Governor Seeks to Bolster Standing

Discarding the combative rhetoric of recent political wars, Gov. Pete Wilson delivered a State of the State address Monday that talked glowingly of a great new future for California, but offered only a vague outline for getting there.

But some political experts said Wilson did what he needed to do in the short run politically: Reestablish himself as the state’s chief executive after being missing in action much of the past year in futile pursuit of the presidency.

“The good news is that he’s returned to California,” observed Darry Sragow, a Democratic political consultant who ran John Garamendi’s unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1994.

“The bad news is that this was a standard Pete Wilson speech. . . . There was nothing to take California into the next century and address fundamental issues of job creation and government delivery of services.”

Wilson always has been far more comfortable in discussing the nuts and bolts of specific government programs than in attempting to outline a broad vision for the state.

Sragow and others remarked that the address was similar in tone to Wilson’s first address as governor, in which he was seen as the “compassionate conservative” promoting limited preventive programs such as state-financed prenatal examinations for poor women.

Dan Schnur, Wilson’s former chief spokesman who now works for a media relations firm, commented: “He did what he needed to do. He needed to show the people of California that he’s back in the state, that he’s working on problems.

“What he’s got to do now is follow up on it, to get around the state to show Californians that he really is back,” Schnur added.

Indeed, Wilson is expected to begin a round of appearances soonthat will include meetings with the Sacramento Press Club, newspaper editorial boards and other groups.

Wilson helped himself with touches of humor about his failed presidential campaign, which was plagued by the governor’s prolonged recovery from throat surgery last spring, along with a decided lack of support from his California constituents.

He joked that he was appearing by courtesy of the voters: the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire. And he vowed that he wants California’s youth to have the best education they can get--adding with a wry smirk, especially those who are going to be throat surgeons.

For all of that, Wilson’s voice still cracked from time to time. That was the problem he sought to remedy last year through the operation to remove a small nodule in his throat.

Absent from his speech were the angry words he had in recent years for illegal immigrants, teachers unions, lawsuit-happy lawyers, affirmative action programs--the cornerstones of his presidential campaign. Even his favorite punching bag of late--President Clinton--was untouched.

Absent, also, were any detailed mention of the sorts of programs that many of his critics, and some of his friends, believe are essential if California is to cope with the massive problems of a changing economy and population growth.

The major themes of his address were resurrected from previous speeches: welfare reform, a 15% income tax cut and initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy.

But he expanded, in particular, on the need for programs that would break the cycle of teenage pregnancy and its attendant programs, such as children growing up on welfare without a father and eventually dropping out of school and leading a life of crime.

“Most important of all,” he said, “we’ve got to end the vicious cycle of promiscuity and irresponsibility that produces generation after generation of children giving birth to children.”

As for the tax cut, the governor first proposed the 15% reduction last year and then made it a part of his presidential campaign.

Wilson insisted the cut is needed to keep other states from luring away California jobs. But the governor’s proposed three-stage cut in personal and corporate income taxes has elicited little enthusiasm from the California business community.

“None of our people think it makes any sense,” said a source from California Prosperity thru Reform. The group of California business executives and labor leaders has been studying government reform of problems including the tortured fiscal relationship between state and local government, regulatory matters, and the need for new facilities such as public schools and highways.

The group also has pressed for development of a state strategic plan for dealing with growth and state needs. The Wilson administration has long talked about establishing such a planning process, but nothing has emerged.

“We have pointed out all these other problems that are really more fundamental to the state’s economy than a tax cut at this point,” said the official, who asked not be identified.

In his address, which was entitled “Taking Charge of California’s Future,” Wilson alluded to such problems mostly in two brief paragraphs.

“We must invest in the future and we will,” he said, adding that “careful consideration” must be given to the forthcoming recommendations of the California Constitution Revision Commission.

The governor said his budget plan, which comes out Wednesday, would include bond proposals for schools, prisons and water facilities. But the business representative said the $3-billion school bond issue currently under consideration, for instance, is “just a finger in the dike.”