Bless Gov. Scrooge

One of the wisecracks making the rounds in Sacramento on Thursday was that Gov. George Deukmejian’s 1985-86 spending program resembled “a good Democratic budget.” Some of the Republican governor’s severest critics in the Legislature were hard put to complain. And just two years after crisis-atmosphere freezes and cuts, once-grim bureaucrats wore the broad smiles that one associates with money.

Has Gov. Scrooge turned into Gov. Santa Claus? Not really. Deukmejian’s $33.6-billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 is basically a conservative hold-the-line program, with a few commendable exceptions. Prudent is the word that Deukmejian has used himself in recent days as he also talked about thrusting California into a new era of excellence. This budget will not buy a quantum leap into excellence, but it will pay for a steady march in that direction.

The roughly 10% increase in funds for education from kindergarten through the universities is one example. Deukmejian is as good as his word on support for education. But for all that increase California still will rank well below most states in its financial support for education on a per-pupil basis. Where there is “new money,” however, the governor chose well. Some of it will go into special education for the handicapped and disadvantaged. Some will boost the pensions of retired teachers who have suffered most from inflation.

There are some proposals on which the governor will have a fight on his hands as the budget meanders through the legislative maze. They include personnel cuts in the Employment Development Department and the Coastal Commission and an allocation of only $75 million for any new programs that the Legislature might initiate. As is the custom in Sacramento, the Democratic Legislature no doubt will load up the budget with extra pet projects. This in turn will permit the re-emergence of Gov. Scrooge, wielding blue pencils and lecturing about fiscal prudence.

Thus Deukmejian can project two images at the same time: the generous, forward-looking chief executive committed to returning California to excellence, and the tough Republican governor who543715180 Critics will complain that the governor can’t have it both ways. But he can if he is nimble enough to steal the moral high ground from his political opponents. The governor seems to have done just that with his 1985-86 budget.