CLOCK TICKS ON WELFARE PLANS : GOP CRITICIZES, DEMOCRATS DEFEND GO-SLOW APPROACH ON REFORMS.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

The state Capitol seems awash in welfare reform plans, but there's still one missing.

California counties have a proposal. So do advocates for children, and the Legislature's analysts. Gov. Pete Wilson issued his two months ago. But for the state's Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, it's another story.

``Let's be clear: the Democrats' plan for welfare reform? There isn't one,'' said Assemblyman Tom Bordonaro, R-San Luis Obispo. ``They haven't laid out what they want. There is no Democratic proposal.''

Each day's delay brings 1.8 million welfare recipients in California closer to the end of new federal time limits on assistance with no statewide program to replace their aid or help them get off the dole and into the work force.

In Los Angeles County alone, 99,000 elderly and disabled legal immigrants stand to lose their benefits this summer.

``Come August, these people are gone, they won't have anything,'' said Cliff Allenby, a county lobbyist. ``And August will be here before you know it.''

Democrats contend their go-slow approach is the right one, given the complex task ahead. They have turned the job of bringing California's welfare system into line with sweeping federal reforms over to a 18-member committee, which expects to have a proposal to the Legislature in May.

But they concede that time is scarce.

``The clock is already ticking for welfare recipients already on aid,'' said Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, D-Oakland, one of the committee's four co-chairs. ``If we don't have a plan for them, we are going to be throwing them to the winds.''

Critics say the committee is too unwieldy and is taking too long to get down to the business of moving welfare recipients to work. They claim Democrats are stalling, unwilling or unable to give California's welfare system the makeover Congress and President Clinton mandated last summer.

``We're chasing our tails. A lot of it is press spin to make it look like the Legislature is doing something,'' said Bordonaro, one of three Assembly Republicans named to the committee. ``The story is what's not happening, and it's sad.''

In contrast, Wilson held a statewide teleconference Friday to highlight bills introduced by Republicans that include parts of his plan. He and other state officials will crisscross the state starting next week to push for Wilson's brand of reform.

Under pressure to push back aid cuts until job-creation programs are in place, Wilson agreed this week to ask federal officials for permission to continue providing food stamps to 102,700 able-bodied adults for six more months.

With at least 60 welfare-related bills introduced in the Legislature, Democrats say they are making progress. But others already fear the issue may be drawn into closed-door budget negotiations rather than settled on the floor of the Legislature.

``The longer you stretch this out, the closer you get to the budget deadline,'' said state Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley. ``When that happens, look out.''

Federal welfare reform requires the state to make tough choices about who gets help, how much and for how long. It repealed the entitlement to benefits - the guarantee that qualified applicants would get help, no matter what the cost.

It also imposes time limits and work requirements on those who continue to receive help, while it excludes many noncitizens from aid programs.

For California and Los Angeles County, the numbers involved are huge. One in every 13 state residents receive help under the largest welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

But the new federal law puts a cap on the number of federal dollars coming to California for welfare. Every dollar spent on child care or job training means one less for cash aid or food stamps. Given the new limits, there won't be enough money to go around.

For years, state lawmakers have waged running battles over how much to spend on welfare programs. Rethinking how to spend it is far more difficult, Aroner said.

``One of the reasons we're going slowly is that welfare reform is making us look at a lot of issues we've not had to look at in a long time,'' Aroner said. ``I think what we're seeing is Democrats are beginning to realize this is a very complex issue.''

Aroner said any plan for public assistance must deal not only with those already on assistance, but other people on the margins: the unemployed, the underemployed and people forced to change careers.

Without such a comprehensive approach ``you have a revolving door,'' Aroner said.

Term limits and changing leadership in the Legislature have made gearing up more difficult.

State Sen. Diane Watson, one of four welfare committee co-chairwomen, said Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante of Fresno and Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer of Hayward take longer to negotiate each step in the process than former Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr.

``It's a new day. Willie Brown is gone, and the Bill Lockyers do things in their own precise times,'' she said.

The committee's four co-chairs were named Jan. 29, nearly a month after lawmakers returned from their holiday recess. It took more than a week to name the rest of the members.

The committee's initial sessions have been devoted to gathering facts and opinions from experts rather than debating specific policy proposals.