Another by Bergeson changed state guidelines and provided $55,000 for the Coastal Conservancy to purchase and preserve a 540-acre oil field abandoned north of Newport Beach.

Striking a chord that is dear to Orange County constituents, a number of the measures are expected to add to the prison population through new crimes or enhanced criminal penalties for existing statutes. That translates into extra costs for the state in prisoner care, prison space and prison guard salaries.

Among the delegation-inspired laws during the past two years is one by Umberg making it illegal to burn crosses or religious symbols as an act of terrorism. Others add years to the prison terms for some drug dealers, white-collar criminals and those who perpetrate hate crimes. Another requires any teacher accused of sexual misconduct to be removed from the classroom, before any court case is tried.

Typically, each new or enhanced crime amounts to between $60,000 and $150,000 in extra governmental costs, mostly for the Department of Corrections and local law enforcement agencies. In the case of the teachers removed for sexual misconduct, the estimated $50,000 statewide cost would be born by districts who must hire temporary replacements.

Spending Bills By Orange County Lawmakers

These are some of the bills that Orange County lawmakers sponsored requiring some measure of government spending. All passed the Legislature and were signed into law, except those noted as vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson. Estimates are approximate and come from legislative committees, the nonpartisan legislative analyst’s office or the Department of Finance, which is part of the governor’s administration.

ASSEMBLYMAN MICKEY CONROY (R-Orange)

Bill: Escrow agents Cost, status: $50,000; vetoed Description: Would have narrowed list of crimes for which those convicted will be barred from becoming escrow agents.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN DORIS ALLEN (R-Cypress)

Bill: Gill nets Cost, status: $3.8 million Description: Reimburses fishermen for not using gill nets in state coastal waters. Codifies Proposition 132, passed in 1990. Cost of program is to be paid over time through sale of a special sportfishing stamp.

Bill: Yorba Linda Cost, status: $534,000 next year Description: Allows four-year period for Yorba Linda students to transferinto neighborhood high schools from Fullerton district. Compensates Fullerton for loss in student-based state funding.

Bill: Development Cost, status: $1.25 million starting next year Description: Requires governmental agencies to be more active in telling developers what must be done to mitigate effects of construction. Some analyses say costs for this extra administrative work would be reimbursed by developers, but Department of Finance says state and local agencies could bear additional expenses.

Bill: Sex offenders Cost, status: Potentially $50,000 per year Description: Requires local school districts to put employees charged with sex offenses on immediate leave.

Bill: College Cost, status: $60,000 Description: Extends to fifth- and sixth-graders a program promoting virtues of staying in school and going to college.

Bill: Motorcycles Cost, status: $1.4 million per year Description: Extends $2 surcharge on motorcycle registrations to continue funding for state motorcycle safety program.

Bill: Off-roaders Cost, status: $1.8 million from the fund Description: Creates off-road-vehicle projects. Money comes from fund fed by off-road-vehicle license fee. State administrators often dip into fund to help balance budget.

Bill: Day care Cost, status: $50,000 Description: Allows local transit districts to lease space to day-care providers at rates less than state minimums.

ASSEMBLYMAN TOM MAYS (R-Huntington Beach)

Bill: Public records Cost, status: $25,000 Description: Removes home addresses and telephone numbers of local school employees from public records, particularly at Department of Motor Vehicles.

ASSEMBLYMAN GIL FERGUSON (R-Newport Beach)

Bill: Mobile homes Cost, status: $95,000 Description: Makes newly defined “manufactured housing communities” subject to state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

ASSEMBLYMAN TOM UMBERG (D-Garden Grove)

Bill: Fraud Cost, status: Up to $500,000 per year Description: Increases prison terms for white-collar criminals who steal large amounts of money.

Bill: Hate crimes Cost, status: Up to $100,000 per year Description: Increases prison sentences for crimes motivated by sex or race.

Bill: Cross-burning Cost, status: Up to $150,000 Description: Makes it a crime to use burning crosses or religious symbols to terrorize someone.

Bill: Drugs Cost, status: More than $150,000 per year Description: Adds three to five years to prison sentences for those convicted of selling drugs near schools.

Bill: Healthy start Cost, status: Possibly $288 million Description: Allows classroom space used for Healthy Start programs to be factored into formula for school constructions costs. Previously, this space had been excluded in construction funding formula.

SEN. MARIAN BERGESON (R-Newport Beach)

Bill: Redevelopment Cost, status: Estimated $100,000; vetoed Description: Would have required redevelopment agencies to issue additional reports to local governments and allowed the attorney general to investigate redevelopment abuses.

Bill: Coastal Cost, status: $55,000 Description: Allows purchase and preservation of 540-acre abandoned oil field north of Newport Beach.

Bill: Contracts Cost, status: Up to $50 million per year Description: Permits the stare Department of Transportation to hire outside consultants to complete backlog of freeway projects.

Bill: Domestic violence Cost, status: Up to $500,000 per year; vetoed Description: Would have built battered women shelters and increased arrests for domestic violence. Financed with $5 marriage license fee hike.

Bill: Teachers Cost, status: $5 million Description: Continues pilot program to retain first-year public school teachers.

Bill: Methamphetamines Cost, status: Up to $100,000 per year Description: Makes possession of ingredients used to make this drug a felony.

Bill: Housing Cost, status: $100,000; vetoed Description: Would have added reporting requirements explaining how cities and counties intend to meet housing goals.

Bill: Adoptions Cost, status: $54,000 Description: Adds guidelines for private adoptions.

SEN. EDWARD R. ROYCE (R-Anaheim)

Bill: Defense contracts Cost, status: $157 million Description: Refunds to defense firms inappropriately taxed by local governments, such as city of Anaheim, on purchases of material used in federal defense work. Local governments would pay this back over 10 years, but state bears administrative costs of the loan.

Bill: Health Cost, status: $120,000; vetoed Description: Would have created task force to study effect of budget cuts on health services.

Bill: Hospital expansion Cost, status: $50,000 Description: Brings down interest rate on state-underwritten loans for hospitals that want to expand.

Bill: Prison guard training Cost, status: Bond issue increased by $5 million Description: Increases a bond issue to put new firing range in a Sacramento-area training center for state prison guards. There would be an undetermined state cost for floating the bond issue, but Royce’s office said it would be offset by saving the money it now takes to transport guard applicants to other locations for target practice.

Source: Legislative committees, legislative analyst’s office and the state Department of Finance. Compiled by RALPH FRAMMOLINO / Los Angeles Times