Putting Pettiness Aside : This is no time for Legislature to gang up on Wilson

Gov. Pete Wilson took a political beating this week. His handpicked successor, Sen. John Seymour, lost. Proposition 165, the constitutional ballot initiative that formed the centerpiece of Wilson’s attempt at fiscal and social reform, also was rejected.

These losses may tempt Democrats to pile on gleefully. That would be a mistake, because Wilson is essentially right on the need to reform welfare and to develop a budget process that reduces gridlock and encourages timely compromises in Sacramento.

Another reason that Democrats--and conservative Republicans who have battled with the moderate Republican governor--should resist kicking Wilson while he is down is that Wilson himself has hinted that he wants to put bickering aside and work more closely with the Legislature. “It’s time to put the wars behind us,” said a key Wilson political adviser. Amen. In a recession that has hurt so many Californians, no one in Sacramento has the luxury of wasting time and energy on petty political retribution.

Although the flawed Prop. 165 failed, millions of Californians signaled their dissatisfaction with the current welfare system and budget process. Prop. 165 should provide a springboard for welfare reform. California should influence the national debate on welfare. The governor and legislative leaders from both parties should find a compromise on a reasonable welfare reform that would encourage poor mothers to go to work and discourage new recipients from seeking long-term relief, all without sacrificing the well-being of poor children.

Now that 165 is, as Wilson put it, history, it’s time for the governor and the Legislature to recall that it takes two branches of government to make--or break--a state budget. Though most voters did not support Wilson’s remedy--a unilateral transfer of budget authority to the governor--millions did signal their displeasure with budget gridlock.

Voters sent other messages too with their ballots. A majority of California voters indicated they care about public schools. Despite the recession, a majority approved Proposition 155, a $900-million bond measure to build and modernize schools. Yet the voters rejected Proposition 156, a $1-billion bond measure for rail transit, a measure that did not appeal as directly to self-interest.

Gov. Wilson lost a few big ones this week. But Californians will be the big losers if legislators spend their time getting even with Wilson instead of working with him to do the people’s business in Sacramento.