BUDGET WATCH : Easy as ABC?

Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature had to make some tough calls in coming up with a state budget this year in the face of a projected $14-billion deficit. Many good programs were cut severely; but is it possible that a budget cut might end up costing the state more money than it saves? That question must now be answered in regard to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

ABC monitors 73,000 business establishments licensed to sell alcohol in California. It polices bars and liquor stores to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors and other illegal activities. Wilson cut $4.9 million out of ABC’s budget, meaning that 134 of the agency’s 197 investigators will lose their jobs.

That has raised an understandable cry not just from the affected state workers but from anti-alcohol groups, local police who say they can’t take on the added burden of enforcing liquor laws and restaurant owners who worry that applications for liquor licenses will take years--rather than months--to be approved.

California’s hard-pressed taxpayers will also be interested in the claim that ABC’s enforcement efforts bring in more money in fines and tax assessments (reportedly $10 million last year) than it costs to operate the agency.

That issue bears a closer look, which is what we hope the Assembly Governmental Operations Committee will give it today when it holds a hearing on the issue in Los Angeles. If ABC’s proponents can prove their case, Wilson may have to restore at least some of its budget. California needs liquor law enforcement.