SELF-DETERMINATION GETS SPEAKER'S OK.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

As the battle over Valley self-determination continues, Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante said Friday he is encouraging local legislators to work out differences and he would not stand in the way of passage.

``I think they have to be encouraged to find a pragmatic solution to this problem,'' said Bustamante, D-Fresno, during a breakfast with Los Angeles political reporters. ``If it has to come down to a political solution, you might end up with something that nobody likes.''

So far, there are three measures pending in Sacramento to give the Valley the right to determine its future by stripping the City Council of its veto power. Two of them would require a citywide vote and the third would require two-thirds approval in the area seeking to secede.

Bustamante said he is only beginning to get up to speed on the issue and acknowledged he had deferred on much of it to Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward.

But, he added, he would not block passage of the measure even if there is pressure from other Los Angeles leaders - most notably Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles - who have opposed any effort to change the law.

``Fortunately, I have been a little bit out of that political circle,'' he said.

The bill by Lockyer, who was heavily involved in the negotiations over the measure last year, is moving through the Senate at a rapid pace.

The measure, SB 176, has cleared the Senate Local Government and Rules committees andd is scheduled to go next to Appropriations. The major dispute over his bill is it would require state and local study before taking effect.

In the Assembly, AB 62, by Assemblymen Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, and Bob Hertzberg, D-Sherman Oaks, is scheduled for its first test before the Assembly Local Government Committee next week. It would remove the City Council veto and require a citywide vote.

No hearings have been set on AB 1414 by Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Mission Hills, a proposal to require a two-thirds vote in the affected area in order to secede.

Bustamante said he has focused more of his attention on issues such as welfare reform and benefits to legal immigrants as part of continuing talks with Gov. Pete Wilson.

Assembly Democrats are working on their proposals to counter that of Wilson, particularly on welfare reform, to assure that jobs will be available to those who no longer receive benefits.

``We now are creating 300,000 jobs a year, and we're going to need 600,000 a year to deal with welfare reform,'' Bustamante said. ``I don't agree with the governor that any job will do. We have to provide the education and training to make sure people don't remain indigent and have to return to welfare.''