Here’s How to Do It

Gov. Gray Davis’ big council room was the scene Thursday of more backslapping, gushy platitudes and beaming smiles than anyone has seen or heard around the state Capitol in a long time. He and legislative leaders of both parties were celebrating a true rarity--the passage of a state budget two weeks before the start of the new fiscal year. Well, the Assembly did miss one deadline by 17 hours. But Davis called that “close enough for government work” and no one even seemed to wince.

If the state’s top officials were acting like kids on the last day of school, they could be excused. Not only was the $81.7-billion budget on time, it might be the most productive state spending document of the past two decades.

The budget boosts public school aid by $2.6 billion over last year, increases health care for children and the working poor and provides a significant increase for state parks, open space and enforcement of environmental protection laws. There will be an emergency reserve of at least $800 million.

California motorists will get another $500-million reduction in their auto license fees, one year ahead of schedule. And the budget turns a major corner in the tangled and contentious fiscal relationship between state and local government. Since the dark recession days of 1992, Sacramento has been siphoning away about $3.5 billion a year in property tax receipts that rightfully belong to counties, cities and special districts. The new budget returns $150 million to local governments to be spent as they decide. The document also boosts the state infrastructure bank by $425 million, available to local government as matching funds for streets, roads and other capital projects.

Davis was particularly jubilant that the budget passed on time, something he had insisted on. Sharing major credit with the governor for keeping the budget process moving was Sen. Steve Peace (D-El Cajon), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Peace and Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego), his Assembly counterpart, fooled skeptics by running a public budget process that involved Davis’ finance officials and minority Republicans along the way. The lawmakers managed to assemble the budget without having any secret negotiations by the “Big Five,” the governor and top legislative leaders, who made the key budget decisions in recent years.

Reaching tough budget decisions was eased considerably by the fact that the state is reaping a $4.5-billion surplus this year. But California had similar budget surpluses the past three years and still failed to pass a budget on time. This year is the model that should stand for future state budget writers.