Major Bills Fail as Fractious Legislative Session Sputters to a Close : Government: Bids for public votes on prison and college bonds die amid partisan wrangling. Fluoridated-water, cougar measures pass.

Amid early morning deal-making, log-rolling and, ultimately, a lack of trust, the Legislature failed Saturday to approve several major bills, but did pass measures requiring fluoride in water and authorizing a vote in March to permit renewed mountain lion hunting.

Lawmakers also approved several parts of a package to help Los Angeles and Orange counties, and a measure by Senate GOP Leader Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove) to dismantle a requirement that Southern California businesses implement ride-sharing programs.

In the Assembly, however, Republicans refused to approve a bill permitting a vote in March on a $3-billion school and university construction bond, after Democrats refused to approve a statewide vote on a $2-billion prison construction bond.

The session sputtered to a close at 4:15 a.m. in the Senate and 4:50 a.m. in the Assembly. To finesse the fact that the deadline for approving bills passed at midnight Friday, the Assembly stopped the clock that hangs in the chambers at a minute past midnight.

Lawmakers took up 200 bills Friday and early Saturday. Deluged with dense bill summaries, fat amendments and intense lobbying, they approved measures affecting special interests ranging from horse racing to chiropractors.

They did turn down restaurant industry legislation to give tax breaks to restaurants, similar to those given to manufacturers that have threatened to move their plants out of California.

Even as the lower house adjourned, battling broke out, as it had so many times during the session. When Assemblyman Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles) tried to delay the adjournment to salvage one last bill, GOP Leader Curt Pringle responded by angrily pointing his finger and shouting at Murray.

“It was a terrible way to finish,” Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles) said, adding that lawmakers failed to extend “common courtesies” to one another. “Everything becomes a deal.”

The day marked what may turn out to be Assembly Democratic Leader Willie Brown’s final regular session appearance. Brown must give up the Assembly seat he has held since 1964 if he is elected San Francisco mayor later this year.

Brown took the opportunity to lecture the Assembly about its performance Friday and Saturday, calling for fairness, attention to protocol and adherence to the Assembly rules--”the only thing between you and total chaos.” He chastised lawmakers for waiting to the final day to make deals “because you were holding out for something better.”

Still, several measures were salvaged on the final day:

* Assemblywoman Jackie Speier’s (D-Burlingame) bill to add fluoride to California drinking water to prevent tooth decay. Passage came despite charges by Assemblyman Steve Baldwin (R-El Cajon) that it may cause neurological damage--a comment that fellow conservative Assemblyman Bernie Richter (R-Chico) labeled “wacko.”

* Sen. Tim Leslie’s (R-Carnelian Bay) bill placing on the March ballot a referendum to weaken a 1990 initiative approved by voters to ban cougar hunting. Opponents said approval of the measure by voters could result in renewed hunting of mountain lions.

* Sen. Richard Mountjoy’s (R-Arcadia) bill permitting prison officials to hold sexual predators beyond their release date and set a jury trial to determine if the offenders should be held for another two years.

* Assemblyman Tom Hannigan’s (D-Benicia) bill granting tax breaks to bio-pharmaceutical companies, computer manufacturers, small businesses, airline repair facilities and other businesses. The measure won with Democratic votes and a few Republicans who represent districts with high-tech industries that stand to get the tax breaks.

Assemblyman Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga) led an effort to kill the legislation because, he noted, another aspect of the bill would raise taxes on certain select groups. The bill has been promoted by several significant business interests. But it is unclear whether Gov. Pete Wilson will sign it, given that he is running for President at a time when GOP activists oppose any tax hike.

Despite the passage of such measures, the story of Friday and Saturday was one of bills failing. Lawmakers failed to take up a measure requiring hospitals to let women and their newborns remain at the facilities for 48 hours after giving birth.

Assembly Democrats killed one of Wilson’s main legislative goals, a measure relieving counties of obligations to provide general assistance to the poor and lowering the current level of funding for care of the mentally ill.

One of the most stark examples of the Legislature’s failure to achieve consensus came on measures to ask voters to approve school and prison construction bonds. The Senate, where Democrats retain control, had approved legislation calling for a March vote by the public on the $3-billion school and university bond issue, a measure pushed by the powerful California Teachers Assn. and other school lobby groups, among Democrats’ main supporters.

But in the Assembly, where the GOP has a majority, Republicans refused to give the school bond the requisite two-thirds vote, unless Democrats would agree to a $2-billion prison construction bond.

Wilson has been demanding a $2-billion prison bond for two years, as has the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., which represents prison guards and is one of Wilson’s and the GOP’s largest benefactors.

In a floor maneuver, Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) killed the prison bond without a vote. Democrats then introduced the school bond, and the GOP responded in kind. Few Republicans actually voted against it. They simply stood or sat at their desks and did not vote. The measure fell 10 votes short.

Such dealing also affected bills pushed by influential special interests, particularly a measure involving the ozone-depleting chemical methyl bromide, a fumigant heavily used on California’s huge strawberry and nut crops and on agricultural exports.

By far the world’s largest customers for methyl bromide, California farmers use 15 million pounds a year of the gaseous pesticide. As of next March, however, the chemical can no longer be used in California--unless the Legislature approves a bill extending its use.

And in the closing days of the session, farm interests and chemical manufacturers pushed to get that legislation through.

The Assembly approved the methyl bromide measure by Sen. Dick Monteith (R-Modesto). But Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), citing health risks to farm workers and environmental damage caused by pesticide, killed the measure late Friday when the bill reached her Senate Health Committee.

Republicans and a handful of farm-area Democrats tried mightily to revive it, holding hostage Democrat-backed bills, including parts of the Los Angeles County bailout package.

Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer intervened to revive the pesticide bill. But as Lockyer convened the Rules Committee in a hearing room off the Senate floor to consider the extraordinary steps, Watson angrily challenged him: “If you want to take my chairmanship, you can have it. You denigrated it. You can have it.”

Lockyer tried to calm her by extolling her abilities as a committee chairwoman. But Watson would have none of it, spinning around and stalking from the room. Shortly afterward, Lockyer backed down. The methyl bromide debate will come up again when lawmakers return in January.