ARNOLD URGED TO ASK BUSH FOR FAIRER SHARE OF MONEY.

Byline: Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Legislative Democrats called on Tuesday for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to persuade President George W. Bush to return California's ``fair share'' of federal taxes, allowing the state to erase its deficit without huge cuts or GOP-opposed tax hikes.

Though California voted for Sen. John Kerry in November, majority Democrats said Schwarzenegger - because of his stature nationally and role in getting Bush re-elected - has a chance to right the historic wrong at a crucial time.

``If the governor did nothing else next year but go back to Washington and collected 20 percent of what the taxpayers in this state pay the federal government that they never get back, that would take care of our crisis,'' said Assistant Senate President Pro Tem Jackie Speier.

The San Mateo Democrat told a Capitol news conference that Californians pay about $50 billion more in federal taxes each year than the U.S. government spends in the Golden State. In other words, federal taxpayers get 77 cents back for every $1 paid - much less than in nearly every other state.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's Finance Department, said the governor's efforts have increased California's allocation from an expected $350 million to $1 billion in the current fiscal year.

With the state facing an $8 billion-plus deficit next year, Schwarzenegger wrote Bush earlier this month, laying out what the governor called ``important first steps in helping to alleviate the severe imbalance of payments that California's taxpayers experience in the federal budget.''

But Democrats said his efforts have been inadequate, given the needs of the nation's most populous state. The money is used to fund a wide range of federally mandated services, ranging from transportation to health care.

``This governor has a golden opportunity to go back and tell this president, I gave to you, this is what you need to give to me,'' said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.

``He is the only person who is ever going to have an opportunity like this, because of who Arnold Schwarzenegger is and because of what he did for the president,'' Perata said.

Speier said Schwarzenegger ran as ``the collectinator,'' was a key supporter of Bush and ``helped deliver Ohio'' during the presidential race. Furthermore, she said, the governor has the necessary ``charm'' and ``marketing skills.''

With the governor still opposing tax hikes and the easier deficit-coping options like borrowing, Democrats said they hope to force Schwarzenegger to use his political capital with Bush to obtain a greater share of federal funds.

``This is going to become a principal component of our Democratic agenda next year and this is the opening salvo,'' Speier said.

``California has become the national cash cow and we are being milked dry,'' she said. ``We cannot continue to subsidize every other state in the country while we're bleeding red ink.''

Steve Geissinger, [phone]

sgeissinger(at)angnewspapers.com