Just like going back to school

Alicia Robinson

For freshman state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, starting his first term

has been a flashback to starting college.

But for his colleague Van Tran, the first week has been a

commuter’s nightmare.

After winning election Nov. 2, Republicans DeVore and Tran have

flown to Sacramento for a week of orientation and they’ve requested

the committees they’d like to serve on.

“It’s almost like putting together a class schedule,” DeVore said.

“I think the main thing was not only meeting the eight other freshman

Republicans, but the dozen or so freshman Democratic members and

beginning to build some relationships.”

With Tran still serving on the Garden Grove City Council, his

schedule has been more grueling. From Nov. 3 to Nov. 10 he flew back

and forth to Sacramento multiple times, and by Thursday, he thought

he was coming down with a cold.

“I don’t mind the hours, but flying up and down the state in an

airplane, it gets to you,” he said.

They’ll be sworn in Dec. 6, and both men have a list of priorities

they plan to address once the legislative session begins in January.

DeVore will represent the 70th Assembly District, which includes

Newport Beach. As a staunch conservative, he wants to stop the

expansion of government and prevent tax increases, he said. The best

way he sees of doing that is to attack the district reapportionment

system that has guaranteed most legislative districts for either a

Republican or a Democrat regardless of who’s running.

He’s already working on his first bill, which he calls a “common

sense reform” to the probate tax code that will allow people to place

their homes into a beneficial trust without using a lawyer.

Tran holds the 68th Assembly District seat, which includes Costa

Mesa. He wants to see how the state can get better tools and

resources to public safety providers such as police and fire

agencies, he said.

He’ll also push for more state funding for road improvements, he

said, but he has more ambitious goals of cutting bureaucracy and

balancing a projected $8-million budget deficit without tax

increases.

Because so many legislators are new after each election cycle,

DeVore and Tran aren’t likely to be hampered by their freshman

status, UC Irvine political science professor Mark Petracca said.

“I think in the world of term limits, being a freshman legislator

is not the graveyard of irrelevance that it used to be because this

year’s freshman legislator is next year’s legislative leader,

potentially,” he said.

But being on the conservative end of the minority party could get

in the legislators’ way, if they let it. How effective DeVore and

Tran will be depends on how well they can cooperate with Democrats

and pick when to compromise, said former state Assemblywoman and

Senator Marian Bergeson.

“It’s a total picture to be able to get significant legislation

through,” she said. “It means working with people, and I think that’s

the most important thing to learn.”

Tran said he plans to be a problem solver and not an

obstructionist. DeVore, on the other hand, takes a pragmatic view of

how Republican legislators should approach the next term.

“Our leverage in the legislature is the fact that the governor may

always use his veto on legislation that is not friendly to the

formation of business and new jobs,” DeVore said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.