Assembly Votes to Shift Rebate Funds to Education

Assembly Democrats, in a last-minute maneuver early Friday morning, jammed through legislation that would give schools the $700 million that Gov. George Deukmejian has proposed refunding to taxpayers.

The measure by Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) is similar to a school spending bill vetoed by Deukmejian earlier this month. As Waters’ bill stands now, a spokesman for the governor said, Democrats can expect the same result.

“We have not given education the priority it deserves,” Waters argued in urging her colleagues to vote for the bill. “Let’s vote for the children of California.” Republicans who favor a tax rebate were taken by surprise when the measure came up around midnight as the Assembly was in the midst of considering hundreds of bills before a Friday deadline for passing Assembly bills.

“This is a sham,” Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-La Habra) told Waters. “It’s a game. You ought to be ashamed.”

Nevertheless, the bill was approved shortly after midnight on a vote of 44 to 33, with one Republican, Assemblyman William Filante of Greenbrae, joining Democrats in voting for the measure.

Waters’ legislation, however, is unlikely to help bring about a solution to the issues of school funding and a tax rebate that have blocked passage of a state budget for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday.

Assembly Republicans have refused to vote for a budget until Democrats agree to approve the rebate proposal. Democrats have insisted that the $700 million in unexpected revenues should be spent on education rather than returned to the taxpayers.

At the heart of the debate is the state spending limit approved by voters in 1979. The state has reached its limit for the first time and its options for disposing of the money include refunding it to taxpayers or transferring it to schools and local government.

Legislators and Deukmejian face a deadline of Tuesday to settle their differences because the $700 million must be appropriated before the end of the fiscal year. If they do not reach agreement, another $400 million that the governor proposes to spend on schools and other programs would also become eligible for a rebate.

“Time is running out,” said Kevin Brett, Deukmejian’s press secretary. “Why they are persisting with this Maxine Waters bill is beyond comprehension because they know what the result is going to be.”

Several lawmakers and Capitol staff members indicated Friday that Democrats were attempting to bring a compromise proposal to the governor that could include a rebate smaller than $700 million and increased spending for schools. But Brett said the governor would have no interest in such a plan.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said Senate Democrats will try again Monday to override Deukmejian’s veto of the first $700-million school spending measure.

Authored by Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), the bill would transfer $550 million to public schools and $150 million to community colleges. An attempt by the Senate last Monday to override the governor’s veto fell short by one vote.

Waters called her bill “a second chance” for the governor to approve education spending. If nothing else, the bill would force Deukmejian again to veto money for schools--a veto that is not popular with the education community and could provide anti-Deukmejian ammunition in a future political campaign.

But Johnson pointed out that the state’s voters had overwhelmingly approved the spending limit in 1979 and argued, “The majority party is trying to find a way around doing what the people of California said they wanted done.”