Home Field Edge Lifts Haves Over Have-Nots

The annual state budget fight illustrated again that democracy works best for the politically powerful. Not everybody is equal under the Capitol dome. The weak get whacked or are ignored.

We know this instinctively from childhood. But we graphically see it when our elected representatives divvy up the money pie.

That is one thing worth noting--as an unpleasant reminder of real-world civics--about the $63-billion budget negotiated by Gov. Pete Wilson and legislative leaders.

Another noteworthy item for political junkies is the level of acumen demonstrated during floor debates by the rookie Assembly speaker, Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove). It was remarkably high, despite initial trash talk by detractors--including some Republicans--that followed the basic themes: “amateur hour” and “bring back Willie.”

Pringle produced, however--especially for Wilson.

Likewise noteworthy were some Wilson wins. True, his marquee proposals--a hefty income tax cut and welfare reforms--were buried by Democrats in the Senate. And his biggest “victory”--class size reduction--resulted from a Democratic idea he latched onto and claimed as his own.

But the governor did achieve a personal “preventive” agenda that included more than $70 million aimed at discouraging out-of-wedlock births. Wilson highlighted unwed and teen pregnancies in his State of the State address last January and followed through after the photo-ops.

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The dominate message from this budget, however, was that the powerful prevail.

Not that perhaps they shouldn’t based on merit. Maybe there should be a tax break for banks and corporations. Maybe there should not be a tax credit for renters. It’s all subjective. But it also tends to be inevitable when one group bankrolls politicians’ campaigns and another does not.

The biggest special interest winner in this budget was the California Teachers Assn., which during the 1994 elections gave legislators nearly $1.4 million, 96% of it to Democrats.

Public schools got roughly a $3-billion spending boost. About $1 billion of that is earmarked for class size reduction in grades K-3. This will require the hiring of 20,000 new teachers, most of them potential dues-paying members of the CTA.

The corporate community also dumps millions each election into legislators’ campaigns, preferring Republicans, but diversifying its investments by simultaneously giving to Democrats. Hundreds of business lobbyists daily work the Capitol corridors. So it’s not surprising that the budget contains a 5% cut in the bank and corporation tax.

By contrast, look at the politically feeble--such as the aged poor, blind and disabled, as well as welfare moms and their children. They all got shunted aside, along with low-income renters.

The spin out of the Capitol is that there are “no new cuts” for welfare recipients. That’s a distortion. There are “old cuts” the politicians had promised to eliminate, but the pols have reneged.

Benefits for the aged, disabled and welfare moms were cut by 5.8% when the state faced hard financial times. These cuts were supposed to have expired July 1. Instead, Wilson and the Legislature have made them permanent.

That’s not all. The politicians have reinserted added cuts of 4.9% in urban regions and 9.8% in rural counties. These had been approved last year, but never took effect because they required federal action as well. That finally is expected this summer with “welfare reform.”

Similarly, renters were supposed to have gotten back a $60 tax credit, but it has been denied for at least another year. By contrast, when the 10% and 11% income tax brackets for California’s wealthiest citizens were scheduled to expire last year--they did. No problem.

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Some legislators facing competitive elections--Democrats and Republicans alike--were highly nervous about denying renters a tax credit. But allowing it would have been a $520-million budget buster.

The battle over renters credit was the first and most fierce of the Assembly budget war. It waged for 3 1/2 hours Sunday night, amid private sniping at the untested speaker for looking weak.

But Pringle patiently prodded three GOP colleagues--Paula Boland of Granada Hills, Bill Hoge of Pasadena and James Rogan of Glendale--into voting reluctantly for the suspension bill. And that paved the way for later smooth passage of the budget.

There are many good things for Californians in this budget. Our lawmakers showed again that the system works--especially for those who know how and can afford to play it.