Last Line of Defense in the War on Welfare

This week begins the real test for an outnumbered band of Los Angeles legislators trying to protect their poor constituents from the worst ravages of the great social revolution of the 1990s--welfare reform.

The tide of history is against them and their impoverished urban constituency. The population changes of the last two decades have shifted political control of the Legislature to the suburbs. And the suburbanites, no matter what their party affiliation or ethnic background, tend to be more hostile to welfare than city voters.

The Sacramento numbers are against them, too. The Democrats, creators of the welfare system, control the Senate and the Assembly. But in the more conservative politics of the ‘90s, some of them will side with Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, one of the nation’s most outspoken advocates of welfare cutbacks.

*

Much of the burden of battling this powerful movement will fall on two little-known, inexperienced assemblymen, Rod Wright, a first-termer from South-Central Los Angeles, and Antonio Villaraigosa, who represents a 63% Latino district extending from Silver Lake to Boyle Heights.

I’ve got my own perspective on Wright and Villaraigosa, and on the welfare revolution.

The revolution started in the mid-60s. It wasn’t much noticed at first because the media were preoccupied with the anti-war movement. But those of us assigned to follow a then-novice politician, Ronald Reagan, saw that something else, just as significant, was afoot in white middle-class suburbs, which had long been part of the Democratic Party liberal coalition. When Reagan blasted welfare in these precincts, crowds cheered.

Bill Clinton looked at the Reagan record and the success of other GOP campaigns and accepted what Republican candidates and strategists had long known: Although the electorate appeared to accept the idea of welfare as a bridge over hard times, the concept of long-term welfare, stretching through familial generations, was counter to the American ideal of hard work and lifting yourself up by the bootstraps. In addition, the welfare debate became enmeshed in the racial question. Many whites felt there were too many minorities on the welfare rolls, even though most recipients actually are white.

By the time Wright and Villaraigosa reached Sacramento in the ‘90s, they were clearly running against the tide. But they were well equipped to do so.

Wright was a top political operator for Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters before he was elected last year. What political tricks he didn’t learn from Waters, he was intent on picking up from others. I could see that when I encountered him at Los Angeles International Airport not long after his election. He was flying to San Francisco to spend a couple of days with an acknowledged legislative maestro, Mayor Willie Brown, former speaker of the Assembly.

Villaraigosa was elected in 1994 after weaving his way through the maze of Latino politics with the support of county Supervisor Gloria Molina. Before that, he was an official of the teachers and government employee unions. This year, he became Assembly majority leader.

*

“We have come a long way,” said Villaraigosa, as he reflected on how even liberal Democrats have begun to accept the revolution. “Two years ago, Democrats [in the Legislature] were arguing against any welfare reform. Today, we have the responsibility of implementing it.”

Villaraigosa wants to make sure aid will continue for legal elderly or disabled immigrants. “This is an issue that burns in me,” he said.

Villaraigosa is speaking to unions, grass-roots neighborhood groups and Latino organizations, trying to spark a wave of letter-writing and phone calls to lawmakers.

Wright, trained as a legislative aide, is immersing himself in the details, knowing that Wilson’s team, his ultimate foe, is much more experienced than this wave of green, post-term-limit lawmakers. “If I have a broad goal, it’s how do we lessen the pain, because there will be pain,” Wright said.

Their mission when the final battle begins in the next few days will be to persuade post-welfare revolution Sacramento to show compassion for the truly needy while forcing the able-bodied to find jobs.