Accords Give Bragging Rights to Both Democrats, Republicans

Even the bleary-eyed players were astonished Saturday that after a mud bowl of a 1997 legislative session, capped by a bruising cliffhanger finish, both Democrats and Republicans will emerge with righteous claim to a championship-caliber record.

Gov. Pete Wilson, showing the wear of a sleepless night of negotiating, told an emotional morning press conference that welfare reform and a massive new health program for poor children will mark two of the biggest changes in California’s social policy for a generation.

Others added a list of long-sought resolutions that have stymied lawmakers for years--like full funding of a plan to reduce overcrowded school classrooms, aid to financially strapped local governments, a redefinition of the Endangered Species Act and the promise of the first pay raise in three years for state employees.

Perhaps it was the snowball effect that compelled state leaders to go after one more seemingly intractable conflict before their scheduled adjournment for the year--a major tax cut.

On Saturday, they held up that final accomplishment as the crown jewel of their year’s effort. Just last month, when lawmakers finally passed a state budget almost eight weeks overdue, the Legislature was being described as one of the most inexperienced and openly partisan in years, scuttling major issues out of spite rather than merit and dissolving debates into name-calling exchanges.

Saturday, Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) suggested it may have been the extreme bitterness of the battle that helped make victory at the end so sweet.

“I think you heard some emotion in the voices of various leaders,” he said. “It reflects the kind of commitment and bonding that you get when you try to work something out and when you fight over ideas and values . . . that you really believe in.”

In sharp contrast to the tone of their deliberations, Democratic and Republican leaders pledged Saturday to tell California that their achievement was a bipartisan effort for which both sides deserve credit.

“I made one observation [in January] that I think is relevant this morning,” Wilson said. “That is, if we were able to resolve real and serious problems for the public, there would be abundant credit to share. And if we failed, no amount of finger-pointing would absolve anyone. This morning, I think there is abundant credit to share.”

Wilson was especially pleased with the tax cut. It is a political trophy for any Republican governor, but it is also a major relief for Wilson.

He has made a tax reduction one of his top priorities for the last three years. And his inability to win passage of such a plan, even during two years of a budget surplus, had loomed as a possible example of his limited influence.

Even more important for Wilson, he has struggled for years to shed the complaints of conservatives within his own party who have continually blamed him for his support of a $7-billion tax increase to balance a recession-strapped budget in 1991.

Now, Wilson expects to be at least partly vindicated by his ability to claim credit for what he describes as the state’s largest tax cut in decades.

But the deal was also substantially shaped by Democrats, who will seek credit too for sharing the same concern about high taxes.

Lockyer and Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno) prevailed in their demand that the tax cut focus on families with children. Wilson wanted to reach a much larger number of people with--in many cases--a smaller amount of money for each.

“The tax cut is a little larger than I would prefer, but that reflects the high priority of the governor and my Republican colleagues,” Lockyer said. “The tax philosophy represented by those cuts . . . reflects our [Democratic] values and tradition and philosophy.”

In addition to the design of the tax reduction, Democrats also won major guarantees from Wilson on two issues they have unsuccessfully pursued in recent years--assistance for local funding of trial courts and a pay raise for state employees.

“I feel very proud to be speaker at this time with what is supposed to be the gang that couldn’t shoot straight,” Bustamante told reporters Saturday.

The glow remaining among lawmakers from this session will probably help the speaker.

His year was more difficult than those of even Lockyer or Wilson. He was sharply accused from inside and outside his party of inexperience and a lack of solid leadership.

The difficulties from his admittedly on-the-job-training caused many political observers to fault the recent effects of the term limits law for generating a new brand of government inefficiency. Like Bustamante, the class of 32 freshman lawmakers in the Assembly also bore much of the blame.

But at least for the moment, the bipartisan back-patting even extended credit to the newcomers. As recognition, a representative of the 1997 class was asked to appear at the news conference Saturday.

“Yes we are new, a bit inexperienced and sometimes a bit brazen in our efforts,” said Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco). “But I also hope that in the end . . . one can appreciate having so many new individuals with new ideas and new approaches freed of some of the preconceived notions of the past.”

Looking ahead, Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), who played a major role in negotiating the tax cut package, predicted that next year’s legislative session will benefit significantly from the recent accomplishments.

“Part of this . . . will be a big bridge to next year’s budget,” he said. “Maybe we won’t have that tough of a budget deliberation next year, since most of those decisions have already been made.”