California Solidifies Hold on Key House Panels : Politics: State’s delegates are expected to get four chairmanships. Freshmen are on more than a dozen committees, some in spots not usually filled by newcomers.

California, whose 52-member House delegation is the largest in the history of Congress, should emerge as a more powerful legislative faction after solidifying its grip on important chairmanships and getting many members, including freshmen, on key committees.

The state will almost certainly hold four chairmanships, but two of the committees will be new and will deal with more salient California issues.

Rep. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton) remains as chairman of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, and Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) continues as head of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee.

They will be joined by Rep. Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose), who moved up to chairman of the Public Works and Transportation Committee. And Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Oakland) is expected to be elected chairman of the Armed Services Committee early this month.

Both the Public Works and the Armed Services committees have responsibility for programs of vital importance to California as it struggles to revive its battered economy through funding of new transportation projects and conversion of its defense-related industries to peacetime high-tech applications.

Mineta’s ascension was foretold after Chairman Robert A. Roe of New Jersey and Vice Chairman Glenn M. Anderson (D-San Pedro) announced their plans to retire. Dellums became the obvious front-runner for Armed Services in mid-December, when President-elect Bill Clinton appointed its present chairman, Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), as his secretary of defense.

Although Dellums is a longtime critic of U.S. military spending, many of his California colleagues hope that he will take a more sympathetic view as they fight for federal funds and programs for their home districts.

The state lost one of its most influential Washington voices when Clinton tapped Budget Committee Chairman Leon Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) to be director of the Office of Management and Budget.

But the Budget Committee, whose primary duty is to outline general House spending priorities, did not provide Panetta with the traditional clout of other committee chairmen, whose power over legislation can have more specific impact for home states and regions.

With Dellums at the top rung of the Armed Services Committee, Mineta chairing Public Works and Panetta’s “friendly ear” at the budget office, California should be in a stronger position than before Clinton’s election, many observers say.

Dellums, who now chairs the Committee on the District of Columbia, will give up that post when he moves to the top spot on Armed Services.

California also did well in other committee assignments, placing members on such powerful panels as Appropriations, Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce. The state is also well represented on Public Works; Armed Services; Science, Space and Technology, and Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs--all with authority over prominent state issues.

On the coveted Appropriations Committee, which approves all spending bills, California held its own by retaining six positions. Democrats were able to fill the seat of retiring Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles) with Rep. Esteban Torres (D-La Puente). Oceanside Republican Ron Packard won the Appropriations seat left vacant by retiring Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego).

Rep. Wally Herger (R-Rio Oso) was elected to the influential tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, making California the only state with two Republicans on the panel. Reps. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield), Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) and Fortney H. Stark (D-Oakland) are the other California members.

The state’s 17 freshmen were elected to more than a dozen committees of varying power, and some were named to positions not usually filled by newcomers to Congress.

Lynn Schenk (D-San Diego) got the choicest assignment with her selection to the Energy and Commerce Committee, whose wide-ranging responsibilities and aggressive Democratic chairman, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, make it one of the most coveted House committees.

Reps. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Packard had to give up their seats on Public Works after their elections to other key committees--Budget and Appropriations, respectively. But four Republican freshmen--Jay Kim of Diamond Bar, Steve Horn of Long Beach, Howard P. McKeon of Santa Clarita and Bill Baker of Danville--were placed on the Public Works panel, which has broad authority over major transportation projects.

Democratic freshmen Dan Hamburg of Ukiah, Bob Filner of San Diego and Walter Tucker of Compton were also named to Public Works.

First-term Democrat Jane Harman of Marina del Rey was named to Armed Services, filling the seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Barbara Boxer, who was elected to the U.S. Senate.

California is also well-represented on the Science, Space and Technology Committee, which will play a critical role in supporting the state’s ailing aerospace and defense industries. Committee Chairman Brown has eight state colleagues on his panel, including six freshmen: Democrats Harman, Anna Eshoo of Atherton and Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles, and Republicans Baker, Ed Royce of Fullerton and Ken Calvert of Corona.

The state lost three members on the banking committee, which oversees savings and loan and urban aid issues. Rep. Tom Campbell lost a primary bid for a Republican Senate seat, Rep. Frank Riggs (R-Windsor) was defeated by Hamburg, and Torres gave up the post to move to Appropriations. But freshmen Democrat Lucille Roybal-Allard of Bell Gardens and Republican Michael Huffington of Santa Barbara join Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Alfred A. McCandless (R-La Quinta) on the panel.