Wilson Vetoes Bill to Extend Unemployment Benefits

Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed legislation designed Friday to hasten the payment of extended unemployment insurance benefits to Californians thrown out of work by the recession.

“The most important use of economic resources in fighting unemployment must be to create new jobs, rather than extending the time for collection of benefits,” said Wilson, whose veto of the labor-supported bill had been expected.

He acted on the proposal, by Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson), on the day that the state Employment Development Department announced that the California unemployment rate increased from 7.3% in August to 7.7% last month.

The bill would have lowered the unemployment threshold at which the California extended jobless benefits would begin. Most unemployed workers receive a maximum 26 weeks of benefits, ranging up to $210 a week.

In a veto message, Wilson said the Floyd bill represented an extra $200-million “tax increase” on employers, whose contributions will increase by $600 million Jan. 1 to finance previously scheduled benefit improvements.

In a separate expected action, Wilson also vetoed a bill aimed at increasing the representation of women and minorities on state boards and commissions by requiring the governor to make sure his appointees reflect the “numerical composition of all segments” of the population.

Wilson called the legislation by Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) an “inherently unfair” quota bill. He said existing law requires that membership on governmental boards must be broadly reflective of the public.