East Bloc Aid Plan Unveiled by Vasconcellos

Saying that Californians should invest in peace, the powerful and colorful chairman of the Assembly’s budget-writing committee proposed a novel package Tuesday under which the state would provide $150 million in foreign aid to Eastern Europe and open a trade office in Warsaw.

Democratic Assemblyman John Vasconcellos of Santa Clara, father of California’s Self-Esteem Commission and sponsor of a state-sanctioned Peace Day each May, also proposed a student exchange between California and East Bloc nations and special advisory councils to assist in agricultural and technological development.

The chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, a veteran of 23 years in the Assembly, conceded that the foreign aid element of the 14-point package would be difficult to sell politically.

But Vasconcellos, who often has complained that the state budget is insufficient to meet the health, education and welfare needs of Californians, said ensuring the development of free-market democracies in Eastern Europe would make the state richer in the long run.