DEMOCRATS' TRANSIT BILL VIOLATES RULES.

Byline: Terri Hardy Sacramento Bureau

A move by Assembly Democrats to keep a Valley transit bill alive violates legislative rules, the state Legislative Counsel said in a legal opinion released Friday, but lawmakers vowed to push the measure through anyway.

Earlier this week, Democrats bypassed a Republican roadblock by gutting an elder-abuse bill which was further along in the legislative process and inserting the text of the transit bill - a measure that would require Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers' contracts to remain in place if the Valley runs its own bus service.

The Legislative Counsel's analysis, requested by Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, concluded the Democratic move conflicted with an Assembly rule that such changes must be germane to the original bill.

Elena Stern, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, said Democrats will vote to waive the rule. ``The bill will be heard,'' she said.

The Assembly's Democratic majority will provide the simple majority needed to waive the rule, capitol sources said.

McClintock, the leader of Republican opposition to the transit bill, said he will demand the debate be heard on the Assembly floor.

``To pass this bill, they will have to gut one of the oldest rules in the state Legislature - it's a gross abuse of power,'' McClintock said. ``Unfortunately, they can do it, but they'll have to do it in front of the people of California.''

The transit bill pits Democrats and labor unions against Republicans and Valley business and civic leaders. The bill's supporters, including four Valley lawmakers who are its co-authors, believe it provides critical worker protections. Opponents say it hinders local control and kills any chance of making significant improvements in public transit.

For weeks, there were unsuccessful attempts at compromise. Finally, the measure passed through the Assembly Transportation Committee despite protests.

Because the bill was held back for negotiations, it missed a procedural deadline and required a two-thirds vote from the entire Assembly to go forward. GOP leaders used the opportunity to block the measure, refusing to give it the needed votes.

Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and Villaraigosa said the maneuver was a cheap shot and vowed to push it through. They found a way through a practice called ``gut and amend,'' attaching the bill to a piece of legislation that had already made its way to the next step, the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Hertzberg's spokesman Paul Hefner said the push to move the bill forward was based on fairness to the legislators who had held up their own bill while a compromise was attempted.

``Trying to kill the bill off with a parliamentary move is like a boxing match where a fighter calls time out and the other fighter throws a knock-out punch,'' Hefner said. ``It's not sportsmanlike.''

Hertzberg's office said Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, selected the elder abuse bill by Sen. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte. The elder abuse language was wiped out and replaced with the transit measure.

According to the Legislative Counsel's analysis, no amendment to a bill can be submitted if it ``relates to a different subject than, is intended to accomplish a different purpose than, or requires a title essentially different than, the original bill.''

The Legislative Counsel concluded that ``the proposed amendments are not germane.'' But it notes the decision on germaneness rests with the Assembly.

The transit bill's opponents say if it passes there will be no applications to start a new transit zone to improve service in a nine-city Valley region. If the bill fails or is vetoed by the governor, they believe the cities can go forward with the plan.