AEROSPACE BILLS ON LAUNCH PAD.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Two bills aimed at creating aerospace jobs in California - particularly in the Antelope Valley - will be part of this year's state budget negotiations.

Assembly Bill 1779, which provides tax credits for work on a new jet fighter, and Assembly Bill 1765, which eliminates a sales tax on commercial space operations, will go to a joint Assembly-Senate conference committee handling revenue and taxation measures as part of the budget negotiations.

``These measures are about creating jobs for Californians,'' said Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, who authored both bills. ``We look forward to these bills being discussed in conference committee and consider them a priority for California's competitiveness in the global economy.''

AB 1779 would offer wage and property credits to companies performing work on the Joint Strike Fighter, which will replace the Air Force F-16, the Navy F/A-18 and the Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier. The bill is intended to bring as much work on the 20,000-job project to California as possible.

The state Legislative Analyst's Office estimates the bill would provide $154 million in tax breaks for the jet fighter program. The bill is projected to pay for itself through increased revenues from the jobs it would bring to the state, the analysis said.

AB 1765 would make statewide a sales tax exclusion that was granted to Vandenberg Air Force Base for commercial space operations sites. When the sales tax exclusion was granted to Vandenberg in 1993, the base was the only site of commercial space operations in California.

AB 1765 is aimed at bolstering the Antelope Valley's efforts to be selected as the launch site for the VentureStar, a reusable spaceship being developed by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale.

Several regions, including Vandenberg, Florida, New Mexico and Alaska are vying to be selected for the launch site.

VentureStar will take off vertically but will not shed any of its parts like a space shuttle during launch. VentureStar will land like an airplane.

The company expects to begin flight testing the $4.5 billion spacecraft in 2004.

Antelope Valley officials believe Edwards Air Force Base would be ideal for VentureStar. The base has a 15,000-foot concrete runway plus more than 60 miles of marked and maintained runways on Rogers and Rosamond dry lake beds. The base also covers 301,000 acres.