The State - News from May 2, 1985

All 28 California Democratic congressmen asked Gov. George Deukmejian to appeal a decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret M. Heckler to levy a $35-million fine against the state for excessive errors in administering the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children program in fiscal 1983. Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), who has introduced legislation giving large states more time to make corrections, pointed out in a letter signed by his colleagues that California already had made progress toward cutting its error rate to the required 4% of payments. California cannot not achieve the target as quickly as states with smaller welfare populations, he said.