Assembly Deadlock Remains Despite Talk of Bipartisanship

When members of the California Assembly reconvene today for the first time in a month, they will find the lower house much as they left it: still struggling to find a Speaker.

Democratic Assembly leader Willie Brown and GOP leader Jim Brulte, each with 40 votes, have struggled for several weeks in public and behind the scenes to break the tie, but a resolution has eluded them.

On Tuesday, Brown and Brulte released letters proposing that the Speaker’s power be reduced, and that the Assembly, a highly partisan group in recent years, be operated in a more bipartisan manner.

Even as they talked of power-sharing in a series of letters, however, Brulte and Brown issued threats.

Republicans won 41 Assembly seats in the Nov. 8 election to the Democrats’ 39. But Brulte failed to win the powerful post last month when Assemblyman Paul Horcher of Diamond Bar renounced the GOP, became an independent and voted to retain Brown as Speaker.

In his letter this week, Brulte made reference to the Republican-backed effort to recall Horcher, and called the 40-40 deadlock a “temporary circumstance.”

“We won 41 seats on Election Day, and we will have 41 seats again, sooner rather than later,” Brulte told Democrats. “This being the case, there is tremendous reluctance to negotiate away the Republican majority.”

Like Brown, Brulte called for reducing the Speaker’s power, and giving more authority to the Rules Committee. But Brulte wants the Speaker to preside as the seventh member of the committee. Brown suggests that the Rules Committee be equally divided among the parties, with a Democrat and a Republican serving as co-leaders.

Brown also offered specific suggestions about the makeup of Assembly committees, saying that such positions should be distributed proportionately according to the number of seats each party holds.

Brulte was not specific about committee assignments, but maintained that “it is still possible to be completely evenhanded.”

As the back-and-forth continued, Brown planned to assume control of the Assembly today, citing an Assembly rule that says the senior member shall act as presiding officer if the Assembly is unable to elect a Speaker. Brown, the longest-serving member of the lower house, was first elected in 1964.

As presiding officer, Brown vowed to challenge the right of Richard Mountjoy of Arcadia to be seated in the Assembly. Mountjoy was elected to the Assembly on Nov. 8, but also was elected to the state Senate in a special election.

Calling him Senator Mountjoy, Brown said it would be an improper act to allow him to be seated in the Assembly. But the Assembly rules state that 41 votes are needed to oust a member of the Assembly, raising questions about whether Brown will be successful.

Republicans vowed to fight any attempt to deny Mountjoy’s right to sit in the Assembly. Mountjoy pledged to remain in the Assembly as long as it takes to see a Republican elected Speaker.

Adding a new twist, Mountjoy cited a government code section that says the attorney general may be called upon to preside over the Assembly if the Assembly cannot agree on a presiding officer.

Surprised that such a possibility existed in the law, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren’s office said Lungren had not been approached to take up the duty.

Heading into the session, few believed a compromise would be struck today, and perhaps not for many days. Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles) raised the possibility that another Assembly member could emerge as a consensus candidate for Speaker if the dispute drags on.

“Nominally, Willie and Brulte are still the leaders, although as far as I’m concerned it could be somebody other than Brulte or Brown,” Caldera said. “If there is a Republican who is perceived as being a thoughtful moderate, who is fair and proportional, you would find Democrats willing to support that person.”