California and the West : Giving State Money to NFL the Lowest of Priorities

The morning had promise--glassy blue water beckoning through the pines, a sunny deck, a cup of coffee and The Times. Then I picked up the sports section.

This was midsummer at Lake Tahoe and three front page articles about football made me want to go back inside and take another shower.

One was about the UCLA football players who had abused handicapped parking permits. Clearly, these physically privileged athletes had no sensitivity toward the disabled and only a sense of self. It helped explain why the Bruins last December blew their chance to play for the national title by giving up 49 points to Miami, then fell flat in the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. They lacked character.

Another disturbing story was about the Detroit Lions’ star running back, Barry Sanders, who quit his team one day before training camp because he didn’t like the coach. Sanders walked away from millions, but he’d already made millions. One word came to mind: spoiled.

But these two stories--while adding perspective to big time sports--were just a backdrop to the annoying news that really caught my eye: “NFL Seeks More Public Money for L.A. Bid.” The subhead: “ . . . owners want taxpayer contributions in addition to the $150 million already on table.”

What was it about the word “no” these greedy billionaires did not understand? No, there would not be--will not be--any gift of state money for returning professional football to the L.A. Coliseum.

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High in that story was an official acknowledgment that National Football League teams use tax dollars to subsidize their players’ salaries, which total roughly $60 million per squad.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue: “We feel clearly that the current levels of public money being discussed . . . are not sufficient to the economics to make the team work. It wouldn’t work for the owner or the fans because you couldn’t field a competitive team.”

In other words, without the taxpayers kicking in, a team couldn’t afford all those free agent players who demand multimillion-dollar salaries.

As Phil Trounstine, Gov. Gray Davis’ communications director, noted this week: “When the demands on the state are better schools, increased public safety, more health care, less traffic congestion and protecting the environment, it’s pretty hard to make the case that subsidizing football player salaries is in the public interest.”

I’ve been recalling all this while watching legislators struggle--often futilely--to pass spending bills as they hustle toward adjourning for the year.

Davis has told legislative leaders he doesn’t want a lot of spending bills on his desk. In fact, says Assembly Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), “he told me he wants zero. There was no winking, no tongue in cheek. It’s made for a sober mood.”

Migden, for example, is sponsoring a stalled bill to increase jurors’ pay. It’s now $5 per day, hasn’t been raised in 30 years and is the lowest in the nation. She wants to nudge it up to $12.50. But that would cost $15 million. “It’s considered out of the ballpark,” she says.

Here’s another: Assemblyman Howard Wayne (D-San Diego) can’t get Davis to support his bill to provide breast cancer treatment for poor women who don’t have insurance and aren’t old enough (65) for Medicare. Private foundation money temporarily is paying for the treatment, but that soon will run out. Wayne needs $5 million. Davis has asked him to look for matching funds and try again next year.

On Tuesday, I sat in a small room off the Assembly chamber jammed with tense lawmakers and lobbyists, and watched Migden’s committee shelve dozens of spending bills, including ones to diagnose children’s reading problems ($100,000), check criminal records of wife beaters ($750,000), establish a gang violence prevention program ($3 million), plan a Central Coast veterans cemetery ($140,000). . . .

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So the NFL is not satisfied with what taxpayers are offering for a new L.A. football team and has imposed a Sept. 15 deadline to up the ante. Well, don’t bother trying to browbeat Sacramento.

“Anything that takes a bill isn’t happening,” says Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), whose district includes the Coliseum.

Davis feels he’s gone the limit with this proposal, offered by his former negotiator, investment banker Bill Chadwick: The state would raise $150 million in bonds to build 15,000 new parking spaces. The bonds would be repaid by parking fees, a ticket surtax and rent. But the NFL demands that revenue go to the team, leaving taxpayers on the hook.

California taxpayers have better ways to spend their money. Like breast cancer treatment, juror pay and teaching future football players how to read--and show some character.