Governor Blasts Labeling of ‘Adjustment’ as Tax Hike

An irritated Gov. George Deukmejian, accusing critics of a “mind-set” against his fiscal policies, stepped up his attack on reporters today, declaring that “you don’t want to write what the facts are and (you) send out the wrong signals.”

Deukmejian, embroiled in a political dispute over his controversial state budget proposal, accused the Legislature of acting irresponsibly in trying to satisfy various constituency groups and said reporters deliberately mischaracterized his policies.

Deukmejian recently repudiated his own $2.3-billion, 2-year budget-balancing proposal that includes $800 million in new revenues, saying the plan had been inaccurately described by journalists as a tax increase instead of accepting his description of them as “temporary minimal adjustment” in taxes.

The Legislature’s Democratic budget chairmen today proposed two alternative $800-million tax plans, one of them the proposal Deukmejian repudiated.

Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) and Sen. Alfred Alquist (D-San Jose) said they will push their two proposals next week.

Alquist proposed raising $800 million by increasing the top personal income tax bracket from 9.3% to 10.3%. It was dropped last year from 11% as part of the tax conformity law that both legislators blamed for the state’s $1.1-billion tax shortfall this spring.

Vasconcellos said he will put Deukmejian’s $800-million tax plan into a bill he has pending in the Senate.

Deukmejian quickly said he will not support either tax proposal.