Health Clinics Win, Libraries Lose as Wilson Acts on Funding Bills

Los Angeles County won big and lost big Friday as Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation that averts the closure of 24 health facilities but vetoed a bill that would have kept dozens of public libraries open.

Early in the day, county officials rejoiced at their victory on the health bill. The legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Marguerite Archie-Hudson (D-Los Angeles), allows the county to lower its share of matching funds needed to get $86 million in Proposition 99 tobacco tax funds.

About $72.8 million of the funds will be used by the county Department of Health Services to bolster critically needed health facilities, with about $14 million going to private hospitals to maintain the county’s fragile trauma network.

“Without this much-needed bill, Los Angeles County would face a critical funding gap with respect to health care facilities,” Wilson said in announcing the signing. “The obvious result would have been devastating to county residents in need of serious and preventive medical care.”

By late afternoon, the county’s satisfaction had been tarnished by news of the library bill veto. The measure would have allowed the county to create a library assessment district that would charge property owners for library services.

The district would have raised about $32 million during the rest of the fiscal year ending in June, county officials estimated, to maintain services at 43 of 87 county libraries scheduled to close Feb. 1.

County officials had hoped that last-minute provisions added to the bill requiring a public vote to extend the assessment district past the first year would make the legislation more palatable. But Wilson, in a statement, called the measure merely “a new tax masquerading as a benefit assessment.”

“In short, this bill does not create a benefit assessment at all but a new tax, which could be levied for two years without being voted on by the general public,” he said.

“In the event that the assessment is voted down, there is no mechanism by which to refund the money already collected.”

Local officials said the veto will jeopardize library services in Los Angeles County and throughout the state.

“Libraries . . . were counting on this bill to help provide a stable method of financing,” County Librarian Sandra Reuben said. “Without another source of funding, we will be facing some extremely tough choices in the next couple of months. We will have to look for other alternatives or be left with no choice but to consider even further reductions in library services.”

The county’s libraries already have been forced to radically scale back their hours of operation because of budget cutbacks.

Supervisor Ed Edelman said he was “puzzled, bewildered and amazed” at the governor’s veto of the library measure. “If the libraries close, who’s responsible? The Legislature came through; the governor failed to.”

County officials could take some consolation, however, in the approval Friday of another county-sponsored bill that allows officials to transfer about $16 million in surplus funds from the county’s flood control district.

Those funds can go into the county general fund for possible restoration of some services that had to be cut to meet this year’s $13.5-billion budget.

But the health bill was the bigger victory for the county. Gary Wells, assistant director of the Department of Health Services, called the governor’s action good news at a time when health services in the region have been buffeted by increasing demand and dwindling resources.

“It’s a very positive step,” he said. “Because of the legislation, we don’t foresee any reductions of services at our facilities for the rest of the fiscal year, so we’re very pleased.”

Saved by the legislation are 20 of the county’s 39 community health clinics and four of six comprehensive health centers--the H. Claude Hudson and Hubert H. Humphrey centers in South-Central Los Angeles, the Long Beach Comprehensive Health Center and the Mid Valley Comprehensive Health Center in Van Nuys.