Seismic Safety Panel Targeted

Quarreling over budgetary items that constitute as little as one-80,000th of the state’s projected $38-billion shortfall, Democrats and Republicans fired away at each other Monday on the financing of California’s seismic safety programs.

If Republican state senators were to prevail with their proposal to consolidate the Seismic Safety Commission into the state Office of Emergency Services, it would cut $442,000 from the state budget.

It has been the subject of considerable politicking over the past week as Democrats accused Republicans of trying to gut earthquake programs and Republicans said their proposals were a step toward fiscal responsibility.

After protests by individuals such as Darryl Young, director of the state Department of Conservation, failed to get much attention last week, the Davis administration announced a public meeting of four seismic safety officials at the state Capitol today to make their arguments.

“Senate and Assembly Republicans propose eliminating the Seismic Safety Commission and all general fund money for the California Geological Survey,” said the Democratic governor’s announcement of the meeting.

“This proposal will compromise public safety by making a state which has had numerous devastating earthquakes in the past less prepared for future quakes,” the announcement said.

A spokesman for the Assembly Republicans, Peter DeMarco, responded that the Democrats are a trifle late with their complaint, since proposed GOP seismic cutbacks totaling $7 million were defeated in the Assembly last week. The $7 million would have been less than one- 5,000th of the budgetary deficit.

There also has been disagreement over whether the seismic cutbacks would leave various state departments with options to rearrange their spending to keep specific programs funded.

For instance, Young said last week that proposed cutbacks by the Senate Republicans would cancel his department’s seismic hazard mapping and strong-motion sensor programs.

H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Senate Republicans, insisted, however, that those programs had not been targeted and that, even if a proposed Senate cutback of $5.4 million for the department were to be approved, the department would lose only 12% of its available funds and could simply rearrange its programs to keep the essential. Young said Monday that most of the department’s spending is not discretionary and could not be rearranged.

“We don’t like to quarrel over such small amounts,” Young said. “But we are concerned that in the last moments of an eventual compromise, there might be a mix-up and we could lose something vital.”

But DeMarco said, “For all intents and purposes, proposals that are rejected are dead.”