Finally, a Fair Share in Health Funding : * Bergeson Can Be Proud of Equitable, Statewide Plan

Orange County and other counties that have been cheated out of their share of state health and mental health funds for more than a decade now stand to benefit from passage of a bill that would begin to right some of those wrongs. A bill--approved June 20 as part of the state budget package--would bring shortchanged counties $205 million more over five years. Approval is a major victory for Orange County, one that will be complete when companion legislation necessary to enact the change is passed in Sacramento.

Initially, Orange County would net $13 million more--$5 million in the 1992-93 fiscal year and another $2 million a year for the next four years. But more important, the increases would change the base used to determine the county’s future share. Using current revenue projections, that could mean that Orange County, within five years, would receive upwards of $15 million annually--a third more than it now gets--for mental health, public health and indigent health programs. Even greater gains are expected in San Diego County, now near the bottom in terms of its share of state revenue for these programs.

The formulas now in place were devised 13 years ago after passage of Proposition 13, which completely restructured state and local government. But the formulas failed to take into account the need to adjust for future population growth. That led to so-called “under-equity” counties--the term used for counties that now receive less than their share of state health and mental health funds. Over the years, these high-growth counties such as Orange County fell further and further behind.

The inequity of the current formulas has long been recognized in Sacramento. But, until this year, the money to bring under-equity counties up to par would have had to come from the same pool of money shared by all counties. That’s a zero-sum game that counties such as Los Angeles and San Francisco--which dominate the Legislature--have refused to play. Even though these urban counties receive a bigger percentage of the pot, their share falls far short of their needs.

Times have changed, and the state has a new governor--not insignificantly, one whose hometown is San Diego. Eager to correct the inequities, Gov. Pete Wilson urged changes in the formulas as part of a massive realignment of health and mental health services approved recently as legislators have struggled to resolve the state’s budget crisis. The realignment would shift to counties the responsibility for health programs, and institute increases in sales taxes and vehicle license fees to pay for them.

Under-equity counties came to view this historic program shift as a unique opportunity to correct unfair formulas. That’s because, instead of taking money from counties that currently are favored, money for formula adjustments would come from new revenue generated by sales tax and vehicle license fee increases. The realignment measure containing the adjustments has been on Gov. Wilson’s desk pending completion of the budget process.

Credit for getting fairer formulas into the budget must go in large measure to Orange County’s Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee and a member of the joint legislative committee that drew up the realignment package. But, ironically, it was the state’s budget crisis that provided the opportunity for change.

It took a little bit of luck, and a lot of hard work, but finally it looks as if Orange County will start getting fair treatment. It’s about time.