Davis taps colorful former state senator as budget chief

Wednesday December 18, 2002

By ALEXA H. BLUTH
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO (AP) Gov. Gray Davis has named former state senator and longtime legislative budget negotiator Steve Peace as his top budget adviser.

Peace, a maverick Democrat from Chula Vista who left office this month because of term limits, will replace outgoing Finance Director Tim Gage, who is leaving after writing Davis' first four budgets.

Gage told Davis ``about a year ago'' that he wanted to move on after the end of Davis' first term, the governor said Wednesday.

Davis called Peace ``a trusted and experienced legislative leader on matters of budget and finances'' and said he was seeking someone to help serve as a bridge to the Legislature during the upcoming battles over an estimated $34.8 billion two-year budget shortfall.

``I understood the need to find someone with good relationships with the Legislature, who had the acumen to deal with the budget and who had been doing it as the chair of the budget committee for the last six years,'' Davis said.

As chairman of the Senate energy committee, Peace helped write the 1996 legislation that led to the state's deregulation of its utilities market. That law has been blamed for much of the energy crisis that hit the state in 2000 and 2001.

Peace, who has been in the Legislature since 1982, was chairman of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee for the past six years. In the late 1980s, he was part of the rebellious ``Gang of Five'' who tried to engineer the ouster of then Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

Though known for his sometimes cantankerous manner at the Capitol, he also for his ownership of a video production company that produced the cult movie classic ``Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'' and three sequels.

Peace will earn $131,412 a year in the post, which requires Senate confirmation.

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(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)