Extension Urged on 1/4-Cent Quake Relief Sales Tax : Budget: Assembly Speaker Brown says the extra money can be used to prevent health and welfare cuts.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown suggested Thursday that the state extend the temporary sales tax increase enacted for earthquake relief and use the extra money to prevent cuts Gov. George Deukmejian has proposed in health and welfare programs for the poor.

But Deukmejian and Republicans in the Legislature quickly rejected the idea, saying the tax was enacted for a special purpose and should not be extended beyond Dec. 31, when it is scheduled to expire.

Brown (D-San Francisco), addressing reporters at the Capitol, said the $785 million to be raised by the 13-month, quarter-cent tax increase will not be enough even to cover the costs of responding to the Oct. 17 Bay Area quake and preparing for the next big temblor.

And now, with Deukmejian suggesting budget cuts in part to replenish a $1-billion surplus he wants in the state’s General Fund, Brown said additional money is needed and the sales tax would be an easy way to raise it.

“I think you have to go back and say to the people, the original estimate of 13 months was not accurate,” Brown said. “It has not generated a sufficient amount of money to take care of the problem. In addition, there are some other problems that have come to our attention that there are not resources to handle.”

Although the Speaker said he would support using some of the money for health and social service programs, he said the public would probably find the tax extension more palatable if it were linked to additional earthquake preparation measures.

“My guess is if you told the public that you could either have the bridges repaired and retrofitted or they run the risk of falling down if another quake occurs, even if they didn’t fall down in this quake, I think most people would say keep the quarter-cent,” Brown said.

Of the $785 million that the quarter-cent boost is expected to bring into state coffers, $472 million is already earmarked under laws enacted at a special session of the Legislature in November. The Administration anticipates spending the remainder on aid to individuals, businesses and public agencies that suffered losses in the quake.

On top of that, Deukmejian has proposed spending $15 million to provide permanent housing for low-income residents made homeless by the quake and another $11 million to improve the Office of Emergency Services’ ability to prepare for and respond to an earthquake.

Finally, the governor wants to float a $250-million bond measure to begin a multiyear effort to bring state buildings up to earthquake safety standards.

At the same time, Deukmejian, in his budget proposal released Wednesday, said the state will fall $1.9 billion short of what it needs to continue all existing programs at their current levels. To help make up the shortfall, the governor proposed saving more than $1 billion by cutting or freezing services to the poor, aged and disabled.

Despite the budget gap, a Deukmejian spokesman said Thursday that the governor will oppose any extension of the sales tax.

“We feel it was enacted for a specific purpose and a specific amount of time,” said Robert Gore, the governor’s press secretary. “The tax was to respond to an emergency, not to supplement programs.”

And Carlsbad Republican Robert Frazee, the second-ranking GOP member in the Assembly, said his party colleagues were unlikely to go along with Brown’s proposal.

“That doesn’t sound too good to me,” Frazee said. “I don’t think my constituents would approve of that. It was everyone’s understanding that it had a limited term and we would not keep it forever.”

Speaker Brown, in other remarks, said he did not expect all the Democrats in his house to support a compromise measure to restore $24 million that Deukmejian cut last year from the state family planning budget.

The bill, passed unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, would place in law restrictions designed to prevent private clinics from using any family planning money to subsidize abortions.

Despite apparent bipartisan agreement on the issue, Brown said it will still be difficult to get the two-thirds majority needed to pass the measure.

“It is clear there are some Democrats who are very reluctant to vote for that family planning program,” Brown said. “I’m hopeful that they all do but I can’t tell you that they will.”

STANDING FAST--Gov. Deukmejian vowed to resist efforts to send more money from a proposed gas tax hike to Northern California. A28