Republicans Seize Power in Assembly

SACRAMENTO — After a year of fumbling, aroused Republicans on Wednesday seized power in the Assembly, stripped Speaker Brian Setencich of most of his authority and handed it to the GOP-controlled Rules Committee.

But the GOP majority, apparently split over Setencich’s successor, did not immediately act to remove the freshman Republican from Fresno from the speakership, a position that he won just this past September with the help of Democrats.

In fact, Setencich, a former professional basketball player, said the yearlong maneuvering over control of the Assembly is far from over.

“Hey, I’m the kind of guy who plays,” Setencich told reporters. “I’m the kind of guy who’s ready to risk everything. And I’m the kind of guy who when he loses, they’ve got to come and rip the uniform off my back and tell me to get the hell out of here.”

The new rules adopted Wednesday, as the Legislature met for the first time in 3 1/2 months, shift most power from the speaker to the nine-member Rules Committee. It would have a Republican majority picked by the GOP caucus, and the committee, rather than the speaker, would name chairs and members of committees and would control the Assembly’s $130-million budget.

Under the new rules, Republicans chose Assembly GOP leader Curt Pringle of Garden Grove as chairman of the Rules Committee. Pringle will have much of the authority to control legislation in the Assembly.

Pringle is the leading candidate to replace Setencich, but the Assembly recessed for the night without voting on a new speaker. The debate was expected to resume today.

While Pringle had enough votes in the Republican caucus to be named Rules Committee chairman, the caucus delayed a vote on a new speaker. Some GOP lawmakers said privately that a vote was put off to give Setencich an opportunity to step down voluntarily, but other Republicans said they were holding out in hopes an alternative to Pringle would emerge as speaker.

Democrats predicted chaos as a result of the changes. Democratic leader Richard Katz of Sylmar described the Republicans’ actions as “a complete taking of power.” He said the changes will make the Rules Committee chairman more powerful than the speaker.

Setencich clearly was downcast as he was temporarily removed as the Assembly’s presiding officer when he refused to allow a vote on the GOP-backed rules changes. Surveying his colleagues in the packed chamber, Setencich cited what he considered a betrayal by some fellow Republicans who had pledged to support him.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say there was some sadness,” said Setencich, who in recent weeks had boasted that he had as many as a dozen backers among Republican lawmakers.

“It’s unfortunate when you can’t trust your friends and colleagues to keep their word,” Setencich said, refusing to name any names except that of Trice Harvey, a Bakersfield Republican who is a candidate for Congress and who reversed field after publicly vowing to support Setencich.

Setencich said Harvey and other lawmakers whom he counted on for support bowed to pressure from Republican political leaders, among them Gov. Pete Wilson and state GOP Chairman John Herrington.

“Trice Harvey is not a man of his word,” Setencich said. “Trice Harvey lied to me, face-to-face and man-to-man. He couldn’t bear the pressure, whatever was put on him.”

Harvey and Wilson denied reports that Harvey, whose support was critical to Setencich, had been offered a job in state government should he lose his bid for Congress. “There was no discussion of that whatsoever,” Wilson said.

Harvey said he yanked his support because Setencich failed to fulfill long-voiced promises to give Republicans more of the lower house’s resources and allow the GOP caucus to control the Rules Committee.

“He didn’t deliver what he said he would for three months. He didn’t deliver anything. I take away my support when you don’t deliver,” Harvey said.

After the new rules were adopted, Democrats and Republicans recessed to long private caucuses to map strategy, as the Assembly session drifted into the evening.

Wednesday’s raucous, daylong session was the latest act in what is becoming the state’s longest-running political drama. It began in 1994 when Republicans won a narrow majority of seats in the Assembly but failed to oust longtime Speaker Willie Brown, the San Francisco Democrat who managed to cling to power until last June.

Under Brown, the speakership was considered the second most powerful job in state government. But, working without a majority, Brown granted some power to Republicans and engineered the elevation of Doris Allen (R-Cypress) as successor. Facing recall, Allen stepped down just two days before the end of the 1995 session, turning the speakership over to her loyal lieutenant, Setencich.

With Allen losing her seat in a recall election in November and Brown winning election as mayor of San Francisco, Setencich needed to woo at least one GOP lawmaker to his side.

But the rookie legislator was no match for the Republican establishment, determined that the party translate its election victory into control of the Assembly for the first time in more than two decades.

“What it should mean,” the governor told reporters, “is that the people who voted for a Republican majority in 1994 will now see it translate” into a movement for tort reform and ending regulatory excess.

Of the rules changes, Wilson said: “What it really does is give to the majority the authority they should have to allocate funds, to operate the Assembly.”

Earlier, Wilson was welcomed into the Republican caucus by applause from GOP lawmakers. His subsequent remarks essentially amounted to a halftime locker-room speech in which the governor, who last year largely stayed out of the Assembly power fight, attempted to rally members for a major task ahead.

Regarding the leadership struggle, a Wilson aide said the governor did not single out an individual lawmaker. Instead, in an indirect attack on Setencich and any Republican who considered supporting the speaker, the governor implored the caucus to remain united behind a GOP candidate.

But Democrats predicted that the changes will lead to another year of chaos.

“I think pandemonium will reign as long as you have a narrow majority,” said Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-Burlingame).

What happened to Setencich’s cushion?

James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) said Setencich’s downfall was a result of his arbitrary actions. He said Setencich has been a speaker “who refuses to follow the law, who refuses to follow the procedures of the house, who refuses to do anything but preserve his own hide in the speaker’s chair.”

Added Democrat Speier: “Members had committed to Setencich, but the Republican hierarchy came in and twisted arms and threatened.”

As a consequence, Republicans temporarily installed former GOP leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga to preside over the debate on the rules changes.

The new rules, approved by a 41-36 vote, were hailed by Republicans as a major democratic reform.

“This will allow the Rules Committee to go forward with as much power to the speaker as they like,” Pringle said. This would be augmented, he said, with the anticipated election of a “loyal Republican” as speaker.

Staff writers Dan Morain, Max Vanzi and Dave Lesher contributed to this story.