SACRAMENTO – In his first major address since taking office,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger focused on his plans to improve the
state’s business climate, reduce government waste and improve
public education.
The speech, delivered to a worldwide television audience as well
as a joint session of the California Legislature, set an aggressive
legislative agenda for the coming year for the new administration
while also marking a turning point in the transition of the
Hollywood idol into the political leader of the nation’s most
populous state.
SACRAMENTO – In his first major address since taking office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger focused on his plans to improve the state’s business climate, reduce government waste and improve public education.
The speech, delivered to a worldwide television audience as well as a joint session of the California Legislature, set an aggressive legislative agenda for the coming year for the new administration while also marking a turning point in the transition of the Hollywood idol into the political leader of the nation’s most populous state.
“I am optimistic about our state,” Schwarzenegger said. “This good news is that the spending crisis forces us to bring badly needed reform to government.”
Elected in California’s historic recall election in October, Schwarzenegger takes over at a critical juncture. California has an existing deficit of close to $15 billion and although voters will be asked to borrow the money needed to pay off that debt – Schwarzenegger also faces a new deficit of at least $14 billion next year.
While Schwarzenegger didn’t detail his budget plan, to be released Friday, he prepared the state for cuts that will hit all levels of government. And he asked voters to approve the $15 billion bond on the March ballot, promising that we will not raise taxes.
“The alternative is economic chaos,” he said.
As part of improving the business climate, Schwarzenegger called for “real” reform of the workers’ compensation insurance system. If he doesn’t get such a plan by March 1, he is “prepared to take my workers’ comp solution to the people. It will be on the November ballot.”
He noted that raising taxes would only compound the state’s problems. “I will not make matters worse,” he said.
During his campaign, Schwarzenegger promised to find billions of dollars in waste, but so far he hasn’t found any he’s acknowledged publicly. On Tuesday he announced the creation of a commission to find where state government is duplicative and wasteful.
“The executive branch of this government is a mastodon frozen in time and about as responsive,” Schwarzenegger said. “This isnot the fault of our public servants, but of the system.”
On the budget, the target of most cuts is expected to be public health and welfare programs. The governor has already released a list of about $4 billion in spending reductions he wants including changes to the state health insurance program that costs taxpayers about $10 billion annually.
“We have no choice but to cut spending, which is what caused the crisis in the first place,” Schwarzenegger said. “These are cuts that will challenge us all. But we cannot give what we do not have. If we continue spending and don’t make cuts, California will be bankrupt.”
In a response following the speech, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Culver City, said Democratic lawmakers would cooperate with Schwarzenegger, “but we will not capitulate to this governor on issues of core Democratic values.”
Some Democrats also said the governor continues to send mixed messages on bipartisanship – noting that Schwarzenegger at one point Tuesday told lawmakers end the fighting in the Capitol and at another warned them against failing to pass workers’ compensation reform.
“I’m still working on how to operate with him,” said Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach. “The last few weeks has shown some of that confusion. We work together on some things and then a little while later it’s a much more combative relationship.”
Democrats said it won’t be easy to do what Schwarzenegger wants on workers’ compensation reform. “I just don’t think it’s going to be possible to do something that’s not going to hurt workers in the short time he wants it done,” said Senate Majority Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland.
Schwarzenegger also glided past specifics on education funding, saying he wanted to give local education officials more control over how they spend state money.
He said he would work to repeal a union-backed law that prohibits school districts from entering contracts for meals, busing, maintenance and other services, if it the contract would displace school employees.
That law, by Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, prohibits school districts from entering into contracts with outside vendors that undercut wages and benefits paid to school employees.
Alarcon said the governor’s idea was penny-wise and pound foolish, noting that some contractors can cut costs by not providing health benefits for workers.
The governor’s plan to create another commission to review state services for waste also met with skepticism since the state already has auditors that review government for unnecessary spending – including the Little Hoover Commission; the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy; the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the Bureau of State Audits.
“Oh yeah that works,” said Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, sarcastically. “They all talk about it. Every governor, every president, every mayor – we are going to go after the waste and duplication.”
Burton also noted the governor’s vow never to raise taxes might back him into a corner. “How can you, for instance, say cut the money to higher education and then say put a limit on fees,” Burton said. “And not have any new revenue and say that everyone should have a chance to go to college. It does not compute.”
The governor’s tone was generally upbeat and seemed to play well to average voters.
“I have to say he did a good job, and he is a good salesman,” Jose Quinones, 50, an attorney, who watched the speech in Santa Monica at the bar of Schatzi on Main, the Austrian theme restaurant Schwarzenegger started.
Tracy Munoz of Redondo Beach said she voted for Schwarzenegger in the recall election and said she was pleased to hear the governor address workers’ compensation reform.
“I’ve seen employers who have struggled with that and maybe outsource or maybe move out of the state or redo their businesses,” Munoz said. “To me that’s really sad that that would have to happen because the best businesses come from California.”
