Brown, Brulte Meet to Discuss Impasse on Assembly Speaker

Assemblyman Willie Brown proposed Monday that 10 lawmakers--five Republicans and five Democrats--begin meeting to negotiate a deal to break the leadership logjam that has paralyzed the Legislature’s lower house for a week.

Brown, the Assembly’s top Democrat, met with Republican Leader Jim Brulte Monday and called it a “good first meeting” on the path to developing a bipartisan plan to operate the Assembly for the two-year legislative session scheduled to begin in earnest on Jan. 4.

Brown declined to discuss details of the meeting, held in Brulte’s Capitol office, saying the two men agreed to keep the contents of their talks private. Brulte also declined to comment.

But Brown, in a telephone interview, was willing to talk about his general views on the leadership struggle, which began Nov. 8 when Republicans won a 41-39 margin in the 80-member Assembly.

But one Republican--Paul Horcher of Diamond Bar--quit his party on Dec. 5, declared himself an independent and voted for Brown, leaving the seven-term Speaker and his less experienced foe in a 40-40 deadlock.

The Assembly effectively can do no other business until a Speaker is chosen. Brown predicted that the issue would be resolved on Jan. 4--or sooner if Orange County lawmakers, all of whom are Republicans, tell him they want the Assembly to meet in special session to act on that county’s financial crisis.

“You have to organize the house first,” Brown said.

But Tom Riley, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said in a letter Monday to Gov. Pete Wilson that he sees no need for a special session before January or February, noting that county officials need more information about their financial problems before asking the Legislature for help.

Brown described as “a framework” a proposal made Monday by two Democrats to elect co-speakers, one from each party, to govern the house until one can gain a two-thirds majority.

But Brown said the idea, copied from a plan used in the evenly split Michigan House, would not work as well in California.

Instead, he suggested, he should be elected the sole Speaker for the first year, with the power to appoint members to committees, which would have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Each member, he said, would be given an equal amount of money to run his or her personal office.

“It’s probably the best method to ultimately achieve the goal of shared leadership,” Brown said.

Times staff writer Dan Morain contributed to this story.