$55-Billion State Budget Approved, Sent to Governor : Finances: It carries a host of tax-increase and spending-reduction bills. Deukmejian is expected to sign it either Monday or Tuesday, a spokesman said.

Finally ending a prolonged stalemate, the Legislature passed and sent Gov. George Deukmejian a $55-billion state budget Saturday along with a host of tax-increase and spending-reduction bills necessary to balance the plan.

The budget, coming a record 28 days into the 1990-91 budget year, won final approval late Saturday night by a Senate vote of 29 to 8. The Assembly voted its approval, 55 to 14, just after midnight Friday after a long, bitter debate.

Deukmejian, who eventually joined in the compromise that ultimately produced the spending plan, is expected to sign the budget bill either Monday or Tuesday, a spokesman said. The governor had held out for no new taxes for weeks until he opened new negotiations six days ago.

Despite $2.7 billion in cuts to selected programs, the budget will boost spending by about 10% and will raise $843 million through tax and fee increases.

Approval of the budget came slowly, with legislative leaders in the Assembly forced to build the needed 54-vote, two-thirds majorities almost vote by vote. Basically, Democrats complained of the deep cuts and Republicans balked at the higher taxes.

“It’s not easy. There is a lot of grumbling. People are holding their noses and voting for this budget,” said Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles).

Down the hall, Senate Majority Leader Barry Keene (D-Benicia) was calling the spending plan “a love-hate budget.”

“We love that it is a reality, but we hate the reality that it is,” he said.

Action on the budget package came a record 28 days after the start of the 1990-91 fiscal year and 43 days after the Legislature’s own constitutional deadline for passing a budget. Since the state lacks the legal authority to pay its bills until the budget is signed by the governor, the only bills that have been paid have been those required under court order. More than 5,000 state employees have been without a paycheck since July 13.

The spending plan leaves state financial support for public schools intact. But it rolls back spending on nearly all other state programs, falling particularly hard on counties and the poor, sick and disadvantaged served by state-funded health and human service programs.

The legislation approved Saturday contained about $2.3 billion of the proposed spending reductions. As part of the agreement with legislative leaders, the governor is expected to veto at least $420 million more when he gets the budget plan.

Balancing off the cuts will be $843 million in tax and fee increases that will boost levies on corporations, state university students, campers in state parks and car owners moving into California from other states, to name a few of those who will feel the reach of the legislation.

Part of the package includes legislative reauthorization of state prisons planned for downtown Los Angeles and Lancaster. Deukmejian had said he would not sign the main budget bill unless the Legislature sent him the reauthorization. That normally would be a routine matter but it took on heavy political overtones because of the power of Los Angeles lawmakers opposed to the downtown site. Nevertheless, the bill was approved by the Senate, 21 to 10 and by the Assembly 42 to 21.

The package also contains a far-reaching measure that requires automatic spending cuts of up to 4% in future years when revenues drop below expected expenditures.

The roots of this year’s budget struggle lay in a $3.6-billion gap that exists between tax receipts and various demands for state expenditures caused by such things as soaring school enrollments, prison populations and welfare rolls.

The series of tough votes leading to passage began Friday night and continued through Saturday, complicated by continuing ill will between Republican and Democratic lawmakers and an usually high number of absences caused by vacationing legislators.

Frantic for votes before the budget was finally passed, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) began reeling in vacationing lawmakers. Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-West Los Angeles) left the Capitol early Saturday and, chased down in Los Angeles by Brown, flew back. Assemblyman Gerald R. Eaves (D-Rialto) interrupted his honeymoon to return to the Capitol to vote. Democratic Assemblymen Sam Farr of Carmel and Tom Bane of Tarzana were both in Europe and were prepared to fly back if needed. The same was true for Assemblyman Willard H. Murray Jr. (D-Paramount) who was in Bermuda.

Votes were so important that Brown roused two lawmakers who had been excused because of illness. Assemblyman Sal Cannella (D-Modesto), hours after surgery for kidney stones, was helped to the floor by a sergeant at arms to vote. The Speaker said Democratic Assemblyman Elihu M. Harris, who had been given the day off because of an illness, also rushed back from Oakland.

Republicans could have cast so-called “courtesy” votes for their sick or vacationing Democratic colleagues, but they refused. Assemblyman Charles W. Quackenbush (R-Saratoga), a tax increase opponent who voted against all the tax and budget bills, said: “The Democrats have a lot of people on vacation and I think it’s only fair that they be required to show up in person and claim their victory.”

Meanwhile, Deukmejian--who spent Saturday in Long Beach--joined the hunt for votes, calling legislators personally. But he was forced to play hardball later in the day. When Assembly lawmakers balked at passing key parts of the package, including a bill that would raise $560 million by conforming state tax codes to federal tax law, the governor sent a brief letter to Speaker Brown saying he would not sign the budget until he got the tax bills. The three bills the governor mentioned were approved by both houses.

The Assembly, before it recessed about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, approved nine of the companion bills. Back at work later Saturday morning, Assembly and Senate members began working on the package of budget bills and concluded with a final Senate vote at about 7:30 p.m.

By the end of the day, 18 of the 20 bills were approved and sent to the governor. They will be taken up when the Legislature returns from vacation next month.

Included in the package of legislation is a bill calling for a one-year suspension of a $477 million payment to the State Teachers’ Retirement System pension fund, a bill freezing benefits for welfare recipients and special grants to aged, blind and disabled people, and still another bill cutting county government funds by $201 million but giving counties the authority to make up the money by imposing new fees.

The mounting toll of physical exhaustion, political wrangling and pressure from interest groups left no one smiling.

“This budget was the best we could produce,” said Sen. Ken Maddy, the Republican Senate leader from Fresno who helped craft the plan. He cited what he called a fair balance between cuts and tax increases.

GOP Assembly Leader Ross Johnson of La Habra said producing the budget and all the companion bills was as satisfying as inflicting physical pain: “If you go in your garage and pound your hand with a torque wrench, you are satisfied when you stop, OK? Nobody is happy.”

Republicans argued that because the budget is balanced by tax increases and maneuvers such as delaying pension fund payments, they predict they will have the whole problem handed back to them next year.

Some GOP lawmakers said they felt betrayed by Deukmejian, who will turn over the keys to the governor’s office early next year and retire from public life after his second term.

“This isn’t the courageous reform legacy of a retiring governor,” Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) said during the floor debate. “It is a cowardly escape plan to get out of town and leave the next governor with the kind of problem we failed to solve this year.”

Short of votes to pass the budget package, Democrats were forced to plead with GOP lawmakers to vote for the Republican governor’s spending plan, but the pleas generally came with a political barb attached. “Vote yes. It stinks, but vote yes. Give George Deukmejian his legacy,” said Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-La Mesa).

The $55-billion budget was actually the second budget the Senate approved this month. On July 10, the Senate put together a bipartisan coalition that approved an earlier version of the budget. But it immediately ran into a brick wall in the Assembly, where Democrats denounced its proposed $1.7 billion in cuts and Republicans fought the $1.3 billion in tax increase proposals that went with it.

The final version that went back to the Senate contained far more cuts, and fewer revenues, although about $700 million of the so-called cuts are illusory because the money savings come about as the result of reduced state contributions to three state public employee pension funds and will have to be made up in later years.

Times staff writers Carl Ingram and Max Boot contributed to this story.