Budget Battle Raging in Party

Democrats in the Legislature are set up for a showdown with Gov. Gray Davis next week as they prepare to pass budget measures the governor warned against: a hike in the car tax, cuts in prison spending and deferral of education spending.

Davis is finding that the biggest obstacle to his budget plan so far is not the opposition Republicans, but members of his own party who complain that the cuts in his plan are too deep in some areas and not deep enough in others.

One of the most notable disagreements involves prisons. Under a plan scheduled for a vote next week in both the Assembly and Senate, the Legislature would cut the one budget area that Davis urged be spared: the state prison system.

Democrats are seeking to save about $188 million by releasing nonviolent prisoners due for parole a month early, delaying construction of a prison at Delano and softening the penalty for shoplifting. The proposals, voted on Thursday by the Assembly Budget Committee, would also let certain nonviolent felons off parole early and give work credits to some prisoners for whom there are no prison jobs available.

The governor and Republicans warn that those moves could put the public at risk of more crime.

Davis also disagrees with Democratic members of the Legislature over their move to raise the vehicle license fee.

The administration’s finance director, Steve Peace, says the proposal “does absolutely nothing” to help solve the state’s budget shortfall. Yet the measure is poised for approval in the Assembly as early as Tuesday, after a bill sponsored by Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City) breezed through the Budget Committee on Thursday.

Also heading for votes in both houses is a proposal to postpone $1 billion in education cuts that the governor wants made immediately.

Davis has had a much easier time with Republicans so far, who have supported his proposal to trim the current-year budget by $5.4 billion since he unveiled the plan last month. But the Assembly Budget Committee, dominated by Democrats, approved only $3 billion worth Thursday, rejecting many of the governor’s proposals altogether.

Legislative Democrats said their package would reduce the shortfall by $12.5 billion over 17 months -- exactly what Davis called on them to do. Budget Committee Chairwoman Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach) called it a “significant and responsible first step” with a “balance of tough cuts and responsible revenue increases.”

But administration officials, disputing the committee’s math, said the package would trim $6 billion at best.

Davis was hoping the Legislature would go along with his plan to save $4 billion by stopping the reimbursement of local governments for revenue that was lost when the vehicle license fee was reduced in 1999. The governor’s plan is to rescind that assistance to local governments but not raise the car registration fee, for fear it would diminish the likelihood of getting other tax increases through the Legislature. Under his plan, local governments would absorb the loss.

But legislative Democrats, responding to an outcry from cities, counties and police departments, are poised to raise the vehicle fee. The plan would cost the driver of a $22,000 car about $300 more in the first year of ownership.

In education, Davis called on the Legislature to make cuts that would take effect this year. But education groups warned that would cause chaos in the classroom, and lobbied to postpone the reductions until next year -- even if it meant losing more money in the end -- so they could brace for the cuts. The budget committees heeded their call and sent to the Senate and Assembly floors a bill that defers most of the education reductions, much to Davis’ displeasure.

“The Legislature has been pressing the plus sign on the calculator for six years, and it’s very difficult to press the minus, but they have to step up and do it,” said Davis press secretary Steve Maviglio.

*

Times staff writer Gregg Jones contributed to this report.