No More Wine and Roses

Besides Jerry Brown, a remarkable group of Governors took office this year and seemed likely to offer novel departures from conventional politics. A progress report on four of them:

NEW YORK'S HUGH CAREY. Democrat Carey, 55, had planned during his first 100 days to begin reorganizing the state's criminal-justice system, reforming election laws and dumping outmoded boards and commissions. Instead, he has had to wrangle with the Republican senate over revenue and deal with inherited emergencies.

Carey describes the government that he took over as Nelson Rockefeller's "megastate," an expansive creature that could be fed only by an ever-expanding economy. Largely because of hard times, the New York State Urban Development Corp., an agency created at Rockefeller's urging, ran out of cash just as Carey took office. To save the state's credit--and housing developments already abuilding --Carey had to persuade the legislature to bail out U.D.C. temporarily while he bargained with reluctant bankers to get new underwriting. He also staved off financial disaster in the New York City transit system with an extra infusion of state money. These and other problems, says Carey, have produced a routine of "one day of crisis, one day of planning, one day of crisis." Without some economies and new taxes, the administration estimates that the state's $10.4 billion budget will be about $550 million in the red during the fiscal year that started last week. The new Governor insists, in his friendly way, that "the times of plenty, the days of wine and roses, are over."

OKLAHOMA'S DAVID BOREN. The new Democratic Governor is doing just what he promised: pruning and reorganizing government.

He campaigned with a broom, and now he is using it vigorously. An amiable 200-pounder who looks like a plodder but who moves fast when he has to, Boren, 33, put the Governor's airplane up for sale, trimmed the size of his executive staff, refused to take a $7,500 salary increase (from his current $35,000) and persuaded other officials to give up their legislated raises. Boren also demanded and got bills requiring tougher prosecution of fathers who desert their families and compelling welfare mothers to register for work. He is taking the novel step of making sure that appropriation bills for government agencies include a provision citing the maximum number of employees permitted in each agency. "There's no more important issue than holding the line on government spending." Says Boren, anticipating a state budget of more than $1.5 billion for fiscal 1976, with a projected surplus as high as $140 million: "If we can stop spending dead in its tracks, it will be tremendous. It's wiping out the middle class."

MAINE'S JAMES LONGLEY. Just after he was inaugurated, Longley, 50, locked every door leading to his office except one. He then sawed off the top half of that one and locked the bottom half, expecting that visitors would look inside but not enter. Elected as a political independent who would bring efficiency to an increasingly destitute state, Longley launched his closed-door policy to make the point that lobbyists with big-spending notions were no longer welcome. He has sharply trimmed the budget requests of every government department and asked the legislature to consolidate several top administration jobs. But his problem is that he cannot contain his indignation. He infuriated members of both parties when he called a legislator a "common pimp." He also referred to opponents as "criminals" and declared that "it is the professional politicians who prostitute the system." By displaying his pique, he has impaired his cost-cutting program, even though most politicians agree with it.

COLORADO'S RICHARD LAMM. Coloradans were braced for a flood of legislation to protect the environment when Democrat Lamm, 39, was elected. But the onslaught never came. Lamm has been too busy trying to protect the state's surplus, which for fiscal 1976 has dwindled from an anticipated $80 million to a mere $11 million; the total budget is $1.8 billion. Lamm has upset the state's teachers by increasing the educational budget less than his Republican predecessor did last year. To provide tax relief, especially for the poor, he has proposed a general income tax cut and elimination of the sales tax on food. This revenue loss would be offset by a 1 3/4% boost in the state corporate tax and a new tax on mining operations. For economic reasons, the once crusading Lamm has only cautiously advanced his education, health and welfare proposals. "He has always been a person in the forefront of causes," says Senate Democratic Leader Raymond Kogovsek. "All of a sudden, he has to be an administrator--a boat steadier instead of a boat rocker."

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