LAWMAKERS SET AGENDA WITH NEW BILLS.

Byline: LISA FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau -

WASHINGTON -- Southland lawmakers are racing out of the gate today, introducing scores of bills in the opening hours of the 110th Congress.

From immigration to Social Security to covert wiretapping, the legislation underscores the priorities of local politicians for the coming year.

``It's about political advertising,'' said Brookings Institution congressional scholar Thomas Mann. ``It's a way of demonstrating an interest in or concern about an issue.''

Many of the lawmakers are taking up issues they were unsuccessful in passing last year.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, for instance, will reintroduce legislation he has with Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., that would limit warrantless wiretapping. Specifically, the bill codifies wiretapping powers in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and makes that the exclusive means for conducting such surveillance.

``This was an issue the Congress failed to resolve before we recessed,'' Schiff said. Introducing it early this year is key, he said, because ``there is some time sensitivity.''

Schiff said he believes that with Democrats now in control of Congress, the bill stands a good chance.

``I think we need to clarify that Congress intends to oversee this area,'' he said. ``These issues will now get aired.''

Other bills by newly empowered Democrats include a measure by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, to repeal a set of obscure laws that experts say drain retirement benefits from thousands of California public employees.

Currently the Social Security Act includes a provision that eliminates or reduces benefits if a worker's spouse has a government pension based on work not covered by Social Security. That, along with a measure called the Windfall Elimination Provision that reduces worker benefits, would be abolished under Berman's bill

``Our nation's dedicated teachers, firefighters, and peace officers have a great need for this reform to further secure their retirement,'' he wrote in a letter to other lawmakers urging their support.

Last year Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, led the bill's charge.

Among Southland Republicans, Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, is poised to introduce legislation making cockfighting a felony punishable by up to two years in jail.

``Animal fighting is a brutal, inhuman practice,'' Gallegly said in a statement, noting that the practice also has been linked as a contributor to the spread of avian flu. The bill mirrors one he worked on in the 109th Congress but was unable to pass into law.

Gallegly also is putting together a package of bills aimed at curbing illegal immigration, said his spokesman, Thomas Pfeifer.

The legislation, still being worked on, includes measures to track Social Security numbers; a bill making it a felony for deportable illegal immigrants to fail to attend removal proceedings; and one taking aim at so-called ``anchor babies'' by requiring that at least one parent be a citizen or legal resident before a child born in the U.S. can be a citizen.

Other Southland lawmakers said they intend to introduce bills addressing transportation, funding for the incarceration of criminal illegal immigrants and mental health issues over the first few weeks of the congressional session.

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com

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