Final Assembly Vote Today on O.C. Recovery Package : Legislature: County leaders still fear linkage to tax vote or state trustee. Partisan fighting also could scuttle the bills.

More than half a dozen bills designed to help Orange County recover from bankruptcy head for their final test today in the Assembly amid lingering fears by county officials that hostile Democrats could try to sabotage the package.

But while some Democratic leaders were talking Wednesday in conciliatory terms about the legislation, some insiders said it remained unclear whether they might try to shackle the county’s package to approval of a state trustee to shepherd the recovery efforts.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown has repeatedly said that he views a trustee as a necessary ingredient to any state participation, but Republicans have voiced staunch opposition to the idea.

Nevertheless, Democrats appeared to be backing away from any attempt to link the bills to passage by Orange County voters of a half-cent sales tax hike.

“I think it will be relatively serene,” said Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), one of Brown’s top lieutenants. “After a lot of discussion, Orange County has finally cut through a lot of the surrounding chafe and gotten down to what they really want.”

Some Democrats, meanwhile, said there has been discussion of possible amendments tying the recovery legislation to county officials having provided an alternative plan for generating the revenue it will need if county voters reject Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase on a special ballot June 27. So far, the county has yet to provide any alternatives to the tax.

In addition, some Democrats have expressed a desire to include amendments at the behest of labor leaders that would prevent municipalities suffering similar investment debacles in the future from shunting aside union agreements after declaring bankruptcy.

County officials are also concerned that the package could be scuttled by the ongoing partisan battle between Democrats and Republicans, who are grappling for supremacy in the evenly divided Assembly.

Leaders from both parties were meeting behind closed doors Wednesday night to plot their strategies. Meanwhile, County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy and other county officials spent the day shuttling between the offices of key lawmakers, trying to cement support for the recovery plan.

Among those they visited was Katz, who has repeatedly expressed concern about the county’s package during hearings in recent weeks of the Assembly Select Committee on the Insolvency of Orange County. But on Wednesday, Katz was voicing confidence that the Assembly might push the package in its current unfettered form to Gov. Pete Wilson’s desk.

Katz said he was convinced during his visit with Popejoy that efforts by Democrats to link the county’s recovery legislation to passage of Measure R would only backfire with Orange County voters. Democrats have strongly backed the additional tax, which they contend is needed to ensure that the county does not suffer a fiscal meltdown.

“Orange County officials seem to think it would have the opposite effect with voters down there,” Katz said. “They feel there would be this perception that Sacramento was trying to dictate the terms. I don’t want to make it more difficult for them.”

County officials and Republican leaders remain concerned that the bills might be linked to a measure authored by Sen. Lucy Killea (I-San Diego) that would allow the governor to put a state administrator in charge of Orange County. Another bill being eyed is a measure by Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles) that would put more onus on the state to help in the recovery.

The bills are favored by many Democrats, who feel the state needs to be ready to step in if Orange County voters reject Measure R.

Katz and other Democrat officials, however, conceded that those measures probably would not get the necessary two-thirds vote needed to go into effect immediately with the governor’s signature. Even if Killea’s bill is pushed through, Wilson has voiced opposition to it and might veto it.

Other legislation includes a bill that would allow the state to intercept vehicle license fees to pay off new bonds the county hopes to market and a measure to speed the sale of assets. Another bill would to help the county raise revenue by allowing other regions to dump trash in Orange County’s landfills. The county also wants legislation to help it reap more revenue from interest and penalty fees it gets from delinquent property taxes.

* THREAT FROM WITHIN: Laguna Niguel claim could cost the county $450,000 a year. A23

* COVERAGE: A22-A25