Power of Veto, GOP Thwart Democrats

Gov. George Deukmejian’s repeated use of the veto power and his rock-solid alliance with conservative Assembly Republicans have effectively thwarted the will of the Democrat-dominated Legislature, leaders of both parties say.

By the time this year’s constitutional deadline for acting on bills had passed at midnight Wednesday, Deukmejian had vetoed 232 measures, most of them pushed through by the Democrats over Republican objections.

Since taking office in 1983, Deukmejian has rejected more bills than Ronald Reagan did during eight years as governor.

The result is often a logjam in which each party has the power to block the other, but neither can muster the strength to move ahead with its own agenda.

“We’ve reached a sort of stalemate on a lot of matters,” said Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles). “They (Republicans) can’t push back, and it’s very difficult for us to push forward. So we make very small steps.”

In the last week alone, as Deukmejian sifted through about 900 bills sent to him in the final days of the 1987 session of the Legislature, he shot down scores of measures. Several were aimed at traditional Democratic constituencies, including a minimum wage increase, a bill allowing employees to take four-months of unpaid leave for child-rearing and a proposal to allow parents to prepay their children’s future tuition costs at today’s prices.

Deukmejian also vetoed a bill to abolish the scandal-plagued Southern California Rapid Transit District and replace it with a new super-agency, a measure that was crafted by two of the more influential Democrats in the Senate and Assembly. The governor said one reason he vetoed the bill was because the proposed new agency would have been prevented from contracting with private companies for bus service, a major policy goal of Assembly Republicans.

On some issues, Deukmejian rejected the Democrats’ most far-reaching proposals while signing measures moving more modestly in the same direction.

On AIDS, for example, he blocked a bill designed to use tax credits to raise $150 million for research into the deadly disease, a measure that his own appointee to the California AIDS Advisory Commission had called the most important legislation on the issue this year.

He also vetoed a bill to require distribution of a video on acquired immune deficiency syndrome to junior and senior high schools throughout the state. Yet the governor signed a Republican-authored bill to allow the state to test experimental AIDS drugs in humans.

Similarly, Deukmejian signed four minor bills drafted to cut down on fraud and misleading practices in the marketing of so-called “medi-gap” health insurance, which is sold to the elderly to supplement their federal Medicare payments. But the governor rejected a more sweeping bill by Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly (D-Sacramento) that Democrats had considered the cornerstone of the package, but which Assembly Republicans had requested be vetoed.

“You can see a definite pattern when that hard-core bloc in the Assembly votes against a bill,” Connelly said. “Even though it passes the Assembly and the Senate with a strong bipartisan majority, you’re going to have a problem in the governor’s office.”

A spokeswoman for the governor said he listens to the GOP lawmakers but ultimately makes his own calls.

“The governor gives great deference to what the Republicans say about legislation,” said Donna Lucas, deputy press secretary.

“But the bottom line is that the governor looks at each piece of legislation on its merits. No one other than Gov. George Deukmejian vetoes or signs laws. It’s the governor who makes those decisions, “ she said.

The fact remains that although Republicans have only 15 seats in the 40-member Senate and 36 in the 80-member Assembly, their unity with Deukmejian has given them more control over the legislative agenda than their numbers alone would suggest. Democrats may possess the votes to pass any measure they wish, but the Republicans have the one vote that counts the most--the governor’s.

Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento) said he suspects that Assembly Republicans return the governor’s favors by refusing to consider joining in veto override attempts. Isenberg cited the Assembly’s recent failure to override Deukmejian’s veto of $2 million in additional firefighting resources during the height of the state’s fire season.

Republicans publicly justified their stance by insisting that there already was sufficient money in the state’s disaster response account.

“It’s crazy, the kind of stuff where you want to grab hold of the Administration and just shake them,” Isenberg said. “This guy goes blindly down the road and vetoes anything they want, and they pay him back.”

Assembly Republican Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale is so proud of the successful alliance that he recently distributed figures that he boasted demonstrate that his caucus can obtain a veto from the governor on almost any bill it opposes.

In 1985 and 1986, Nolan said, the Assembly Republicans asked Deukmejian to veto 221 bills, and the governor complied with 190 of those requests. Figures for 1987 were not available Thursday but an aide to Nolan said she expects this year’s percentages to be comparable.

“Our partnership with the governor is a way of leveling the playing field between ourselves and the Democrats,” Nolan said.

Assemblyman William P. Baker (R-Danville) said the governor’s cooperation forces Democrats to address Republican concerns even on issues that Deukmejian does not feel strongly about.

“By working together, we’ve absolutely been able to shift the balance,” Baker said. “Now Democrats come to us and negotiate bills so they will get our votes or a signature.”

That partnership has proved frustrating for Democrats, who often lash out at Deukmejian in a personal way when he vetoes bills that have enjoyed strong support within their party.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), for instance, reacted with outrage Monday when Deukmejian vetoed a bill to increase the minimum wage to $4.25 an hour from the current $3.35.

“One wonders if the governor does not care because those low-wage earners tend not to vote Republican or if he simply values his tight-fisted reputation more than he values food on the tables, shoes on the feet and roofs over the heads of poor Californians,” Brown said.

Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) showed similar anger the next day when Deukmejian vetoed his bill to allow parents to prepay the cost of their children’s college tuition at today’s prices. The bill, modeled after a program in Michigan, attracted 12 Republican votes in the Assembly but was opposed by Nolan and 21 of the most conservative GOP caucus members.

“Gov. Deukmejian has rejected a proposal which combines the best provisions of plans already at work in other states responsible enough to offer parents some protection against tuition inflation,” Hayden said. “Deukmejian is the first governor in the country to tell families, ‘No, the state isn’t interested in relieving your worst fears about the affordability of college.’ ”

Sometimes the bloc of especially conservative Assembly Republicans will even work to stop legislation that fellow party members and constituents dearly want. That happened early last month when a bill by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) to allow Caltrans to contract out for private engineering services was stalled because the Assembly Republicans objected to affirmative-action provisions placed in the measure by Democrats.

Despite intense lobbying from the business community and indications that Bergeson and Deukmejian were both willing to accept the minority-hiring goals as a condition of winning passage of the bill, the GOP members stood firm in their opposition. Bergeson could have moved the bill to the governor with a majority vote, but she held off out of fear that Deukmejian would agree to a request from the Assembly Republicans that he veto it.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), chairman of the Transportation Committee and a member of Speaker Brown’s inner circle, said the fight over Bergeson’s bill typified the governor’s willingness to “give Assembly Republicans veto power over issues.”

“All along, he said even though his personal view may be different, he would let the Assembly Republicans call the shots,” Katz said. “We have heard that constantly this year. I don’t know whether it’s just Deukmejian trying to butter up the right wing, but it seems to be an abdication of his responsibilities.”

One notable exception to the governor’s alliance with Assembly Republicans was his decision to sign a bill granting the South Coast Air Quality Management District new powers to reduce air pollution in the Los Angeles Basin. Deukmejian signed the bill despite the fears of some Republicans that it gave the district too much authority over business and industry.

But Deukmejian vetoed eight other measures authored by Democrats and aimed at improving air quality.

Said Brown: “I find it disappointing that, once again, this governor has tiptoed away from leading California in bold steps forward on this vital issue.”