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Leaning on the balustrade of the California State House rotunda balcony, Jewish Family and Children's Services board member Linda Gallanter grinned.

"It was a mutual love-in," she said of her lobbying group's visit to state Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco).

"He was very receptive," said Gallanter of Shelley, who greeted the lobbyists with bear hugs all around. "He's willing to go on the line for our issue."

The visit to Shelley and other legislators was part of a statewide effort that culminated in Sacramento Feb. 26 during a day that also celebrated 30 years of advocacy by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California.

The lobbyists' main aim was to get legislators to co-author a bill, AB72, that would ease the punitive effects of welfare reform on legal immigrants and refugees.

Fifteen legislators signed as a result of the visits.

Jewish activists said they were warmly received by state legislators. Although local lobbyists were delighted to learn during their visit that Shelley was already a co-author of AB72, the assemblyman devoted 45 minutes to the group's concerns.

During this time, he characterized the governor's welfare reform bill as "mean-spirited" and asserted, "Having to defend the notion of legal immigrants should not even be a discussion point."

In the office of Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco), 12 delegates were greeted with the news that Kopp was unable to make his appointment with them. Instead, the group met with Kopp's aide Dan Friedlander. "It happens all the time in lobbying," confided Judith Chapman, former S.F.-based Jewish Committee Relations Committee chair. "It's disappointing, but meeting with an aide is better than nothing."

During the meeting, Sandy Tandowsky, chair of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation's allocations committee, gave Friedlander a letter from an elderly emigre. Dvoira Kardonskaya, a legal immigrant, left Ukraine at the age of 74. While the JCF committee was visiting San Francisco's L'Chaim Senior Center, she handed the group the letter.

"I live alone," she wrote. "It is not easy to learn English at my age. If I do not pass the citizenship exam, I will not have SSI, my only income. I will not have money for rent, food or medicine. I am so worried that I do not sleep at night."

Friedlander assured the group that he would pass on the letter and the delegates' concerns to Kopp. Asked about the senator's interests, he replied that Kopp's was an "eclectic portfolio," but that the senator was highly supportive of legal immigrants.

Meanwhile, in the office of Assemblywoman Valerie Brown (D-Santa Rosa), a group led by Chapman waited for the legislator to return from a committee meeting. One of the delegates, Doug Kahn, traveled with Brown on a 1996 Jewish Community Relations Council tour of Israel for Northern California leaders.

Brown's arrival sparked a flurry of handshakes and introductions. Then, settling in behind her desk, the assemblywoman listened to the group's presentations.

Afterwards, Brown dispensed a wealth of tactical advice, suggesting various legislators who might support AB72. She also waxed enthusiastic about her JCRC trip to Israel. "It provided those of us who are not Jewish with a wonderful, broad brush and a great representation of information," she said.

Leaving her office, the group was noticeably invigorated.

"She was really marvelous," declared delegate Marlyn McClaskey, president of the JCF Women's Alliance. "She gave us excellent advice on how to get the bill passed."

Jessica Lindsey was equally enthusiastic.

"I'd never heard of Valerie Brown," said Lindsey, a pop-culture collector who attended UJA's Young Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., last year. "But I was impressed. She really wanted to point us in the right direction."

Lindsey mentioned that UJA had taught her three vital goals of lobbying: Impart information; get a commitment; make a friend.

"We established a friendship with many of the legislators today," she said, "and they seemed willing to help us out. I think it went very well."

Hugs or no hugs, for Linda Gallanter the mission will not be complete until AB72 is passed.

"We want everybody needy to be cared for," she said, looking at the hefty pillars holding up the rotunda.

"As Jews," she added, "we recognize the importance of helping others."