No Pushovers for Wilson

Democrats in the California Senate and Assembly are choosing new party leaders with aggressive styles that should, for better or worse, make it more difficult for Republican Gov. Pete Wilson to work his will on the Legislature.

The apparent successor to Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno) is Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, a 44-year-old former labor union leader and liberal activist and currently the Democratic floor leader in the Assembly. His formal selection by Assembly Democrats could come as early as today. He would take over officially later in the session.

The choice of Villaraigosa, first elected in 1994 as a political ally of Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, was not a major surprise. He has been close to Bustamante and hustled for support of Assembly Democrats in recent weeks.

The emergence of Sen. John L. Burton, 65, a member of the Burton family machine of San Francisco politics, to lead the Senate Democrats was a surprise. The liberal, sometimes outrageous and often outraged Burton defeated a soft-spoken moderate for the job. He will succeed Hayward Democrat Bill Lockyer as Senate president pro tem.

One key source of confrontation with Wilson could be Burton’s proposal to do away with the use of the “Gang of Five” to negotiate major budget issues in secret. The so-called gang--made up of the governor and the Democratic and Republican leaders of each house--may have worked fine during the financial crisis of the early 1990s but is not appropriate in normal times. In fact, most of the major issues of the past two sessions were worked out between Wilson and Lockyer. It is too soon to say whether Burton will fill a similar role. That will depend to an extent on how vigorously Villaraigosa exercises his authority as speaker and pushes for Assembly independence from the Senate.

Villaraigosa is more liberal than Bustamante and is expected to be a more vocal leader of the lower house. Burton, as a passionate defender of the weak, mocked Wilson’s welfare policies last year by introducing a bill to make it a crime to be poor. The massive problem of welfare reform is behind them now, but Burton and Villaraigosa seem certain to clash with the governor on other social issues.

There will be plenty to fight about, including disposal of a potential budget surplus of $500 million, education reform, juvenile crime and a variety of workplace issues dividing labor unions and business.

Wilson fired an oblique shot across the bow of the new leaders when his spokesman suggested that they temper their criticism of the governor. That’s hardly an invitation to a honeymoon. The productivity of this legislative session depends on both sides working to keep lines of civil discourse open.