Deukmejian Bids Farewell; Says He’s Proud of Spending Vetoes

Citing fiscal conservatism as a hallmark of his Administration, Gov. George Deukmejian bade farewell to the state in his final Saturday morning radio address.

“I have done my best to be a governor who kept his promises, who did what he set out to do,” said the eight-year Republican governor. “As I prepare to leave public life after 28 years of service, I am going to miss the challenges of the governor’s office.”

Among his accomplishments, Deukmejian told the radio audience, were more than 4,000 vetoes of budget spending proposed by the Legislature, establishment of an emergency budget reserve and restoration of the state’s triple-A bond credit rating.

Deukmejian, who will be succeeded by U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson on Jan. 7, also took credit for the creation of nearly 3 million jobs and educational reforms.

Deukmejian cited the quarter-cent earthquake sales tax as the only general tax raised during his two terms without a vote of the people. That tax, passed by the Legislature to provide $800 million to repair damage caused by the Oct. 17, 1989, Bay Area earthquake, will expire Monday.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, in his statewide radio address Saturday, called for an overhaul of the state Constitution to help solve the state’s budget woes.

“It is time to stop taking a piecemeal approach to our budget problems,” said the San Francisco Democrat. “Instead, we must tackle this head-on, unified in our belief that reform is needed to correct the structural imbalance besetting the state budget-making. It is the most responsible way of starting this new year.”

Earlier this month, legislative analyst Elizabeth Hill predicted that the state could face a $5.9-billion shortfall between revenues and spending over the next 18 months.