CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Welfare Increase Delay Is Signed

Gov. George Deukmejian quickly signed a bill Friday to delay for one month the required cost-of-living increases for welfare mothers and children. The Legislature passed the bill by Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan (D-Fresno) Thursday to give leaders more flexibility in ongoing budget negotiations. State law would otherwise require the 4.6% cost-of-living increases to begin Sunday for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The bill suspends those increases for a month, along with increases for in-home supportive services and county health services. Lawmakers and the governor have been unable to reach agreement on a budget for the 1990-91 fiscal year that begins Sunday. Deukmejian has proposed freezing welfare benefits as part of a final budget compromise. If the increases had been allowed to take effect, it would have been legally difficult to change benefits later this month.