WESTSIDE : Legislators Taking Aim at Economy : Government: Back in Sacramento, local representatives are looking at ways to push development, including revitalizing urban areas.

Westside legislators, returning to the Capitol this week to be sworn into office after their fall hiatus, sounded themes similar to President-elect Bill Clinton.

The seven-member, all-Democratic delegation wants to give California the economic shot in the arm that Clinton has promised nationwide. Although lawmakers won’t get down to business until January, they are already mapping out preliminary plans to push economic development, including revitalizing urban areas.

They also plan to seek ways to get more police on the streets of Los Angeles, protect the coastline from too much development and grapple with whether to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Tom Hayden, the Santa Monica Democrat who moves from the Assembly to the Senate this session, said he anticipates a heightened focus on local issues and on “finding ways the Legislature can be a force for good in terms of making Los Angeles and urban life more livable and safe.”

New Assembly member Debra Bowen (D-Venice) listed economic issues at the top of her agenda because the aerospace and defense industries in her 53rd Assembly District have been “hard hit by recession and the decreases in defense” spending.

Bowen, who won a hard-fought campaign against Republican Brad Parton in the November election, said she is attempting to find ways to get people back to work or keep them employed without spending additional state funds. One way to reach that goal, she said, is to encourage laid-off workers to start their own businesses.

But, she said, “we have a state policy that discourages people” who are laid off from starting their own businesses if they are unable to find another job. Among other things, she is examining whether to push for a change in California unemployment insurance policies, noting that in some states a fired worker can receive unemployment in a lump sum to launch a business.

One legislative staff member who tracks labor issues, however, cautioned that while at first blush the idea sounds appealing, it may be difficult to implement. The staff member, who asked not to be identified, said unemployment insurance is “intended to tide you over in time of need,” so to give a laid-off worker a lump sum “goes against that purpose.”

Like Bowen, Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) lists improving the ailing local economy as her top priority.

“My goal is getting people to work,” said Watson, who returned to the Senate after losing a bid to become a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

John Miller, a Watson aide, said one proposal the senator is considering would target urban residents, especially teen-agers, for job training “to give them some options to life on the streets.” However, he acknowledged that with the state facing another huge budget deficit, passage of such a measure could get snagged on the question of cost.

Another potential Watson proposal would establish a pilot neighborhood development corps to provide investment capital for specific projects, Miller said.

Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles), too, is attempting to find ways to improve urban businesses’ access to capital. She is exploring a proposal to establish a revolving loan fund to make money available to small businesses.

Hayden plans to tackle urban development issues as well.

“I want to look closely at ways the state law can be strengthened,” Hayden said, to help neighborhoods fight “the encroachment of unwanted development.”

Hayden said he plans to focus on regional agencies such as the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission that have been created by state law.

“I want to make sure that the transit dollars are used to move us in a new direction and not the continuation of the freeway patterns of the past,” Hayden said.

In the Assembly, Terry Friedman (D-Sherman Oaks) said he expects to tackle a law enforcement issue: finding ways the state can help cities put more police on the streets.

“Everyone talks about it, but it’s not enough of a priority for local politicians and state politicians who give lip service and don’t follow through,” Friedman maintained.

With that goal in mind, Friedman said he would revive a proposal that failed to win passage in the last legislative session. It would have allowed redevelopment agencies to spend money on police to cut drug trafficking and gang violence.

A similar proposal by another lawmaker was vetoed in 1990 by former Gov. George Deukmejian, who said it would set “the inadvisable precedent of using redevelopment monies to fund ongoing local government services, rather than capital improvements.”

Friedman also said he is researching coastal issues but it is too early to spell out an specific proposals he is considering.

The area’s fourth assemblyman, Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), said it was too soon for him to determine what local projects he might be promoting in the next legislative session.

The Westside’s remaining senator, Herschel Rosenthal, said, through an aide, that he was still shaping his priorities for the coming session.