Emergency Plan Would Allow State Payments

Two months into a budget stalemate, California lawmakers began crafting emergency legislation Saturday that would allow the state government to make numerous payments without a spending plan.

However, Gov. Gray Davis indicated earlier that he does not favor such a measure, saying he believes it would ease pressure on lawmakers to approve the overdue budget and leave the final decision on the legislation in doubt.

“The solution to the problem is to break the budget impasse, not break the budget up into little pieces,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.

The Senate approved a $99.1-billion budget plan on time in June. However, Republicans in the Assembly have refused to supply the four votes needed there for two-thirds approval. That margin is necessary for passage because the measure contains more than $3.7 billion in tax increases. Democrats, meanwhile, have refused the GOP’s calls to cut spending instead of raising taxes, saying the budget already contains deep cuts.

Among other things, the budget stalemate has prevented payment of nearly 384,000 claims totaling $116 million to elderly, blind and disabled Californians who participate in a program of assistance for homeowners and renters.

The payments, which average about $302, usually go out in July or August after a new state budget is approved. By law, the budget is due each July 1.

GOP lawmakers led by Assemblyman John Campbell of Irvine initially brought forward limited legislation Saturday to make payments to a smaller group of state vendors, and only through the middle of September.

“We in fact want to continue payments to people who need them,” said Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks.

But the majority Democrats, led by Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh of Los Angeles, intervened with amendments that made the bill, SB 676, much broader, allowing the state to make ongoing payments to nearly everyone as called for in the last budget.

“They offer a broader vision of caring for Californians,” Firebaugh said of his changes, noting that they allow for payments for services to children and the disabled.

The Democrats’ move touched off a raucous partisan debate on the Assembly floor, but ultimately a bipartisan majority approved the Firebaugh version on a 59-6 vote and sent it to the Assembly Budget Committee for further discussion.

Responding to the complaints of some GOP legislators, one group was expressly excluded from being paid: legislators themselves.

Nonetheless, no lawmakers appeared happy with the measure. Many declared that they hoped to resolve the full budget problem soon, instead. “We are going down the road of complacency, members,” said GOP Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy of Arcadia, who did not vote for the measure because it would allow for continued funding for abortions, which he opposes. “There is no endgame.”

In other action, the Assembly approved a measure that would bar employers from forcing employees to take discrimination claims to arbitration instead of court. The measure by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) passed on a 44-27 vote and now awaits final passage in the Senate.