Governor Plans Special Session on Quake Aid

Gov. George Deukmejian on Monday announced that he intends to call a special session of the Legislature within the next two weeks to figure out how to pay for the state’s share of earthquake repairs.

The only caveat was that the governor and legislative leaders first agree on an agenda for the session and specific legislation to be considered. All sides--the governor and legislative leaders of both parties--predicted that would happen.

“We’ll come up with an agenda. That is not a concern,” said Deukmejian’s chief of staff, Michael R. Frost, after the governor had met with legislative leaders for 90 minutes.

While lawmakers after last week’s earthquake initially had talked about a temporary hike in the gasoline tax to finance repairs and assistance to victims, there was a growing movement on Monday to consider a stopgap sales tax increase instead. For one thing, a sales tax increase would raise a lot more money.

For example, a half-cent increase in the sales tax--now ranging from 6 to 6 1/2 cents in various areas--would bring in $120 million a month. By comparison, a 5-cents-per-gallon hike in the gasoline tax would raise $62.5 million per month.

But neither the governor nor the legislative leaders on Monday were willing just yet to sign off on a tax increase of any kind because nobody had even a ballpark estimate of how much money the state will need. That will depend, to a large extent, on what the federal government is willing to provide.

In Washington on Monday, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $2.8-billion package to rebuild roadways and provide emergency aid in Northern California. That was $1 billion less than the California delegation’s request and closer to the $2.5 billion proposed by President Bush.

Deukmejian sent Bush a letter requesting several changes in the law, such as excusing repayment of housing repair loans until the structure is sold.

“When you personally visited the devasted areas of California you pledged the full support of the federal government,” Deukmejian reminded Bush in his letter. “Now is the time to translate these pledges of support into specific action. . . . California needs your help.”

The governor, at a press conference after his meeting with legislative leaders, also heatedly continued to insist that he never had been told that the Nimitz Freeway might crumble in a severe earthquake. When one reporter pointed out to Deukmejian that the freeway collapsed “on your watch,” the governor tersely replied: “I’m not taking responsibility for a condition that apparently existed there, since we were not informed about it.”

Deukmejian also invited “whistle-blowers”--the term he used--within state government to clandestinely report to him any information about unsafe roadways or faulty procedures for improving them. “They’re fully protected. Their jobs are not in jeopardy,” he said. “I can tell you, as governor . . . I would want to know.”

He added: “The main thing to determine now is what other parts of the transportation network, if any, are also subject to severe damage (in an earthquake). If there are . . . we’ve got to take some steps, even if it means closing some of those freeway sections.”

Deukmejian said, however, it is not his intention during the special legislative session to consider ways to expedite the retrofitting of bridges and freeways throughout California to make them safer from earthquakes. That will have to wait until the Legislature reconvenes its regular session in January.

The governor and legislators are hoping that the federal government will agree to pay for roughly 90% of the public cost of repairs. Estimates of the total federal-state bill have been in the $4-billion to $5-billion range. The state government already has a rainy-day fund of $1 billion set aside for such emergencies. So it could be that a tax hike might not even be necessary.

One political problem that concerns Deukmejian and the legislative leaders is what effect a temporary gas tax hike might have on their efforts to persuade voters next June to approve a permanent 9-cents-per-gallon increase to finance a 10-year highway building program.

“It might reinforce people’s cynicism about government,” observed Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee. “People might think the tax is going to be enacted early as an emergency so we can come back and say we want to keep it. It leaves the impression that governments have never seen a tax that they didn’t want to hold onto.”

Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr. (D-San Francisco) at one point Monday suggested moving up next June’s scheduled vote on the gas tax to this December. His reasons were complex, dealing with also obtaining the voters’ early authority to exceed the state’s spending limit to smooth the way for appropriating earthquake aid. The governor and legislative leaders discussed the suggestion without coming to a conclusion. And later, Brown told reporters that perhaps it would not be logistically possible to hold a special statewide election in December anyway.

The governor and the leaders decided to meet again next Monday to try to reach agreement on the special session agenda.

“We don’t want to go into a special session and have a freewheeling donnybrook,” noted Senate Republican leader Ken Maddy of Fresno. “We don’t want to have 120 bills introduced with 120 different ideas.”

Times staff writers Jerry Gillam and Carl Ingram contributed to this story.