The State - News from Jan. 25, 1987

A bipartisan panel of state legislators announced the introduction of a package of bills designed to provide more money for counties. The measures, which could cost the state up to $750 million in the first two years, would shift to counties a quarter cent of the sales tax, which now goes to pay for state programs. At the same time, health programs currently operated by the state would be shifted to counties and several other state-mandated county programs would be eliminated. Gov. George Deukmejian has included several of the proposals in his budget, but finding money for others would require deep cuts in state services. A number of the proposals are patterned after measures previously defeated by the Legislature.