Democrat Accuses Wilson of Illegal Arm-Twisting

Pumping up the partisan gamesmanship, a state senator Thursday accused Gov. Pete Wilson of trying to illegally arm-twist Democrats in the aftermath of the budget battle by promising to revive funds for their districts if they approve a bill the governor covets.

Sen. John Burton (D-San Francisco) called for an investigation by state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, saying Wilson had “stepped over the line” by trying to trade votes.

Burton suggested that the governor may have committed bribery or extortion by slashing $203 million in Democrat desires from the state budget earlier this week while offering to reinstitute the money if a Wilson-backed school testing proposal wins approval.

“There is a law against saying, ‘I will put something back in the budget when you vote for my bill,’ ” Burton said. “In order to have his way, I believe [Wilson] got carried away and stepped over the line.”

Wilson scoffed at Burton’s accusations, saying the practice of a governor using his veto message to prod recalcitrant lawmakers is a longtime tradition.

“My advice to Sen. Burton would be to read the Constitution and educate himself,” Wilson said. “Evidently he doesn’t understand the governor has the power to veto legislation, to say why and to instruct legislators whose bills have been vetoed as to how to fix them.”

Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for Lungren, said the attorney general would review Burton’s accusations “as we would any other request to our office.”

The tussle between the Republican governor and Burton, one of the Legislature’s most colorful members and a liberal, marks yet another turn in the tumultuous California budget battles.

While Wilson signed the 1997-98 financial blueprint into law Monday, more than 40 days late, the bickering between the governor and Democrats has continued. It promises to crescendo next week when the Legislature addresses Wilson’s dogged insistence on allocating $35 million for new student achievement testing.

The test, which Wilson wants administered in English only, was the final snag in approval last week of the long-overdue budget, now pegged at $69 million. Democrats want to give state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, a Democrat, a voice in shaping the test.

Wilson threatened to veto the entire budget if it didn’t contain the test funds. He signed the budget but cut from it $203 million that was to have financed various pet projects in Democrats’ districts, among them community center construction, cleanup of abandoned vessels and library expansion.