Wilson’s Top Priority: Shoring Up the Budget : Governor: He plans to stump the state to win support for his austerity program and fiscal restructuring.

Pete Wilson’s first priority after being sworn in as California’s 36th governor Monday will be to fix the state’s budget mess, he says. That will mean “spreading some pain” with program cuts and asking voters next year to remove the fiscal straitjacket they have wrapped around the governor and Legislature.

He is prepared for howls of protest. So the new governor will hit the road, again stumping the state as if he were campaigning for votes, only this time drumming up public support for his austere budget proposal.

But one person’s straitjacket is another’s protection, such as guaranteed funding for schools. So Wilson thinks the best way to forge a consensus for repeal of “ballot box budgeting”--restrictions imposed by voters--is to bring together leaders from a wide range of political and special interests and ask them to recommend a plan. “A (state) constitutional revision commission of some sort makes sense,” he said in an interview.

The root of the budget problem in the view of Wilson--as well as outgoing Gov. George Deukmejian, key legislators and many students of government--is that the voters, the courts and the lawmakers themselves have tied up tax revenues to the point where elected officials no longer have much flexibility in setting priorities for their use. This is especially crippling in hard times such as these, when state government is facing a recession-spurred deficit of roughly $1 billion in the current fiscal year and projected red ink of $6 billion-plus in the next.

Hardly anyone, meanwhile, really believes that Wilson’s first budget can be balanced without a tax increase to supplement deep program cuts. But don’t expect the new Republican governor to get specific about any major tax hike in his inaugural speech Monday, his State of the State address Wednesday or even the budget he unveils Thursday.

Wilson strongly believes President Bush blundered last year in signaling his willingness to accept a big tax increase long before the serious bargaining began with Congress, and he is determined not to make that mistake with the Legislature, senior aides said.

Asked his attitude about raising taxes, Wilson answered: “One of skepticism because of the fact we’re in an economic downturn. You have to be very careful that you don’t dampen the economic climate in the state.”

Wilson did indicate to The Times, however, that while the income tax is “definitely” off limits, the sales tax is negotiable, particularly if the new revenue were to be used for fighting illegal drugs.

“The sales tax in California is not, as some seem to characterize it . . . a regressive tax, not given the exemptions in it,” he said. “And I do accord the highest priority to preventing as much drug use as we possibly can. I want to get the state as drug free as possible.”

In fact, Wilson added, “if you are looking for a theme, a theme that you will find reiterated many times running through a number of different (Administration) activities, it is an effort to shift from remedy to prevention. . . . It’s infinitely more humane and infinitely more effective.”

By this, Wilson means such new programs as assuring prenatal care for every pregnant woman, integrating public health services with the school system--”healthy start,” he calls it--and greatly increasing drug education in all grades. “We need to pound it into these guys’ brains,” said a Wilson aide, referring to the consequences of using drugs.

Beyond that, Wilson wants to substantially increase “mentor programs” that borrow volunteers, often from the business community, to oversee the educational progress of students whose parents don’t seem to care about their schooling. The “agenda” of Wilson’s Cabinet-level education adviser, Maureen DiMarco, will be to develop a statewide mentor program, according to an aide, who added: “Bush may talk about being the education President, but Wilson will be the education governor.”

The education Establishment, however, is bound to become increasingly troubled by Wilson as the coming week unfolds and his budget plans are spelled out in detail. “There’ll be howls, no question about it,” a senior adviser said.

Wilson is expected to freeze spending throughout most of state government. In education’s case, this means asking the Legislature to suspend Proposition 98, the ballot measure approved by voters in 1988 that guarantees public schools at least 40% of general fund revenues. Counting all earmarked tax monies from past ballot initiatives, court decisions, federal restrictions and legislative actions, the governor and Legislature now have discretion over only roughly 10% to 15% of the state budget, according to the governor’s office.

“Times change,” Wilson said. “Something that was passed four or five or six years ago, even if it may have made sense at that moment, may no longer (make sense) in terms of immediate needs. The more you build in those constraints, the more earmarking there is . . . the less flexibility (and) the less ability (there is) to set and keep priorities. . . . I would like to scrap a lot of stuff.”

And even if Proposition 98 were scrapped, he said, “I’m not certain we wouldn’t spend as much or more for education as we do now.”

Wilson said he wants to get a budget restructuring proposal on the 1992 ballot and is not wedded to any particular way of achieving this goal, except that any plan should enjoy broad support. It could be negotiated by just the Legislature and himself, with substantial outside input, or a constitutional revision commission also could get involved, he said.

Then he intends to campaign up and down the state for its passage, just as he will for his budget and other Administration proposals.

“I believe that in order to govern effectively you have to communicate,” he said. “I see myself doing a lot of the same things that I did during the campaign.”

One senior adviser said: “He’ll use the bully pulpit of the governor’s office.”

In other words, Wilson intends to be more like Gov. Ronald Reagan and less like Gov. George Deukmejian.

His style within the Capitol also will be different than Deukmejian’s, according to what he and his advisers are promising. “I expect to be accessible and to initiate contact (with legislators) when I think it’s necessary, which will probably be often,” Wilson said.

The new governor will be dropping into legislators’ offices and socializing with them after hours, several longtime aides said. “He knows that a lot of games are played off the court,” said one.

At the same time, Wilson knows how to play political hardball; to reward friends and punish enemies. For example, last week the governor-elect signaled legislators just how highly he regards loyalty by choosing a longtime ally, state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim), to replace him in the U.S. Senate.

“Wilson understands power and he doesn’t shirk from the use of power,” a senior adviser said.

As for his own political future, Wilson said he is entering the governor’s office assuming that he will run for a second term in four years. “That’s my expectation,” he said.

And as for the inevitable question asked every modern California governor--does he aspire to the presidency--Wilson answered as candidly as he could politically, neither expressing blatant ambition nor closing the door.

“Listen, two years in this life is forever and four is infinity,” said the 57-year-old career politician. “I live a credo: Do a good job and maybe the future will take care of itself.”

Wilson noted that he supports the reelection of President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle to a second term in 1992. “If they are reelected,” he continued, “any thoughts of that kind (running himself) are six years away.” And although he considers being governor “a career topper,” he said, “it doesn’t mean that I am indifferent to making changes.”

Translation: If the brass ring ever comes anywhere close, he’ll reach for it.