Democrats Take Aim at Governor’s Programs

Seething over Gov. George Deukmejian’s flip-flop on tax increase legislation, Democratic budget writers began cutting the proposed $45-billion state budget with a vengeance Wednesday, eliminating some of the Republican chief executive’s most prized programs.

The four Democratic legislators on a six-member budget conference committee started their attack on Deukmejian programs by voting to eliminate an appropriation of $350 million sought by the governor to help finance county government and pay for about 100 new judgeships.

The vote was 4 to 2 to eliminate the extra court funding, with the two Republicans on the conference committee voting no.

Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) said his vote will stand until Deukmejian and GOP lawmakers agree to tax increases or other measures to raise more revenue for the state.

“I don’t know where else to find the money,” Vasconcellos said.

On another 4-2 vote, the committee wiped out the Resources Agency by cutting the $1.3 million earmarked for Resources Secretary Gordon K. Van Vleck, a member of Deukmejian’s Cabinet, and his staff. Democrats on the committee indicated that they plan to cut the budgets of other members of Deukmejian’s inner circle.

Vasconcellos did not give any specific reasons for wanting to wipe out the Resources Agency, which advises the governor on natural resources policy and coordinates the activities of more than a dozen state departments, commissions and boards.

Then, on an identical vote, the committee deleted $8 million in funding for the Department of Commerce’s tourism office, which has undergone great expansion under Deukmejian.

‘Answer Is No’

Complaining that Deukmejian’s budget would require cuts in education programs, Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) asked whether the tourism office, which promotes California as a place to visit, deserves to be given a higher priority than education programs. “The answer is no,” said Garamendi just before he voted.

In all, the committee reduced the budget by well over $400 million.

Vasconcellos estimated that unless lawmakers can come up with new revenues, about $1 billion will have to be cut from the budget.

At the beginning of the session, Vasconcellos put a yellow rubber duck on his desk and acidly began referring to the governor as “Gov. Duckmejian” because, the Democrat said, he is “ducking his responsibilities” by giving the Legislature a budget that exceeds available revenue by at least $800 million.

Assemblyman William P. Baker (R-Danville), one of the two GOP members on the conference committee, said the Democrats were being “petulant.”

“They are trying to hurt the governor. What they are really doing is hurting the counties,” said Baker, referring to the cut in trial court funding.

Ultimately, when the conference committee finishes its work, the budget will need votes by two-thirds of the membership of both the Assembly and Senate.

With the Legislature already a week past its constitutional deadline to pass a budget, Republicans have been saying they want to send a budget to Deukmejian in any form. The governor holds the ultimate weapon in the budget fight, the power of the line-item veto, meaning he can go through the budget line by line and eliminate any programs he wants.

In the past, when the Democratic-dominated Legislature has gone after his programs, Deukmejian has vetoed programs of equal value from the budget and set the money aside, demanding that Democrats pass legislation restoring the appropriations.

‘Weigh His Options’

A Deukmejian spokesman, assistant press secretary Tom Beermann, said the governor will not disclose what he will do in advance.

“The governor will weigh his options when he gets the budget,” Beermann said.

State Finance Director Jesse R. Huff, a Deukmejian Cabinet member, appeared before the conference committee Wednesday and reacted stoically to the committee’s work.

“Take your best shot,” he told committee members.

Later, Huff told reporters the lawmakers “are making cuts that reflect their priorities.”

He said “When we get (the budget), we will respond.”

Counties have been counting on state support for trial courts to allow them to provide additional funding for hospitals, libraries and law enforcement services. County officials say the cut would have serious fiscal consequences on nearly every county in California.

Democrats on the committee know the court funding appropriation is one of the most politically sensitive items in the budget. It is clear they hope ultimately that that cut or another one will bring Deukmejian to the bargaining table, where they would like to persuade him and other Republicans to agree to some form of tax- or revenue-raising measure.

The problem stems from a $2-billion revenue shortage caused by changes in federal and state tax law in 1986 and 1987.

Proposal Withdrawn

Last month, Deukmejian proposed a combination of budget cuts, accounting adjustments and $800 million in tax and revenue increases to make up for the shortfall. But the political heat generated from within his own party to the tax plan caused him to quickly withdraw the proposal. Now the governor says he is absolutely opposed to any change in tax law that might even be perceived as a tax increase.

Deukmejian did not suggest any specific cuts to fill the $800-million hole in the budget caused by his decision to drop his tax plan. That infuriated Democrats because it basically left it up to them to reduce the budget.

Democrats and Republicans on the conference committee had hoped Huff would agree with the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget advisers that state tax revenues next year will be higher than expected.

Before Huff testified, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill and Linda Proaps, executive director of the Commission on State Finance, told the committee that they expect tax revenues to be $370 million higher than the Deukmejian Administration is forecasting. They say the economy will perform better than the Administration anticipates. Agreement on that point would ease the budget problem somewhat because lawmakers could write the higher estimates into their revenue projections, which would help balance spending.

But Huff said he does not agree.

“We are comfortable with our revenue estimates,” he said.