the capital assignment

Alicia Robinson

With a total of 66 bills introduced this year between them,

Newport-Mesa’s three state legislators appear to have been busy.

But they’ve also devoted some time to building political capital,

which they’ll likely cash in when running for reelection.

Last week, Assemblymen Chuck DeVore and Van Tran -- who represent

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, respectively -- and Sen. John Campbell

-- representing both cities -- were scrambling to get bills passed by

policy committees to meet a Friday deadline. The real crunch time

doesn’t come until early June, when bills in the Assembly or Senate

will die if they haven’t been passed by the house where they started.

The freshmen assemblymen have already had some successes, but

their failures may be more illustrative of where they’re positioning

themselves among their colleagues.

CHARGING UPHILL

If DeVore was looking for divine support, he might want to turn to

St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes.

DeVore pulled the plug on his two most controversial bills last

week because he didn’t have enough votes to get them out of

committee, and three other bills have been killed, though one can be

revived later.

Talking points for DeVore are often fiscal responsibility,

Republican doctrine, and the principles on which the nation was

founded. He’s taken the conservative high road, writing a bill

offering couples a stronger marriage contract that would make it

harder for them to divorce if both spouses don’t want to.

And he’s beginning to look like something of a bulldog, locking

his jaws most recently on the state parks department for a variety of

perceived problems and alleged improprieties.

Earlier this year DeVore criticized Crystal Cove State Park Supt.

Ken Kramer for living at the state-owned park and renting out his

home, and last week he called for an audit of the historic cottage

renovations at the park, which are behind schedule and over budget.

“DeVore has got to fight an uphill battle in a county that

basically has no press, has no media,” UC Irvine political scientist

Mark Petracca said. “If you want to get into the local press, you

have to generate the news.”

THE SCHOLAR

If Tran had a nickname, it might be the scholar. He and his staff

mention how he often ends his days in the Capitol with supplementary

reading on bills and the like. As the first Vietnamese-American state

legislator, Tran has been vaulted into a prominent role, with media

looking to him to express the concerns of the Vietnamese community.

Republicans are also looking to Tran as an important bridge to

Orange County’s Vietnamese population.

“I don’t want to lose another minority group to the Democrats,”

said former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson, who represented Newport Beach

in Sacramento from 1984 to 1994 and supported Tran in his primary bid

last year. “He’s an outstanding representative of the Vietnamese

community.”

Tran co-authored a bill, set for a hearing this week, urging the

state to formally recognize the flag of the former Republic of

Vietnam. Representatives of the U.S. State Department might testify

against the bill.

But he said most of his legislative work is not specific to the

Vietnamese community. He’s taken a hard line with bills like one that

would have cut salaries to 13 state boards and commissions and

another to urge Congress to abolish the estate tax.

VETERAN KNOW-HOW

After four years in Sacramento as an assemblyman, Campbell doesn’t

have to work as hard to build a reputation in the Senate.

“He’s probably the smartest of anyone who’s represented this area

at all ... for a long time,” Ferguson said. “He’s bright on the

budget, he understands numbers, and he understands the opposite side

when it comes to trying to work out problems.”

Campbell has often been at the governor’s right hand -- literally

so in a news conference about a prison-reform bill last week -- and

has carried several bills for Schwarzenegger, including one to

encourage solar power in new homes.

He also wrote a bill for Newport Beach that would allow the city

to lease Sunset Ridge Park from the state for 25 years; existing law

only allows 10-year leases of parkland.

PLANNING FOR REELECTION

Newport-Mesa’s legislators have pushed a hefty bundle of bills,

but what they’ve really accomplished is still an unanswered question.

And time seems to be no impediment to DeVore. Rather than being

discouraged that some of his bills haven’t passed, the assemblyman

says he’s in for the long haul: He’s already opened his 2006

reelection campaign, and he described his bill on the marriage

contract as “a six-year project.”

Tran hasn’t forgotten there’s an election next year either. His

schedule each week includes blocks of time for fundraising calls.

Campbell, however, has dropped the idea of a run for state

treasurer, not wanting to try to muscle into a crowded field and

preferring the relative comfort of a senate term that lasts through

2008.

“There’s several different people running [for treasurer],” he

said last week. “I won’t ever say ‘never’ on it, but at this time,

I’m not looking at that or any other statewide office.”

His friendship with the governor hasn’t yielded tangible results,

though he does seem to get quoted more often. If you ask Campbell

what Arnold’s done for him lately, he’ll tell you he’s taking one for

the team.

“I think without the recall and without this governor, I think

this state would be in real, real trouble, so I want to help the

governor accomplish as many of his objectives as I can,” Campbell

said.

And the bills local legislators are pushing are likely to help

them in their future election bids, even if the legislation never

leaves the starting gate.

Attaching your name to a bill that shows you’re morally

conservative, or socially progressive, or supportive of education, or

whatever, is political advertising.

“One of the tangible reasons that they offer legislation in the

first place is that they can claim credit for having done so,”

Petracca said.

While their bills may not pass -- Tran’s attempt to cut the state

board and commission salaries was voted down by an Assembly committee

last week -- that doesn’t mean they’re ineffective at representing

their constituents.

“I think representation is possible even when you fail,” Petracca

said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].