Measure on Transit Lines Rejected : Transportation: Amendment defeated by state panel would have given Pasadena and Burbank routes priority over one in the Valley.

State lawmakers defeated legislation Thursday that would have forced construction of transit lines to Pasadena and Burbank before the Valley’s major mass transit project, the east-west line, or any other project.

The measure by state Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), who represents parts of the San Gabriel Valley, lost in a 3-9 vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

But officials from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority fear that Polanco may try to revive the amendment when the entire Assembly votes today on an MTA transportation funding bill.

MTA officials said such a law would relinquish the MTA’s ability to change its construction schedule if needed.

The problem with the amendment is it “gets the state involved in local control issues,” said Gary Clark, a government relations officer for MTA.

State Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Panorama City), who chairs the Assembly transportation committee, said he helped defeat that amendment because it would have taken away the MTA’s discretion to move ahead with alternative projects, such as the proposed San Fernando Valley east-west line.

The proposed light rail line to Pasadena from downtown Los Angeles is the next new rail project scheduled to be built for the region’s mass transit rail system. It should open by 1998. But MTA officials have yet to allocate funding for the proposed light rail line connecting Burbank, Glendale and downtown Los Angeles.

Polanco said in a statement Thursday that he authored the amendment because he feared the MTA might build another line ahead of the Pasadena and Burbank lines, even though the projects are in “the most advanced stages of development.”

“The reality is that this amendment would have not negatively impacted anyone,” he said. “In fact, it would have benefited everyone by allowing MTA to proceed with the most advanced and cost-effective transportation enhancements in those communities that have most clearly demonstrated enthusiastic local support.”