Industry Leaders Meet With U.S. Officials in Washington : Lobbying: Valley delegation worries that the government might cut back on earthquake assistance.

In its annual trip here, the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. arrived with an inch-thick briefing book and an agenda of issues ranging from workman’s compensation reform to the need to streamline regulations at the Federal Drug Administration.

*

At the top of the list, however, remains help for the aftermath of the January, 1994, earthquake that damaged and destroyed hundreds of thousands of structures throughout the San Fernando Valley.

The association, which has more than 400 members, has been complimentary of the quake response of the government, which has given aid that has exceeded $11 billion. But members said they are concerned about proposed cuts in the budgets of the Commerce Department and other federal agencies that were helpful after the quake. And they said they are anxious about the government’s commitment the next time an earthquake might strike.

During the first day of a three-day lobbying trip, association members met with bureaucrats, presidential aides and the man now setting the legislative agenda in the House of Representatives--Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

Gingrich, meeting with the group on Capitol Hill, acknowledged that disaster aid has not been at the top of his agenda. He has been worrying instead about fulfilling the GOP’s “contract with America” and looking ahead to next year’s budget.

But he said he works closely with Gov. Pete Wilson and Mayor Richard Riordan and realizes the importance of California to the nation as a whole.

“Look, you’re 11% of the country by population, you’re the cutting edge of the country technologically, you’re on the edge of the Pacific Rim, which is our biggest growth area economically, and we have an obligation to try to understand you and to try to participate” with the state, he said.

“California is, in fact, a region masquerading as a state, so I try to pay that level of attention to California,” said Gingrich, who noted that he had appointed a task force on California this year to follow issues important to the state.

The response from James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was even more direct.

When told about concerns that the federal government’s attention to quake recovery might be dropping off, Witt said he plans to call Riordan today to vow his continued support, according to participants in the meeting. Witt met with the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. delegation at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“I think we reinvigorated the attention that is needed,” said attorney David Fleming, who handles government relations for the association. “Things sometimes drop off the radar screen. I’m sure now that a lot of people here know that we can’t afford to have them forget us.”

David DiSantis, director of legislative affairs for the National Disaster Coalition, said there are critics in Congress who believe the Northridge quake amounted to an excessive drain on the federal treasury. One solution for future disasters, he said, may come in legislation now being drafted that would create a national insurance pool aimed at residents living in areas prone to earthquakes and hurricanes.

“The perception here in Washington is that it’s you guys versus the world,” DiSantis said of Californians.

The delegation’s trip continues today with a breakfast arranged by Reps. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) and Howard Berman (D-Los Angeles). There will be other sessions with Sen. Barbara Boxer and representatives of the Federal Drug Administration and the Department of Education.

Among the 20 association members making the trip were Bonnie Matheson-Capobianco, president; Walter Mosher Jr., the group’s chairman and president of Precision Dynamics Corp.; John Rooney, president of the Valley Economic Development Center; Linda Gwyn, director of government affairs for Great Western Bank, and Bill Kenney, director of public relations for Pacific Bell and chairman of the group’s federal legislation committee.