Wishing for a Way to Force a Budget : Alas, Wilson and legislators are still in a tangle

The pain and suffering caused by the 46-day-old state budget impasse continue to mount. It’s tempting to propose that Gov. Pete Wilson and all 120 legislators be locked in a room in the Capitol--preferably with the air conditioning turned off--until they emerge with a spending plan to guide the state through the 1992-93 fiscal year.

There are no floor sessions planned for this weekend or any meetings between the governor and the leaders of the two legislative houses. Just what is it going to take for them to finally come to an agreement on how to close the $10.7-billion gap between what the state needs to pay its bills and what is available to spend?

It’s not enough that thousands of vendors--the people the state contracts with to provide services--are getting stiffed pending adoption of a budget. It isn’t enough that the state has been running on IOUs, or that some who get paid with them are having trouble cashing them.

It isn’t even enough that a federal court this week declared that the state has no authority to pay Medi-Cal providers without a budget in place, thus threatening to back up the health care system so that poor people can’t get badly needed services. Nor does it seem enough that state Controller Gray Davis is no longer authorized to pay for the in-home supportive services for the state’s 150,000 severely disabled people--people who can’t even get to the refrigerator or the bathroom without assistance.

In fact, on Friday a budget seemed only slightly closer to reality than when this whole mess began. Yes, there are basic agreements on higher education, prisons, general government and portions of health and welfare. But there still is no agreement on the public schools and some other major aspects of the budget.

There was hope Friday when Wilson came through with a proposal that modified his stands on funding for schools, local government and remaining aspects of health and welfare. Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier)--who in frustration over Wilson’s inaction proposed his own compromise budget last week--was greatly encouraged by Wilson’s action. He said that although the proposal didn’t completely bridge the gulf between Republicans and Democrats, it at least represented a real effort by the governor to move the process forward. If so, that’s a development that’s long overdue.

However, Wilson’s attempt to inch the process along won’t go further if it’s not enough for the Democrats. Democrats have dug in their heels over schools spending, so there are only a few glimmers of hope that the Wilson compromise will have the Democratic support needed to get it through the Senate, much less the Assembly. Nor does there seem to be much room for compromise between the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Wilson over the governor’s proposal to absolve counties of state requirements to provide for welfare and health benefits to the state’s neediest people--the so-called “safety net.”

One thing is sure: Once a compromise is forged it will be plain to all that it’s probably nothing that could not have been agreed upon by last June’s constitutional deadline. The politicians had better watch out; at this rate, the fantasy of locking them up might not sound as far-fetched as they might like.