Senate OKs Bill to Study Splitting L.A. County

The state Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a bill that would lead to a study of the potential benefits and pitfalls of splitting Los Angeles County into two or three smaller counties.

The measure’s approval crossed urban, suburban, rural and partisan lines, and followed a warning from opponents that it really is a vehicle for those who want to break away from the city of Los Angeles.

“This is another secession bill under the guise of a study,” charged Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles), a foe of earlier efforts by San Fernando Valley interests to secede from the city.

But Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Senate manager of the Assembly-passed bill, brushed the allegation aside. “What we are talking about here is a study,” he said. “I’m not afraid of the information that we’ll learn.”

The bill (AB 303) by Assemblyman George Runner Jr. (R-Lancaster) was returned to the Assembly for concurrence in Senate amendments, the final stop before it reaches Gov. Pete Wilson. The vote was 23-11, two more than the majority required.

The measure would authorize the county and its cities to create and finance an advisory body called the Los Angeles County Division Authority. The authority would examine the potential pros and cons of splitting the nation’s most populous county into two or three smaller counties and issue a report in 2001.

The authority would study the financial well-being of Los Angeles County and its ability to efficiently deliver services. It also would look at whether the more than 9 million county residents would be better served by the creation of new counties.

The bill is one of several efforts in the past few years to remake local government or education and transform them into what proponents say are more governable and responsive systems.

Included in those efforts are proposals to break up the vast Los Angeles Unified School District and to allow the San Fernando Valley to secede from the city.