Wilson Ignores Request to Meet With ‘Big Five’

Gov. Pete Wilson did not respond Monday to a plea from the Legislature’s budget-writing committee urging him to meet with legislative leaders to resolve the state’s fiscal crisis.

The committee sent him a letter Friday asking that he call a meeting of the so-called “Big Five”--Wilson, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), Senate Leader David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), Senate GOP Leader Ken Maddy and Assembly Republican Leader Bill Jones--to attempt to reach agreement on erasing the multibillion-dollar deficit.

The leadership meetings ended nearly three weeks ago amid partisan bickering.

“We respectfully request that you reconvene your discussions with the legislative leadership without delay and provide us with further direction on these issues by 3 p.m. (today), or as soon thereafter as possible,” said the letter, signed by five of the six conference committee members.

The issues noted in the letter included deciding the level of funding for public schools and determining how much state aid to divert from California’s counties and cities.

The governor’s press office said the governor had scheduled a meeting in the afternoon with Maddy and Jones.

Spokesmen for Roberti and Brown said no request for a meeting had been received from the Republican governor or his staff.

Wilson and Democrats are at loggerheads over how to bridge the gap in a $40-billion budget.

To pay for all current programs, and include enough money for growth and cost-of-living increases, would take $10.7 billion or more, according to the Legislature’s fiscal analyst.

Democrats generally support cutting state operations and retiring the deficit in one year, but Wilson seeks deeper cuts in public school and community college funding.

They also disagree on how much state aid to withhold from the counties and cities, and how local governments should be allowed to make up the difference.