‘Defiant’ Deukmejian Says He Will Veto Own Tax Plan

Describing himself as “a little bit defiant,” Gov. George Deukmejian declared Friday that even if his now-abandoned tax increase proposal is passed by the Legislature, he will veto it.

“I certainly am not going to support anything that’s a tax increase or is perceived to be a tax increase,” he told a Capitol news conference.

Deukmejian’s unequivocal statement came shortly after one liberal Democrat announced that he will pick up and push the governor’s original $800-million tax plan, and another said he will sponsor legislation to raise the top income tax rate. Both efforts--by the Assembly and Senate Budget Committee chairmen, respectively--were aimed at making up a $1-billion annual shortfall in the state treasury.

Although the new fiscal year is only two weeks away and there is no state budget in sight as the Legislature gropes for a solution to the fiscal crisis, the governor insisted, “I’m perfectly pleased with where we are right now.” He explained that he will just wait for a budget to be passed and then “line item veto” the $1 billion or more necessary to balance the roughly $45-billion spending plan.

The voters “will be pleased that we’re still addressing essential services, but we’ll be living within our means,” Deukmejian said.

Accusing the Legislature of “irresponsibility” and a “tax-and-spend” attitude, the governor said he has refused to send lawmakers a new list of possible budget cuts because they already have “ignored” $450 million in trims he has offered.

In his wide-ranging press conference, Deukmejian also teased reporters about the vice presidency, at first saying flatly that “I couldn’t accept it,” then adding, “you never say never.”

Two Deukmejian advisers, however, later told The Times that privately the governor remains emphatic that he could not accept an offer by Vice President George Bush to be his running mate because if the ticket were to be elected, Deukmejian would have to turn over the state’s highest office to a Democrat.

One top aide said Deukmejian’s recent non-answers to the inevitable vice presidential question--on national television last Sunday he replied that his “astrologer” advised him not to respond--were the product of the “defiant” mood he described to reporters. “At first he was amused, but now all these questions are downright tiring,” the adviser said.

As for Tuesday’s election, Deukmejian told reporters that he still is adamantly opposed to raising the gasoline tax to pay for highway construction, despite apparent voter rejection of his proposed $1-billion transportation bond issue. The secretary of state’s office reported Friday that the measure, Proposition 74, is trailing by 2,920 votes, but that another 50,000 or more absentee ballots remain to be counted and it could be weeks before the final result is known.

Democrats Make Move

Just before Deukmejian held his press conference, two liberal Democrats--John Vasconcellos of Santa Clara, Assembly Ways and Means Committee chairman, and Alfred E. Alquist of San Jose, Senate Budget Committee chairman--announced that they will sponsor tax-increase legislation to balance the budget.

Vasconcellos, who previously accused Deukmejian of “political cowardice” for succumbing to heat from fellow Republicans and dropping his tax hike plan, said he will adopt the governor’s proposal and sponsor it as his own. The plan basically involves suspending for one year the indexing mechanism that keeps taxpayers from being pushed into higher income brackets when they receive cost-of-living increases, hiking bank and corporation taxes and canceling for one year a tax break for money-losing businesses.

Alquist said he will try to raise $800 million by hiking the top state income tax rate from 9.3% to 10.3%.

But still smarting because his plan was defined by the news media and most politicians as a tax increase--when he wanted it to be called “a temporary minimal adjustment”--Deukmejian indicated that he will not support any concept that raised revenues. “We’re beyond that now,” he said.

‘Political Angles’

Looking back to his original proposal, unveiled only three weeks ago and abandoned one week later, the governor lamented: “I approached it in a fiscally responsible, good government-type (way). But apparently people are more interested in the political angles than they are in trying to straighten things out.”

Asked whether he would sign the plan if lawmakers passed it without his sponsorship, Deukmejian quickly answered: “No.” And, dispelling any speculation that he might allow it to become law without his signature, Press Secretary Kevin Brett later amplified that the governor’s answer meant that he actually would veto such legislation.

Deukmejian said of the Democratic-controlled Legislature: “They want to have their cake and eat it, too. They want to vote for all these expenditures to make all the constituency groups that come to them happy. And then they want to go out and say, ‘Well, California is operating in a fiscally responsible manner because we’ve got a balanced budget.’ It’s about time they stepped into the batter’s box and exercised their responsibility.”

Asked to characterize his “mood” these days, the governor thought carefully for several seconds and replied: “I’m a little bit defiant, I guess would be a very good word.”

As for possibly becoming Bush’s running mate, Deukmejian said: “I haven’t had any conversations with the Vice President about this question. I don’t expect that he’d even ask me. He’s going to carry California whether George Deukmejian is on the ticket or not. And further, as I’ve said very, very often, even if I was asked, I couldn’t accept it because I’m not about to turn over the governor’s office to the Democratic Party.”

Teases Reporters

But as reporters persisted, Deukmejian began to tease.

“You know, you never say ‘never,’ ” he said with a smile. “Now, does that keep you guessing?. . . . Who knows, somebody might come up with an idea as to how it can all come together without turning (the governor’s office) over to a Democrat.”

That sounded as if he would like the job, a reporter noted.

“Listen, I’ve said a number of times it would be a very, very high honor,” Deukmejian continued. “Very few Americans living today or have lived in this country in the past would ever have the opportunity to be Vice President of the United States. It would be a high honor, indeed. But it’s not going to happen, so let’s not worry about it.”