Governor Calls for More Jobs and Prisons, Tax Reductions : California: Wilson says families earning under $40,000, some firms should get breaks. He terms new jobs and crime reduction ‘twin pillars of the future.’
SACRAMENTO — Citing job creation and crime reduction as the “twin pillars†on which he hopes to build California’s future, Gov. Pete Wilson on Wednesday proposed rewarding businesses that hire new workers and punishing more harshly violent criminals who repeatedly break the law.
In an election-year State of the State Address to a joint session of the Legislature, the Republican governor returned to two themes that helped him win the state’s highest office in 1990: taxes and crime.
Wilson proposed a $50 tax credit for families earning less than $40,000 a year. He called for putting more police on the street by hiring 500 new Highway Patrol officers and assigning them to local communities, and he said the state should construct six new prisons to hold more criminals serving longer sentences than ever before.
The governor did not say how the cash-strapped state government could afford to cut taxes and boost anti-crime spending at the same time, and Democratic legislative leaders, reacting to the speech, accused him of making election-year promises that he knows he cannot keep.
Wilson’s speech made almost no mention of education--always a top issue in the state--and only a passing reference to illegal immigration, a topic the governor hammered at time and again during the past year.
Combining a pointed attack on federal policy-makers with a conciliatory call for bipartisan action on state problems, Wilson urged lawmakers to build on a year of cooperative efforts in which he and the Legislature enacted a package of bills intended to make California a better place in which to do business.
The governor put further behind him his negative rhetoric of 1992, when he complained in his State of the State speech that California had “lost much of its competitive edge†and warned that the changes he wanted would “cause discomfort.†The only discomfort he promised in this speech was for the state’s criminals.
Wilson linked his two key issues by insisting that companies will not build new plants or expand existing ones in a state where their customers and workers do not feel secure in their homes or on the streets.
“New jobs and safe streets are the twin pillars on which we must build California’s future,†he said.
Wilson’s fourth State of the State speech was received politely in the ornate Assembly chamber dominated by Democrats. His 30-minute address was interrupted 15 times by applause.
But the two Democrats who are vying to oppose Wilson in the fall--state Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi--said they doubted his ability to provide the leadership needed to get the job done.
“We can get California moving forward again, but it’s going to take common sense, hard work and, above all, realistic solutions,†Brown said.
Garamendi said Wilson has had three years to turn the state around but has failed.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong track,†he said. “He’s had three swings at the bat, and in baseball, when you miss three times, you’re out.â€
Legislative leaders said Wilson’s speech was unrealistic.
Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti of Van Nuys said Wilson was in a “campaign mode,†cynically promising to boost public safety funding while cutting taxes, a pledge Roberti said the governor cannot keep.
“It was plainly an election-year speech,†Roberti said.
Democratic Assemblyman John Vasconcellos of Santa Clara, the Assembly’s lead budget writer, called Wilson’s speech “an embarrassment†because it seemed calculated to appeal to voters at the expense of fiscal responsibility.
“It just does not add up,†Vasconcellos said. “I am against crime and for new jobs too. But we also have a constitutional obligation to balance the budget.â€
But Assembly Republican Leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga called it a “good speech†that could set the tone for another harmonious legislative session.
“If the Democrats will cooperate as they did last year, we will have a very productive session and California will become safer as well,†he said.
The governor proposed a $1,000 tax credit for each job, up to 100, created in any start-up small businesses over the next two years. And his proposed $50 tax credit would amount to an 18% tax cut for the average couple earning less than $40,000. Last year, at Wilson’s insistence, the state suspended the renters tax credit, which granted credits of up to $120 for tenants in the same income group that Wilson says he now wants to help.
Wilson’s aides said the governor’s proposed tax cuts would cost about $140 million--in a general fund budget of about $40 billion. A tax cut for lower-income wage earners, while affecting a large number of people, is relatively inexpensive for the state because people in that income group do not pay very much in taxes to begin with.
Wilson said he might seek more tax cuts as the year progresses.
“California must go further in making our tax structure competitive,†Wilson said. “Taxes are a cost of doing business. States that tax less than California are clearly more attractive on that score.â€
Wilson also called for reduced regulations and paperwork and a doubling of the state’s export finance program. He repeated his call to abolish the state Energy Commission, added the Integrated Waste Management Board to his hit list and suggested that the state trim middle management jobs by 10%.
Wilson complained that the state’s efforts often are thwarted by the federal government. Every time the state takes a step forward, a “giant push back†comes from Washington.
