<i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : Morrissey Received Help From Allies Statewide for a Win GOP Saw as Vital

Recent campaign finance reports show that freshman Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana) received $266,000 from his Republican allies all over the state in his victorious campaign last November, a testimony to the importance that a win in the 69th Assembly District in central Orange County was to the party. Morrissey’s win over Democrat Mike Metzler gave the Republicans a sweep of the county delegation to the Legislature and a vital new seat in the Assembly.

Morrissey’s biggest backer was state Sen. Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove) who directed nearly $175,000 to the campaign. The Hurtt-controlled Allied Business Political Action Committee gave Morrissey $100,000; Hurtt’s business, Container Supply Co., donated an additional $29,150; and the Allied Business PAC chipped in a personal loan of $45,000, campaign finance records show.

Campaign committees for the following Assembly members also contributed: Mickey Conroy (R-Orange), $32,500; Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), $15,000; Ross Johnson (R-Placentia), $5,000; and Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), $4,000. The county’s Republican Central Committee donated $25,000. Even Pete Wilson for Governor Committee contributed $10,000.

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The budget ax: First it was Barney and funding for the arts. Now cost-conscious Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) has targeted a congressional office as a waste of money.

The Office of Technology Assessment, which is supposed to help guide members on the scientific elements of legislation, generally delivers studies to Congress long after lawmakers have made major decisions on the issues, said Rohrabacher, who serves on the House Science Committee.

Rohrabacher said it took the office two years to complete a space station study, which was published months after Congress had approved the orbiting lab.

“Its assessments are sometimes very good, and sometimes not, but either way, they are almost always too late to have a meaningful impact on congressional decision-making,” he said at a hearing last week.

Eliminating the OTA would save $20 million and show that lawmakers would cut something that directly affects their lives, Rohrabacher said.

The decision is up to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside), who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that will decide where to cut from the legislative branch.

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Cutting the Deficit

The Concord Coalition’s annual Deficit Reduction Score Card ranks Congress on its voting record for 1994, with 100% being best. Here’s how Orange County’s congressional delegation and the state’s two senators scored:

(Lawmaker: Score)

Ed Royce (R-Fullerton): 94%

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach): 93%

Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove): 86%

Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach): 84%

Ron Packard (R-Oceanside): 76%

Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar): 67%

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D): 36%

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D): 15%

Source: The Concord Coalition

High and low scorers: Orange County’s five Republican members of the House of Representatives all voted regularly to reduce the federal deficit, while the state’s two Democratic senators did so only rarely, according to ratings released recently by The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan citizens’ group dedicated to eliminating deficit spending and balancing the federal budget.

Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce stood out and were awarded high honors by the organization for the second year in a row for “making tough choices and not caving in to special interest groups,” said Phil Yarbrough, the coalition’s county spokesman.

Yarbrough said the coalition was disappointed with the voting records of Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

“(They) need to answer to the voters of Orange County and all of California as to whether they favor reducing the federal budget deficit or not,” he said.

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Homeboy: It’s not often one of the county’s delegation announces he’s considering a run for President, as Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) did recently.

Dornan admittedly is a long shot and appears to lack the support of even the local GOP power brokers.

Said Doy Henley, president of the Lincoln Club of Orange County: “Bob Dornan is a strong conservative, but I don’t know if he has the political base to raise a sufficient amount of funds to run a serious campaign. But he is a tireless campaigner.”

Said Howard Klein of Irvine, a member of the Republican Central Committee: “I like Bob. I’ve known him a long time. But of the three or four people considered serious candidates for President, unfortunately, he’s not one of them. . . . I think people serious about fielding a conservative Republican are going to get behind (Sen.) Phil Gramm.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

* Wednesday: Orange County’s five supervisors will be guests at a “Meet Your Supervisors” luncheon sponsored by the Orange County Chamber of Commerce at 11:30 a.m. at the Irvine Marriott Hotel. Tickets: (714) 634-2900.

* Friday: Former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson will be the guest speaker at the monthly public meeting of Ross Perot’s United We Stand America at 6:30 p.m. at the Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Road, Irvine. Information: (714) 859-2208 or (714) 372-5303.

Compiled by Times staff writer Len Hall, with contributions from staff writer Eric Bailey and Lisa Richwine of the States News Service.

Politics ’95 appears every Sunday.