Lockyer, Stock and Barrel

There is at least one thing everybody agrees on in the Capitol--lobbyists, legislators, reporters, the governor. It is that Sen. Bill Lockyer is by far the most powerful lawmaker. No. 1.

It’s not just because he’s the Senate leader, the president pro tem. It’s also because he has unsurpassed instinct, tenacity, energy and experience. Nobody’s better at the game.

He’s not flashy. He doesn’t get as much public attention as the Assembly speaker. Certainly not Willie Brown. Not even new Speaker Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno).

Bustamante now holds the office usually described as the second most powerful in state government, but we’re not sure yet what he’ll do with it. He’s untested. Lockyer (D-Hayward) has passed many tests since being elected Senate leader three years ago.

All bills go through the pro tem, one way or another.

“He’s dangerous for the Republican agenda,” says new Sen. Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), a former Assembly GOP leader. “He’s very shrewd, and he’s a true liberal. Unlike Willie Brown, who liked the deal more than the contents of the deal, the contents matter to Lockyer.

“Lockyer is as bright as Willie. He may be more partisan than Willie ever was. Willie gave the governor fits, but not anywhere near the fits Lockyer gives him.”

Lockyer has evolved from a species the California electorate has marked for extinction: the career pol. He’s what legendary Speaker Jesse Unruh and the voters had in mind 30 years ago when they created a full-time Legislature: A savvy pro with institutional memory.

Lockyer, 55, was a teen political junkie, volunteered in campaigns, worked for an influential assemblyman, replaced his boss when he died 24 years ago and moved to the Senate in 1982. He has learned from masters how to legislate and to get things done. And he hasn’t forgotten anything.

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On Tuesday, I audited professor Lockyer’s advanced course in geographic politics. We were in the Senate leader’s handsome, 19th century office suite as he explained to me that when you “think geographically” you can “bundle.”

Lockyer disclosed that he wants to bundle together four urgent, unrelated money issues and solve them simultaneously in the next couple of months.

They are: Flood relief for Central and Northern California; a $300-million shortage in trial court funding, which he says is especially crucial in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties; an additional $150 million to provide portable rooms for class-size reduction, which he observes is particularly desired in the suburbs, and--his piece of the bundle--a new $800-million, earthquake-proof San Francisco Bay Bridge, financed with state gas taxes.

In bundling, it’s all or none. Bundling also is known as “linkage” or “trade-offs.” Some cynic might even call it extortion.

Of course, there’s always room for negotiation.

“Each one of these might have supporters and opponents if considered alone,” the veteran lawmaker noted. “I’m trying to tie together the outstanding fiscal issues that need to be resolved before the budget [in July]--and look at them in a geographic way, with an informal, political understanding.”

He added, with a gleam: “Just kicking the can down the road. Trying to move things along.”

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Lockyer also is a master of what he calls “the tension theory of politics.” Using this, he sometimes sends messages to the governor. Last year, the Senate refused to confirm 11 of Gov. Pete Wilson’s 176 appointments.

“I used to be kind of critical of our system’s scattered power,” he recalled. “Then I met people like Pete Wilson and I said, ‘You know, these checks and balances are really a pretty good idea.’ ”

The executive branch is supposed to implement laws passed by the Legislature, Lockyer said. “What I’ve seen in this administration, in many instances, is a disregard for the law and just wanting to do it their way. When things go awry, we try to make a point.”

Lockyer loves the politics, but he’s also a policy wonk. Get him going on a subject and he won’t stop.

Welfare? “The dominant issue.” More class-size reduction? First assess this initial effort and make sure other school programs aren’t being “cannibalized.” Prisons? Must build them cheaper. Health care? He’ll push to provide insurance for the working poor.

He’s due to be booted by term limits in 1998. If a federal judge first boots out term limits, the betting is he’ll stay put, although he’s “thinking about” running for attorney general. Whatever, he wants to remain in public life. Kicking the can. “It’s a wonderful form of work.”

Lockyer not only is a career politician, he’s a consummate pol. In this Capitol, they’re a vanishing species.