Wilson Wants to Join Brown in State Economic Summit

Republican Gov. Pete Wilson wants to join his chief political rival, Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, in sponsoring an economic summit for California patterned after the recent Little Rock conclave led by President-elect Bill Clinton, a Wilson spokesman said Wednesday.

Brown proposed the state summit in his welcoming address to the Assembly earlier this month, after the members elected him to a record seventh term as Speaker.

The San Francisco Democrat said he would invite academic and business leaders to a meeting that would have a “full and complete agenda” of ways to revive the state’s sagging economy.

Wilson, in an interview Tuesday with reporters for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Jose Mercury News, said he had sent Brown a letter offering to co-sponsor the event, which is tentatively scheduled for the first week of February in Los Angeles.

Dan Schnur, Wilson’s top spokesman, said the letter to Brown actually was still being drafted but would go out before Christmas.

“The governor is very enthusiastic about the idea of a summit,” Schnur said. “Our hope is that the combined resources of both legislative chambers and the Administration can be pooled to put together something really significant.”

Brown could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His press secretary, Darolyn Davis, said she thought Brown would “embrace the idea” of having Wilson as co-host of the event.

Davis said Brown has encouraged all 80 members of the Assembly to participate and has said that each member will be allowed to designate one person to attend.

Schnur said Wilson has designated two top deputies--Bill Hauck and George Dunn--to work with Brown’s staff on the summit.

Schnur added that Wilson is hoping the event will be the final step in meshing two reports--one prepared for the governor and the other for the Speaker--that called for legislative changes to improve the state’s business climate.

Wilson has blamed the depth and duration of the state’s recession in part on government regulation and the workers’ compensation system. He vetoed a Democratic plan to overhaul the program for injured workers and then presented his alternative in a special session of the Legislature in October. It was rejected.

The recession so far has cost California more than 800,000 jobs. The resulting slump in incomes and sales has kept state tax revenues below projections, leading to huge budget shortfalls in 1991 and 1992. State officials now are facing another $7.5-billion shortage over the next 18 months.