State Lawmakers Will Reconvene for Month; 2,400 Bills Waiting

Lawmakers will wade into a mountain of unfinished business when they end their summer recess Monday, with decisions on a possible gasoline tax increase, county trial court funding and other leftover budget issues topping the legislative agenda.

About 2,400 bills await action when lawmakers return for several hectic weeks of work before they wrap up their two-year legislative session for good Aug. 31. In addition to tax and budget questions, lawmakers will act on legislation dealing with AIDS, gang warfare, no-fault insurance and other issues.

Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, hoping to set the agenda, urged lawmakers in a statewide radio speech Saturday taped before he left on a two-week trade mission to Asia “to act swiftly” to clear up budget issues that were left dangling when he signed the new $44-billion state budget July 8.

The issues were left dangling because Deukmejian signed a budget he was not completely happy with in order to meet financial obligations for the fiscal year that began July 1.

The issues include financing of the trial courts, along with support for prisons, the University of California and California State University systems, and several pet programs of Deukmejian’s, such as the Office of Tourism.

Among the vetoes were cuts in health and welfare programs that Democrats want restored in return for supporting Deukmejian’s programs.

But Deukmejian indicated Saturday that he is in no mood to compromise, saying he has already outlined where he wants to spend the money he saved by vetoing $472 million from the budget.

“I want to make it clear that the money I vetoed last month has been set aside specifically for these programs, and I will not agree to spend it on anything else,” Deukmejian said.

Senate Democratic Leader David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), indicating sharp differences with the governor, said Democrats consider all the issues linked. “They are all interwoven,” he said.

The governor did not mention a gasoline tax increase but he raised the possibility of one earlier when he said during the recess that he would allow the Legislature to put the issue on the ballot, even though he would campaign against it.

That was enough to encourage both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who for years have been seeking extra tax money for highway and mass transit projects to help relieve the state’s worsening traffic congestion problem.

Deukmejian has conceded the need for money but hopes to finance new traffic projects with bond money. A $1-billion transportation bond issue he backed failed by a narrow margin in the June primary election.

‘An Awesome Problem’

“He opened the door a crack, but we still have to work it out,” Senate Republican Leader Ken Maddy of Fresno said of Deukmejian’s overtures on the gasoline tax.

Roberti said of the governor’s position: “It’s better than nothing but it’s not much. We have an awesome problem that we have to deal with. At some point, we have to compromise.”

Several gasoline tax bills have already been drafted. One calls for an outright increase in the gasoline tax of 6 cents, to be accompanied by a Nov. 8 ballot measure asking voters to raise the limit on state spending by $1 billion. Deukmejian has indicated that he does not want to raise the spending limit, which was created by voters in 1979.

Another approach being offered up calls for an advisory vote on two alternatives: either a 10-cent or 15-cent increase in the tax. The extra nickel would be used specifically for mass transit projects.

Currently, both the state and federal governments levy a 9-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline, for a total of 18 cents. In addition, the state charges a 6% sales tax on retail gasoline sales.

Maddy predicted that negotiations between party leaders on unresolved budget issues will set the stage for debate on the gasoline tax and other issues.

‘Our First Priority’

“Restoring the items cut from the budget has got to be our first priority, and that’s probably going to set the direction for the next four weeks,” Maddy said.

On top of the mountain of pending legislation, lawmakers may be asked to confirm a new state treasurer. Deukmejian’s first nominee, Rep. Daniel E. Lungren, was rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Republican chief executive has delayed making a second nomination but he indicated that he may make a decision in August. The job has been vacant since the death of Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh last Aug. 4.

Roberti, however, indicated that, even if Deukmejian does announce a new nominee, the Legislature may not have time to conduct confirmation hearings in August. “I don’t think we have the time,” he said.

The Legislature is scheduled to complete the session by Aug. 31, but the month will be cut short because Deukmejian and many GOP lawmakers will be attending the Republican National Convention during the third week of the month. During that period, the Democrats have agreed not to press any controversial legislation.

Brian Kidney, chief clerk of the Assembly, said about 2,400 bills are still pending in the Senate or Assembly. Only about half of those are likely to pass one house or the other, but even so lawmakers will be deluged with paper. “The Senate will probably pass 700 or 800 Assembly bills back to us, and we’ll probably send 600 or 700 of theirs back to them. It’s going to be a busy month,” the chief clerk said.

Of all the issues facing lawmakers, the thorniest may be how much, if anything, counties will get from the $350 million promised them by the Legislature last year to finance the administration of trial courts.

Unexpected Revenue Drop

Democrats dropped the money from the budget in a wave of austerity actions. The moves were triggered by the unexpected $2-billion drop in tax revenues caused by changes in federal and state tax law.

But Democrats propose restoring the money with legislation that would raise $560 million by speeding up collection of a variety of taxes. Other money raised by the tax bill, which has already passed the Senate, would be used to restore Democrat-favored health, education and welfare programs that were cut from the budget by Deukmejian.

Deukmejian opposes the tax measure and is trying to salvage what he can of the original proposal with a plan that will give counties $190 million to finance the trial courts for half a year along along with $47.5 million in unrestricted general aid. He would finance the trial courts funding plan with some of the $472 million he vetoed from the new $44-billion state budget.

In the meantime, county officials will be watching nervously. They are predicting that if the trial court funding measure doesn’t pass, many counties in California will be in such a financial bind that they will have to cut law enforcement, health, library and other services.

Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dixon said this week: “No ifs, ands or buts about it, trial court funding is the county’s most important legislative priority.”

Dixon predicted that if the trial court funding package goes down, it will require across-the-board cuts in nearly all county services.

‘People Getting Angry’

Monterey County Supervisor Barbara Shipnuck, president of the County Supervisors Assn. of California, said patience with the Legislature is wearing thin at the local level. Shipnuck said that for years some county costs, like running the jails, have been exploding without adequate support from the state. She said refusing to pass the trial court funding package is just the latest in a long series of actions in the Capitol that have hurt counties.

“The mind-set in Sacramento seems to be how they can hold each other’s programs hostage as opposed to what needs to be done to address the problems in their districts. People are getting angry and they are beginning to realize that the problem is in Sacramento,” Shipnuck said.

The Legislature got another prod in the form of an announcement by anti-tax crusader Paul Gann, who co-authored the landmark Proposition 13 tax-cut initiative in 1978, that he is working on an initiative for the 1990 ballot that would give counties a fixed share of the sales tax so they will be less dependent on the Legislature for money.

The tax and budget issues are far from being the only important questions before the Legislature.

A record 105 bills have been introduced this year dealing with the prevention, treatment and other issues related to the AIDS crisis. Many of them are expected to pass in the closing weeks of the session.

A sizable number of bills have also been introduced to deal with the problem of gang warfare. Among the bills are proposals that would increase penalties for gang members arrested for a crime, set up a computerized network to keep track of gang members and set up diversion programs to keep young people from joining gangs.