Hill Opposes Tax Plan, Says L.A. Must Take Care of Itself : Government: The state senator says his constituents should not be held to account for the actions of ‘hoods, gang members and other assorted slime.’

Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) said he has little sympathy for the riot-torn area of South Los Angeles where vandals, looters and arsonists destroyed nearly 5,300 buildings and caused an estimated $717 million in damage.

As a result, Hill said he would not support a proposal by Senate colleague Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) to raise the state sales tax by one-quarter cent for a year to help rebuild the riot area.

“I’m not going to ask my constituents to bail out a bunch of people who had nothing to do with politics and social unrest. It was nothing other than hoods, gang members and other assorted slime of the earth.

“It is their problem. They brought it upon themselves. Edward James Olmos and Jesse Jackson can figure out a way to solve it themselves,” Hill said, referring to the actor and civil rights leader who have taken high-profile roles in the riot cleanup.

Hill said Torres’ sales tax request could galvanize residual anti-Los Angeles sentiment that often exists under the surface in the Legislature where suburban and rural lawmakers find themselves outvoted by the state’s largest city.

One powerful Democratic leader--Senate President Pro Tempore David A. Roberti--is from the city, Hill said. The result is that Los Angeles historically dominates issues and receives the lion’s share of funding for everything from education to mental-health programs.

Because tax increases must have a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to pass, non-Los Angeles representatives, especially suburban Republicans, are in the position to block the funding plan, Hill said.

“My guess is the response from L.A. will be what it has always been and that is, ‘Send more money. We’re not going to take responsibility for ourselves. Everybody else in the state of California bail us out,’ ” Hill said.

He predicted that the rejoinder will be that “L.A.’s going to have to, in the era of dwindling resources, do what every other city has done and take care of itself.”

Hill said, however, that he would be willing to create enterprise zones, extend tax breaks and cut through regulations to encourage businesses to relocate to the riot area.