The Legislature Did Well--Now It Needs the Long View

Gov. Pete Wilson and the California Legislature deserve credit for a surprisingly productive 1997 legislative session, but the achievements will barely dent the long-range problems of a state destined to pass 40 million in population in the next two decades.

The work begins anew in January when lawmakers return to Sacramento for the second year of the 1997-98 session. Many of the immediate issues will be those that failed in the final hours of the 1997 term. But Wilson and lawmakers need to extend their vision further into the future.

As for 1998, the first order of business should be agreement on a proposed $8-billion school bond issue for the June primary ballot to finance school construction in the coming decade. Many other issues await the lawmakers as well.

It is critical for Sacramento to begin dealing with California’s mega-problems on a long-term basis. The state needs to take a hard look at how well prepared it is to cope with another major spurt in growth, to school and train its children for jobs in a changing economy and to provide the physical facilities that are the underpinning of continued business development and the quality of California life.

At present there is no strategic plan for dealing with the future. There is no capital budgeting process for determining long-range needs for transportation facilities, college and university expansion, water development, prisons and schools. There is no comprehensive state land use plan, nor any mechanism for restructuring an archaic and cumbersome system of state and local government that experts believe is virtually dysfunctional. For instance, why does California need 7,000 units of local government, including thousands of independent special districts that provide water, fire, sewer, flood control and other services?

The California Constitution Revision Commission offered some constructive proposals after studying such issues for three years, and its work was basically ignored. The politicians talk a lot about making this a better state for their children and grandchildren, but too often their focus extends no further than the next election campaign.

One way to put the accomplishments of 1997 in perspective is to note the pride the Legislature took in cutting UC and Cal State tuitions by 5%. That was a turning point, to be sure, but the reduction did not go far in denting the 134% rise in UC tuition that occurred between 1990 and 1995.

The $8 billion for new schools? The real need is said to be $40 billion over the next 10 years. With all the new money pumped into education, California still will fall about $1,000 per pupil below the national average. Such efforts were described by Sacramento Bee columnist Peter Schrag as “striving for mediocrity.”

Californians cannot settle for that. The work of 1997 is a start, but there is a long way to go before California is golden again. It is critical to begin dealing with mega-problems on a long-term basis. . . . At present there is no strategic plan for dealing with the future.