RUNNER FLOATS MEASURE TO WOO FIGHTER PROGRAM : BILL WOULD GIVE TAX RELIEF FOR WORK IN STATE ON JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

In a bid to get the joint strike fighter built in the Antelope Valley, Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, is introducing a bill to provide tax credits for any program work conducted in California.

The bill will provide credit ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent on gross sales of work conducted in California either by the prime contractor or by any of the subcontractors. All proceeds are to be applied to reducing the cost of the JSF contract.

``We think the bill might be the vehicle to educate those in Sacramento on how important aerospace is to the state,'' said Greg Matranga, an aide to Runner.

Intended to go into production in the year 2005, the joint strike fighter would replace the Air Force F-16 and A-10, Navy F/A-18 and Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier as both a fighter and light bomber.

The Pentagon wants to build nearly 3,000 JSF aircraft between the years 2005 and 2030, at a total cost estimated by the Congressional Budget Office at $219 billion. The British navy is also interested in acquiring hundreds of the aircraft.

Lockheed Martin Corp. is vying with Boeing Co. for the program. Lockheed Martin's ``Skunk Works'' is building two of the prototypes for the program in Palmdale, but its parent corporation is looking to base its production line in Fort Worth, Texas, where it builds F-16 fighters.

Boeing initially indicated it would conduct its final assembly of JSF aircraft in Seattle. However, the company is now looking at options now available because of its recently acquisition of Rockwell International's North American Aircraft division. The company will also have even more options if its planned merger with McDonnell Douglas is completed.

``At this point Boeing has made no final decisions as to the final assembly or manufacturing work on the joint strike fighter,'' Boeing spokesman Randy Harrison said. ``We are looking at a number of options.''

The credit will start at 15 percent during the concept demonstration phase, which includes the fly-off between the competing Boeing and Lockheed Martin designs.

The credit will drop to 12.5 percent during the manufacturing development phase, the period when the winning design is refined and verified through flight testing.

The credit will drop to 10 percent during the production phase.

``The strategy of the credit at this point is to provide the largest percentage impact during the early phase contracts,'' Runner said in a written proposal for the legislation.

He continued: ``Total contract value during the early phases will be smaller with a correspondingly smaller revenue impact and success during the early stages will provide momentum for success in the later, higher payoff phases. Selection as a production contractor hinges upon projected production costs which will be identified much earlier in the program.''

Last year, then assemblyman, now state senator, W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, introduced legislation to provide tax relief for aerospace companies with the idea the companies would then be able to attract more business to the state. The bill died in a joint Senate-Assembly tax committee.

This year Runner ``floated trial balloons'' for a similar bill, first for all aerospace companies statewide and then as a regional effort, but both got a chilly reception from his legislative colleagues, Matranga said.

``We were told a project-specific type of bill had a good chance of getting through,'' Matranga said. ``It's a tight and specific bill we have introduced.''