Fat Lady Hasn’t Sung Yet, but the Winners Are . . .

SACRAMENTO —  Sure, it’s not over ‘til it’s over, and this year’s legislative session won’t be over until tonight. But it’s already over enough to declare the big winners. And they’re Gov. Pete Wilson and Senate leader John Burton.

The end of every legislative session is a blend of circus, stock exchange and amphibious beach landing--a lot of commotion, trading and political violence.

But in this event, you really needed to watch only two people: Wilson and Burton. They’re poles apart in ideology and style--Wilson’s conservative, guarded and button-down; Burton’s liberal, spontaneous and jeans-prone. But both are tough-minded career pols of the same age (65), energetic, tenacious, shrewd and loyal to their allies.

This summer, they each knew exactly what they wanted and got most of it: Wilson--a huge tax cut, a school bond issue with construction finance reforms and significant education improvements; Burton--more money for the poor, his lifelong passion.

Both also very much wanted the Legislature to ratify 11 Indian-state gaming compacts--Wilson because he negotiated them and they restricted tribal gambling; Burton largely because the pacts contained labor concessions. They collaborated and beat back fierce opposition.

But the two old pros collided on a water bond, and Burton won. When the San Francisco Democrat decreed there would be no bond money for new off-stream storage reservoirs--because his environmental allies adamantly objected--that was that. And if Wilson absolutely insisted on more storage, as he did, then there’d be no water bond issue. And there wasn’t.

*

The other key legislative leader, Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), managed to survive. That’s no minor feat in his chaotic house, which has elected six speakers in four years. So Villaraigosa also is a winner, of sorts.

After a rocky start, the rookie speaker can claim credit for pushing the $9.2-billion school bond issue through the disparate Assembly. He also won programs for immigrants and pork for L.A.

But in this session, Wilson set the agenda and Burton laid down the rules.

And when it served their mutual interests, there was give and take. They knew how to pick their shots and when to hold their fire, Burton noted to reporters Friday after watching Wilson sign the Indian gambling bill.

Wilson drew a line in the sand for a big tax cut and Burton didn’t cross it. He allowed the governor to slash the car tax by up to 75% if the economy stays robust. In turn, Burton drew a line for poor people--demanding higher monthly checks for welfare recipients and the aged, blind and disabled. And Wilson didn’t fight him.

“With me, [the governor] was fair and aboveboard. I really don’t have a beef,” Burton said. That’s a far cry from his pre-leadership tone, when the irreverent lawmaker routinely derided Wilson as “the little Marine.”

*

Wilson, however, was not as buoyant as Burton when I talked to him Friday. He was fretting about setbacks and still playing the Marine commander, devising strategy to gain more legislative ground.

He was maneuvering for more judgeship appointments in exchange for state salary hikes, hoping to resurrect a San Diego water deal, trying to coax more money for local law enforcement, purchase a redwood forest . . . A volley of longshots.

By any measurement, this has been a good legislative year for the governor. He’s a lame duck, but only slightly lame. He won a lot for K-12 education: a longer year, better teacher training, new textbooks, more computers, improved after-school programs and ninth-grade class-size reduction. Now, he’s also on the verge of getting bills to require weekend and summer remedial instruction and to end social promotions.

But Wilson was fuming because Democrats wouldn’t also pass his “accountability” package to permit outside swat teams of experts to help poor-performing schools. “They should be ashamed,” the governor said. “Once again, the teachers union has managed to kill ‘accountability.’ ”

The governor even was hotter about losing the $1.7-billion water bond and with it $235 million to help San Diego obtain Imperial Valley water.

“The ‘no-growthers’ pulled Burton’s chain” about northern storage, Wilson said. “These are people who would consciously degrade the quality of life for Californians in order to constrain growth. . . . You don’t achieve what is necessary for fish and wildlife, for agriculture, for clean water if you have an inadequate supply. You cannot solve California’s water needs without increasing supply.”

The next governor can battle Burton over that, if he has the guts.