“It’s not just that further defense cuts are idling aerospace workers,†Wilson said. “Federal water cuts are squeezing our farmers. A failed immigration policy is busting our budget. And higher federal taxes are pinching our wallets.â€
On crime, Wilson said the state needs to focus on three points: more police on the street, improved programs to keep children from turning to crime and stiffer sentences for violent offenders.
He made two references to Polly Klaas, the 12-year-old Petaluma girl who was kidnaped from her home and murdered, and to Richard Allen Davis, the repeat felon who has confessed to the crime. Wilson called Davis an “animal†who should never have been released from prison. Marc Klaas, Polly’s father, watched from the gallery at Wilson’s invitation.
Despite calling for a greater effort to keep children from becoming criminals, Wilson said the state must deal strictly with those who do stray. Children as young as 14 who commit violent crimes, he said, should be tried as adults.
“We sympathize with those neglected children who are tempted by drugs or gangs,†Wilson said. “But when as teen-agers or adults they victimize others, our sympathy must yield to responsibility. And our first responsibility must be always to protect the innocent and punish the guilty.â€
Last year, Wilson said, more than 400 children were murdered in California.
“Our streets are stained with the blood of our children, and it’s got to stop,†Wilson said, his voice rising. “Damn it, it’s got to stop.â€
Wilson proposed hiring 500 new California Highway Patrol officers and assigning them to high-crime communities to help local police. He cited a special program in the city of East Palo Alto where a regional crime-fighting effort reduced the murder rate by 86%.
“Swift response and united community worked in East Palo Alto, and it can work around our state to reduce the fears felt by too many Californians,†he said.
Wilson also repeated his call for adoption of the “three strikes†measure to lock up three-time violent felons for life. If the Legislature does not pass the measure, he said, the voters will enact the proposal as a ballot initiative.
For certain arsonists and sexual offenders, Wilson said, the punishment should be even swifter: life in prison for the first offense. Repeat felons caught with a gun should face the same fate, he said. Credits allowing prisoners to cut their sentences in half by working and behaving well while behind bars should be curtailed, he added.
“It’s time to turn career criminals into career inmates,†Wilson said.
The governor said the state should build six new prisons--adding to the 26 already housing more than 110,000 inmates--financed by a $2-billion bond measure that he wants to put before the voters later this year.
Wilson acknowledged that the anti-crime effort would be expensive. He said he would rather spend the money on universities than prisons. But the state, he said, has no choice.
“Does anyone want to tell me how much a child’s life is worth? Does anyone want to assign a dollar value to the lives of 400 murdered children?†Wilson asked. Then he added: “We can--and we must--prevent these crimes by building the prisons we need to put violent criminals away.â€
Wilson made few attempts at soaring rhetoric and outlined no expansive vision for the state’s future, as he did in his first State of the State speech in 1991.
Californians, he said, are less concerned about the coming century than “about the security of their job today and the safety of their family tonight.â€
But neither did Wilson lay down a controversial agenda like the one he proposed in 1992, when he waged confrontational, partisan conflict with the Democrats in the Legislature.
An adviser agreed that Wilson’s address was high on practical proposals and short on memorable flourishes.
“It was a no-frills, nuts-and-bolts kind of speech,†said Dan Schnur, Wilson’s campaign spokesman.
Times staff writers Jerry Gillam and Carl Ingram contributed to this story.
State of the State Speech
Gov. Pete Wilson’s State of the State Address was received with skepticism by a Legislature dominated by Democrats. State Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, both vying to replace him, later delivered their responses.
THE SPEECH
Gov. Pete Wilson: “New jobs and safe streets are the twin pillars on which we must build California’s future.â€
THE REACTION
Kathleen Brown: “Wilson should ave spoken about the state’s education needs. The issues of crime and the economy are paramount. But education fits into that.â€
John Garamendi: “It was basically the same type of old rhetoric: We’re going to fight crime and cut taxes.â€
Wilson’s Major New Proposals
Here are the major new proposals Gov. Pete Wilson made Wednesday in his State of the State Address:
* An 18% income tax cut for Californians earning less than $40,000 a year.
* Hiring 500 new California Highway Patrol officers and assigning them to help local police in high-crime communities.
* Building six new state prisons, paid for with a $2-billion bond measure to be put before the voters later this year.
* A $1,000 tax credit for each new job created by start-up small businesses during a two-year period.
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