Outline for Budget Accord to Be Sent to State Lawmakers

After meeting for much of the weekend, Gov. Pete Wilson and legislative leaders agreed Sunday to present the makings of a budget accord to lawmakers today.

But while Wilson appeared optimistic that his $56-billion budget could go to the Senate and Assembly for a vote this week, Democratic leaders said agreement continues to elude them on major items, including prison spending, welfare cuts, education funding and the governor’s proposed 15% income, corporation and bank tax cuts.

“I’m encouraged,” Wilson said after meeting with the Senate and Assembly leaders Sunday. “I think some real progress was made, but they obviously have to test out what we have preliminarily agreed upon to see whether that has support [among rank-and-file lawmakers].”

California has been operating without a budget since the constitutional deadline passed at midnight June 30. For two weeks, Wilson has been pushing hard for a budget agreement, and is putting off spending longer hours campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination until a spending plan is in place.

Assembly Speaker Doris Allen said a budget could be put to a vote as early as Wednesday or Thursday. However, Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer said that even if there is agreement among Wilson and the leaders, budget language could not be written and printed that quickly.

The Legislature must approve the budget by a two-thirds margin--54 votes in the Assembly and 27 in the Senate. Attaining that margin always is tough, but it could be even harder this year, given the partisan warring in the Assembly.

Adding to the obstacles, a spending plan that would please Republicans, who have slim control of the Assembly, might be in for a tough fight in the Senate, where Democrats retain a slight majority.

Details are sparse about the closed-door discussions between Wilson and the five Democratic and Republican legislative leaders. But lawmakers said agreements have been reached that would reduce the budget deficit, which had been $1.8 billion a week ago, to about $700 million.

Perhaps indicative of the rift that remains, Assembly Democratic Leader Willie Brown left Sunday’s meeting saying: “There is no such thing as a budget at the moment. . . . I don’t think the document is near completion.”

Assembly Republican Leader Jim Brulte attended the same meeting and said afterward: “We have a deal on a number of the areas. There are still some outstanding areas. We are going to go back to our caucuses, and get direction from our caucuses, and have discussion with our caucuses on those areas.”

Brulte added that the governor and legislative leaders “have most of the budget put together. . . . We’re under $1 billion in terms of bringing about the close.” But, he noted, “The last $1 billion are the most difficult to get.”

Democratic and Republican leaders will present the outlines of the budget to lawmakers in closed-door sessions today, and confer privately with Wilson again this afternoon.

Also today, the Assembly will again take up Wilson’s proposed tax cut. Even though the $7.6-billion tax cut plan obtained only 37 votes in the 80-seat house on Friday, it is merely stalled, not dead, for two reasons: Because four Republican lawmakers committed to voting for it were absent, and because a single Democrat, freshman Mike Machado of the Stockton area, voted for it. Tax cuts are a popular stand in Machado’s moderate-to-conservative district, where he faces a Republican-orchestrated recall next month in the continuing vendetta over the Assembly leadership fight.

In order for the tax cut to be taken up again, a majority of the Assembly first must vote for what is called “reconsideration.” Democrats can use a variety of maneuvers to stop the bill from being reconsidered. Machado, for example, could refuse to vote for reconsideration, or simply not show up for the vote.

Even if the tax cut clears the Assembly, Lockyer and others expect that the tax cut will fail in the Senate, where Democrats are pressing to use the money to increase spending on public schools.

The midsummer spectacle of the state being without a budget is a Capitol tradition. Wilson and the legislative leaders confer privately in the governor’s office to divvy up the billions in tax revenue.

The issues generally are the same: how much less families on welfare will receive; how much more will be charged in college tuition; what additional money is available for public schools. One category’s cut can mean another’s gain. Once there is some accord, the legislative leaders set out to seek votes among rank-and-file lawmakers.

State government continues even without a budget, with some exceptions. Until a budget is in place, the state cannot pay vendors who do business with the state, and some health care payments are delayed for people who rely on Medi-Cal.

This year, community colleges’ authority to charge fees for fall classes expired, and will not be reinstated until the budget is approved. As a result, a few community colleges reportedly are charging no fees, but will bill students when a budget is in place.

Others are charging at last year’s rate of $13 per unit. Still others are charging $15, reflecting the increase Wilson has proposed. The extra $2 per unit would be refunded to students if the Legislature kills the governor’s proposed fee increase.