Keep Up the Good Work

Rarely have the governor of California and state lawmakers simultaneously faced such bright opportunity for success and such high potential for failure as they do now that the 1990 session of the Legislature has convened. Will they continue the bipartisan productivity of 1989? Or will they slip back into the bickering of earlier years? Does Republican Gov. George Deukmejian want to make 1990 the capstone of his political career with a positive legacy? And will incumbent lawmakers risk defeat at the polls by appearing to sell out to special interests, reinforcing the dreadful public image of state officials that was revealed in the Los Angeles Times Poll on Wednesday?

The answers are easy; the execution difficult. The future of a healthy, vibrant California demands cooperation by Deukmejian and the Democratic leaders for a productive session on a number of vital issues. At least for now, the governor, Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr. (D-San Francisco) and Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) are optimistic about a cooperative 1990.

But grim factors are working against them. There could be a revenue shortfall of up to $600 million, exacerbating the usual fiscal friction between Deukmejian and Democrats. The major achievement of 1989, the transportation program on the June election ballot, is being undermined by powerful lobbies. The pall of corruption hangs over Sacramento. Most of the legislative seats are up in 1990, and the governor is a lame duck. With The Times Poll indicating that at least half of the population believes that taking bribes is a relatively common practice in Sacramento, there may be more than the usual election-year jitters.

But the very bleakness of the landscape should persuade the governor and lawmakers of the wisdom of hanging together rather than hanging separately. Deukmejian will not sit on his hands in his last year, an aide said, adding that his State of the State address Tuesday will feature “a lot of initiatives,” including one on the crisis of affordable housing.

Legislative leaders have been negotiating health and auto insurance issues with the governor’s office--a positive sign. There are indications that the Democrats might give some on the governor’s current pet project--requiring state prison convicts to work for their room and board--if he will relent on his opposition to financing family planning programs. A compromise on those troublesome issues could build trust. And that could lead to even further cooperation on such matters as protecting the transportation/Gann spending limit proposal from becoming unraveled with weakening amendments.

It is time that Sacramento defy the old conventional wisdoms that nothing gets done in an election year, and that a lame duck governor is an impotent governor. In fact, the governor has the freedom to be more effective than ever. And if they dare not to act, legislators have a lot to lose, including their own seats.