COUNTYWIDE : GOP Women Hear Governor’s Wife

Gayle Wilson, wife of Gov. Pete Wilson, told a crowd of 230 Ventura County Republican women Tuesday that the public needs help understanding the state’s troubled economy and where tax dollars go.

“So many people don’t put two and two together,” she said. “If their neighbor is out of work, then their neighbor is not paying taxes and there is less revenue.”

Wilson, appearing in Oxnard at the Mandalay Beach Resort, said her husband recently took a cue from Ross Perot and decided to film a 30-minute “infomercial.” The taped message is intended to “get out the basic facts” about what he and the Legislature have to deal with when state revenues are down by one-third.

“Most of us have no idea how tax money is spent,” she said.

Although the governor has not formally announced his plans to run for reelection in 1994, his wife’s appearance had all the markings of a reelection campaign.

The Ventura County Federation of Republican Women, the group sponsoring the luncheon, gave Gayle Wilson a gold four-leaf clover. One of the members sang “Hello Dolly” with new lyrics promoting a second term.

The governor’s wife blamed part of the state’s budget crisis on federally mandated programs that have driven up state costs because they are not funded at the federal level. One such costly program, she said, ensures that illegal immigrants receive health care.

Given all the areas that must be funded by the state, less than 10% of the budget is discretionary, she said.

“That’s what funds programs that you and I think are real critical,” she said. Despite budget constraints, she said strides have been made in the last two years in areas such as children’s health, mental health counseling, prenatal care and teen-age pregnancies--all part of a push for “preventive government.”

“We may not have achieved Camelot in the last two years,” she said. “But we have some positive success stories coming out of Sacramento.”

She called on Republicans to take pride in their party: “A lot of Republicans have been disaffected, and we need to bring them back into the fold. Don’t be intimidated by people who say it is politically incorrect to be a Republican.”