Here I sit (with less than five hours left before I need to wake up and head to work), working on a project that I could have easily started much earlier in the day. My reason for not doing this earlier? I was working on a different writing project -- the class "notes" for Vassar's alumnae/i magazine -- that I could have very well done much earlier. But since the deadline isn't until tomorrow, of course I put it off until the night before it's due.

But enough of my rambling. My point is simply this: It's late, I'm tired, and I have nothing more to say in this week's welcome section.

Have a great week, and thanks for putting up with my occasional spouts of grumping.

-Gabe

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A booming economy is swelling state coffers by an estimated $2.5 billion to $3 billion beyond initial projections. That means Davis will have to come up with definite priorities to spend the money. He's already being inundated with requests from fellow Democrats who want to protect cherished programs, but it is likely Davis will use some of the funds to cover yet another cut in vehicle license fees, adding to the total of 35 percent in reductions already approved in less than two years.

Reducing the vehicle fees is a politically popular thing to do. Nobody likes paying these license and registration costs.

But beyond that cut, what will Davis do with the extra money?

Thus far, the governor hasn't said. But his known positions on a variety of issues give clues to his likely course of action.

First, he is all but certain to propose an infusion of more funds into education above the constitutional guarantees contained in Proposition 98, the initiative voters approved a decade ago.

Second, he is likely to suggest that more money be spent on what bureaucrats call "infrastructure" -- a loose term that covers everything from highways to water projects.

Third, he is likely to propose an increase, however modest, in welfare benefits and, at the same time, suggest that greater resources be directed toward economic development.

Fourth, he is all but certain to propose substantial new funding for the just-approved state agency, the Department of Managed Care, that will regulate California's health management organizations, or HMOs.

And finally, Davis is likely to propose increases for government-run health programs for the poor, such as Medi-Cal.

There is no question that a governor is happier with a surplus rather than a deficit -- just ask former Gov. Pete Wilson, who suffered long-term political damage stemming from the Draconian cuts he was forced to make during his first term in office.

But an excess of money is also a political liability, because the squabbling over the money pits fellow Democrats against one another and provides Republicans with political ammunition for future elections.

Compounding the problem is the direct involvement of electorate in billions of dollars worth of potential spending on parks and water projects that will appear on the March 7 statewide ballot.

The governor prides himself on fiscal prudence, but that position will be sorely tested when he unveils, and defends, his 2000-2001 spending plan. Moreover, the expected surplus may rise even further by next May, when the final numbers are tallied from the latest tax receipts. It is the May estimate, known as the "May Revise," that is the real underpinning of next year's budget.

Flush with money or not, a governor's job is rarely easy. And Davis is about to find that out.

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