The Political Casualties of the Budget Fight

With no end to California’s budget impasse in sight, it’s time to count the politically dead and wounded among the lawmakers who got us into this mess.

Right up at the top of the list are the so-called Big Five, Gov. Pete Wilson and the four top Democratic and Republican leaders who have been dwarfed by the crisis they’ve created. In alphabetical order, they are Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Assembly Republican leader Bill Jones, Senate GOP chief Ken Maddy and Senate leader David A. Roberti.

Like the admiral and general in command of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Big Five always will be remembered for their part in the disaster.

Sensing the danger, some lawmakers are trying to escape the Big Five’s shaky leadership. Among them are two Los Angeles assemblymen, Terry B. Friedman and Richard Katz, whose careers face an especially grave threat from the protracted crisis.

The recent realignment of legislative district lines placed Democrat Friedman in a competitive district that includes Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and parts of the western San Fernando Valley. And he faces a well-known opponent, Christine Reed, former Santa Monica mayor and city councilwoman whose pro-choice, pro-environment views reflect those of many residents of the new Assembly district. As the challenger, she’ll no doubt try to pin blame for the budget crisis on Friedman, the incumbent.

Democrat Katz, who represents the Northeastern San Fernando Valley, is planning to run for mayor next year. One potential opponent, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, already has blasted him for letting L.A. down in the budget fight, a charge that is likely to come up frequently during the mayoral campaign.

Speaker Brown and Gov. Wilson, attempting to eliminate a $10.7-billion budget deficit, had agreed take away state aid from cities and counties. It would have cost the city of Los Angeles more than $100 million a year, requiring reductions in such services as the Police Department. The county would have been hit even harder.

Under pressure from city council members like Yaroslavsky, Friedman and Katz began edging away from this plan. Friedman was the first, coming up with a plan designed to spare the city of Los Angeles from some of the worst pain. Meanwhile, allies of Brown, opposed to special consideration for cities, ripped Friedman apart in a Democratic leadership meeting. But Friedman, joined by Katz, refused to abandon his effort.

An informal L.A. working group formed, consisting of Friedman, Katz, Council Finance Chairman Yaroslavsky, Assistant Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton, city lobbyist Norm Boyer, City Controller Rick Tuttle and Yaroslavsky, who is chairman of the City Council Finance Committee.

Their task at the Capitol was formidable. An increasingly stubborn Wilson had to be persuaded that city needs couldn’t be ignored.

Lawmakers who represent L.A. in the State Senate and Assembly, who seemed unconcerned about potential financial losses to the city, had to be roused into action.

And Katz and Friedman had to convince Willie Brown that his stubbornness was destroying their political careers.

It worked--and it didn’t work.

The Los Angeles delegation woke up. Gov. Wilson, the former mayor of San Diego, decided to minimize cuts to the cities, saying he didn’t want to be responsible for cutting back on municipal police and fire services. And the Speaker backed down from his opposition to continuing aid to the cities.

But that was just part of an incredibly complex balancing act that goes on in budget negotiations.

When one segment of government is helped, another is hurt. For example, while the latest compromise helps the cities, it hurts the counties, which must provide health care to the poor and support for the criminal justice. Los Angeles County would lose $350 million a year, a severe blow to the jails, the courts and the county hospitals.

When urban interests proposed taking money from county fair funds, rural lawmakers objected. Community redevelopment agencies, water districts, fire protection districts and many other government agencies are up in Sacramento fighting cuts.

Dealing with all this has been too much for the Big Five in their fruitless daily negotiating sessions.

Each day of Big Five inaction brings many legislators closer to political disaster. That’s why Republican Sen. Frank Hill of Whittier is pushing a compromise that would give more money to the schools and cities, over Gov. Wilson’s opposition.

Terry Friedman and Richard Katz aren’t the only lawmakers who don’t want their political careers held hostage to the indecisive Big Five.