Sacramento on a Roll

Democratic leaders of the California Legislature and Republican Gov. George Deukmejian are on a bipartisan roll. But can it continue through the end of the 1989 session on Sept. 15? To make that happen, Sacramento must come up with solutions to some of the less-glamorous but more-intract-able problems facing the state--issues like workers’ compensation and garbage disposal.

Going into the Legislature’s summer recess, the governor and the lawmakers had dealt effectively with restrictions on assault weapons and developed a massive package to provide, subject to voter approval next year, $18.5 billion in transportation programs and to ease the Gann restrictions on government spending. The governor and the Legislature seemed to be working together in a cooperative spirit that was unprecedented for them. The constructive mood was helped by the fact that the state Assembly was no longer paralyzed by internal factional bickering, that the Legislature had gotten over the first shock of a sweeping FBI investigation into alleged corruption and because of concern among legislative leaders about the body’s do-nothing image.

Then, too, the governor had announced plans not to seek a third term. Many capital observers believed that Deukmejian’s sudden involvement in major policy discussions reflected a desire to leave office with a more positive record than would have been written, for instance, at the end of last year’s session. And finally, the state had emerged from the fiscal crisis that gripped Sacramento a year ago. An unexpected increase in state tax revenues made it possible to finance most state programs without the severe cuts Deukmejian had proposedin his original 1989-90 budget last January.

Whatever the reasons, the results are clear and beneficial. And now that the Legislature has returned from its summer recess, there is an opportunity to build on that record during the final four weeks of the 1989 term.

The most pressing issue is division of the $900 million that will be collected during this fiscal year from the Proposition 99 tobacco tax increase approved by voters last November. Deukmejian created controversy last January by proposing that some of the funds go to finance existing health- care programs even though the ballot measure specifically stipulated that the money was to be used only to supplement current outlays. The Legislature should adhere to the initiative’s directives and channel the money as intended, including 35% for hospital services for the poor and a total of at least $100 million for children not covered by any health insurance.

The Legislature also should seize the opportunity to reform the tangled workers’ compensation system, to extend health coverage to workers of small companies and to create a low-cost auto liability insurance program. And the governor should be supported in his campaign for an expanded state program for solid waste disposal and recycling. All of these programs deserve final action this year, if suitable compromises of conflicting positions can be achieved. If that is not possible, not all the progress achieved to date is lost. Since this is the first year of a two-year session, any bill that does not pass carries over until January without having to start the legislative process from the beginning.