But Will You Love It in May? : Governor lays out first draft of new budget

In delivering his initial budget for fiscal 1994-95, Gov. Pete Wilson has fulfilled one of his annual gubernatorial chores. However, what was submitted last week was more an opening political document than a final word, a fact that will become increasingly apparent after Sacramento gets down to serious work on the budget in May.

For now perhaps the most controversial aspects of the governor’s $55.4-billion outline are (1) the further realignment he proposes in the relationship between the state and local governments, (2) more cuts in aid to the poor and (3) the assumption that the state will receive long-overdue federal funds for immigrants. Significantly, there are no proposed tax increases. That’s the budget in its simplest terms.

LOCAL IMPACT: Officials at the county level are both wary and hopeful about Wilson’s determination to allow counties more flexibility in meeting local needs. That’s not surprising. It seems to us that this flexibility is right, Wilson’s shifting approaches during his governorship notwithstanding. Last year he yanked $2.6 billion in state aid out of city and county accounts and gave it to local schools. This year the spending plan would shift $5.4 billion to counties to give them greater control over a variety of social services.

The plan is to raise state funding to $4.5 billion for mental health, foster care and other social programs. Those funds would come from allocation of a greater share of existing revenue sources, such as property tax and the sales tax. Wilson also urges that counties be helped with the cost of operating trial courts, to the tune of $683 million.

The aim of the proposed realignment would give greater accountability and flexibility to counties--and there’s no quarreling with that. What’s at issue is how the funds would be distributed to the 58 counties. The formula for that has not been determined; would it be fair? The realignment would require changes in state and federal law to grant counties more authority over welfare; would they be enacted?

LOCAL WORRY: The shift to counties would mean that they would have to pay bigger shares of Medi-Cal and of the non-federally funded portion of such programs as Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

One question the counties are asking is whether the amount of state money would increase if the caseloads and obligations for counties rose. It should.

But that wouldn’t be easy in this economy, with tax revenues sagging. And, indeed, the governor acknowledges that this proposed budget balances only if Washington allocates $3.6 billion to help cover the costs of illegal immigrants and refugees living in California.

It is a long time until May.