Stop Bashing, Start Budgeting : Wilson needs to get cracking on a budget deal

Like it or not--and he clearly does not--the ball is in Gov. Pete Wilson’s court on state budget negotiations. Wilson is trying his best to turn the tables on the Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature. But, whatever his problems with the budget that Democrats have put on the table, it’s Wilson’s turn to act.

No question, the proposal passed last week by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, with the blessing of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), is flawed. Specifics are lacking on how certain cuts can be accomplished, for example. But the Republican governor has failed to acknowledge that Democrats moved the negotiation process significantly forward by proposing a plan with billions of dollars in cuts and no major tax increases.

Democrats, in countering the $60.2-billion spending plan Wilson put forward in January, adopted much of his strategy but refused to go along with a proposal to cut welfare grants by 25%. They instead proposed a 4.5% cut in grants--if it proves necessary. Their plan, however, would cut by 6% almost all other programs, including colleges, prisons, state operations and aid to local government. Only K-12 education would be spared. Should even these cuts prove inadequate, Wilson could make two further reductions of 6% each to programs, not including welfare.

Wilson denounced this proposal as a “sham” and “phony.” His analysts say the Democratic plan falls well short of balancing the budget, not counting the $2-billion revenue shortfall that has developed under the governor’s plan since January because tax revenues have fallen short. Wilson also complains that the Democratic plan doesn’t include the legislative measures needed to carry out some cuts. The deadline for budget passage is July 1.

But, for the first time, Democrats have signaled a sad willingness, in the face of pressures caused by the current deep recession, to make major program cuts in some of California’s most cherished programs, including the University of California. The proposal even acknowledges Wilson’s political needs by not including a general tax increase--which the governor has vowed not to approve. Those are big concessions.

By immediately trashing the Democratic plan, Wilson gave the impression that he might be posturing, or stalling. But people want action, not more gamesmanship, in Sacramento. How much better it would have been for him to have acknowledged the progress that was made--and negotiate from there.