A Battle That Just Won’t End

Gov. Pete Wilson has signed the 1997-98 state budget into law--49 days late--but the battle of the budget is not over. As he had bluntly promised, Wilson used his line-item veto in carrying out a strategy to hold money hostage until the Legislature passes the statewide school testing program he demands. He struck $203 million in spending items, mostly for education. As he put it: “The purpose is simply to secure the votes that we need.”

Wilson will get his testing, which he appears to want as a benchmark for measuring educational improvements during his tenure, but the lingering budget issues threaten to dominate the final three weeks of the Legislature’s 1997 session, which resumes Monday. Two can play the hostage game, retorted Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward). There are bills the governor and Republicans want that Democrats can block.

This is a potentially dangerous game that should not be allowed to unfold. Presumably, once Wilson gets his test, he will give the green light to lawmakers to pass legislation to reinstate the vetoed money. Also presumably, his GOP allies in the Senate and Assembly will go along since Republican votes will be needed.

But the undoing of Wilson’s vetoes will require the Legislature to pass scores of new bills, each requiring a two-thirds vote for approval. This is a substantial new workload on top the hundreds of bills remaining to be acted on in an end-of-the-year session already shortened by the budget stalemate.

Marathon daily sessions lie ahead. Tempers are likely to flare. Republicans can threaten to hold up legislation that would undo Wilson’s vetoes. Democrats can counterattack. The whole process could grind to an angry halt.

The first thing Wilson and the Democratic leaders should do next week is quickly resolve the testing issue. Then the governor should signal to Republicans that the bills reversing the vetoes should be passed promptly. The longer the parties delay in accomplishing this, the greater the potential for political mischief.

About $111 million in the budget was eliminated by “hard” vetoes, which Wilson has no intention of reversing. Some of the cuts clearly were pork, though of course mostly Democratic pork. But other cuts will cause real pain, including more than $50 million for indigent health care, aid to legal immigrants (including disabled children) now denied federal assistance, and prenatal care for undocumented mothers.

This is unfortunate. Money is available--the state expects a $450-million windfall as a result of the federal tax reduction. The cost of caring for people cut off from state or federal programs will fall to someone, and it’s likely to be cash-poor county hospitals and county general assistance programs. It would be more rational for the state to handle the problem up front.