Assembly Panel Questions Lungren 3 Hours, Leaves His Fate in the Air

After putting treasurer-nominee Daniel E. Lungren through more than three hours of grueling questions Friday, an Assembly committee wrapped up its weeklong confirmation hearings by intentionally leaving vague the fate of the Long Beach Republican congressman.

The Democratic-controlled panel delayed an advisory vote for two weeks, and the Democrats, while critical of Lungren in their questioning, refused by-and-large to indicate whether they ultimately will support or oppose his confirmation.

Lungren, although reluctant to predict the final outcome, told reporters after the hearing that “I feel good about where I am right now in the process.” But he cautioned, “I don’t take anything for granted. I’ve been around politics too long.”

Time for Horse Trading

The full Assembly is not under a deadline to act until Feb. 29. With the Senate scheduled to begin its confirmation hearings Feb. 1, several top Democrats said that they will be left with plenty of time to do some horse-trading with Gov. George Deukmejian, who nominated Lungren to the post.

It was already clear during Friday’s hearing that some panel members had deal-making on their minds as they tried to extract promises from Lungren, seemingly in exchange for their votes.

Democratic Assemblyman Dan Hauser, from the North Coast community of Arcata, for example, sought and received a promise that Lungren, a strong supporter of offshore oil drilling, would not use the treasurer’s office “as a platform” to advocate drilling near his district.

Despite adopting a generally conciliatory tone, Lungren was unable to satisfy his most vocal critics on the panel. Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles) wanted the conservative Republican to push a liberal social agenda as treasurer. For instance, Roos said the treasurer’s office should give priority to issuing bonds for such programs as low-income housing and industrial development in poverty areas and should give more state bond business to minority-owned firms.

Waters Shows Anger

Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) expressed anger over what she considered Lungren’s lukewarm commitment to minority hiring and his refusal to back strong sanctions against South Africa.

“I am thrilled by your passion (as an opponent to) abortion because it’s very clear where you stand,” Waters told Lungren. “I don’t hear you loud and clear on South African divestment and affirmative action. You fumble and play around and send signals that perhaps, maybe, it will be all right. . . . I feel you are playing both sides of the fence to get votes from both sides of the fence.”

Lungren, showing annoyance at being portrayed as an unfeeling and uncaring conservative, shot back: “I know who I am. I don’t appear to have the confidence in every position that you seem to have. That does not mean I don’t have passion or that I don’t care. I just see things as a little more complicated than you.”

The week of hearings was unusual by any standard since this is the first time the Legislature has had the opportunity to decide on a governor’s nominee to a statewide office.

Ruling by Van de Kamp

Under a ruling by Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, confirmation can be denied if one house or the other votes rejects Lungren before March 1. Deukmejian and Lungren, however, dispute that interpretation, maintaining that it would take rejection by both houses to keep Lungren from taking the oath of office.

Opposition to Lungren is already building in the Senate, where three Los Angeles Democrats on Friday became the first legislators to publicly signal their intention to vote against Lungren.

The legislators, liberal Sens. Diane Watson, Herschel Rosenthal and Bill Greene, plan to announce their opposition Monday at a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday press conference in Los Angeles. Mayor Tom Bradley also is scheduled to participate along with representatives of labor, business, civil rights organizations and political figures.

The Deukmejian Administration, meanwhile, feted Lungren at a reception in Los Angeles on Friday night in hopes of highlighting Lungren’s support for federal legislation that established the national holiday in honor of the slain civil rights leader.

Some Skip Hearings

Despite much talk by lawmakers about the “awesome responsibility” of filling so powerful a state office, seldom was more than half of the 19-member Assembly panel present during the week’s hearings. At times--particularly after television cameras had left--witnesses found themselves speaking to no more than two or three legislators.

While the panel broke no new ground on Friday, the questioning was at its most intense as Democrats hammered away at Lungren over his conservative voting record and asked for assurances that his ideology would not play a role in his decisions as treasurer.

Lungren, who had managed to keep his cool during a full day of testimony on Monday, became visibly annoyed over his treatment Friday and repeatedly called on committee Chairman Thomas M. Hannigan (D-Fairfield) to stop members from interrupting his answers.

At one point, Roos accused Lungren of ignoring the law by not agreeing with Van de Kamp’s legal opinions. Lungren, flashing with anger, lectured Roos about how in Washington members of Congress show “civility and courtesy” and “common decency” toward witnesses.

Roos Apologizes

Roos later apologized for calling Lungren a lawbreaker but said he and other Democrats would have no apology for subjecting the nominee to tough questioning.

In a theme he repeated throughout the hearings, Roos said Lungren must endure the same kind of abuse that candidates often take while running for statewide office--a campaign made unnecessary by Lungren’s appointment to the post.

“This is a compressed statewide candidacy for a very high-stakes office,” Roos said. “As opposed to the normal campaign where you have to go to coffees and other forums for speech-making and where you have to meet with key contributors to tell them what you’re about, this is the best you have, like it or not.”

It was also clear that Assembly Democrats were looking well beyond Lungren’s appointment as treasurer to the likelihood that, if successful, he conceivably could become a Republican standard bearer, capable of beating Democrats in a future race for the governorship.

Times staff writer Carl Ingram contributed to this story.