Schwarzenegger and Legislative Leadership Barnstorm Around California on Bond Package

These airport hopping events will make the news throughout the state. There will be different facts and figures for different media markets. The sound bites will include the Governor saying that the bonds were needed because “the infrastructure we have is for a population of 20 million people” whereas we now have 35 million in the state. There is an era of good feeling expressed, by the Governor, “When the Democrats and the Republicans work together, anything is possible.” The legislative leaders also had good things to say about each other and the Governor.

How all of this will affect November, I cannot predict. It is too far off and other events will certainly intervene between now and then. Today, it helps the Governor because he has nothing else to point to in his three years in office except a workers’ compensation measure (that is now showing signs of needing a fix because injured workers cannot get medical treatment --something admitted last week to a Senate committee by his own workers’ comp director-- and payments for those who are permanently disabled). I can tell you a few interesting things I saw today.

First of all, there were prominent signs, including one on the podium that said “Investing in California’s Future, www.StrategicGrowthPlan.com.” When I asked a representative of the Governor’s office whose website it was, I was told it was the Governor’s. The handouts from the Governor, all that was available, had the title “Strategic Growth Plan” in them, whether they were about statewide or local impacts. This is clearly the Governor’s “branding” of the bills passed by the legislature. All of those who spoke, did so at the podium with that framing. Those words do not appear in any of the bills that form the package.

Both Nunez and Perata stated that it did not matter how the bonds would possibly affect the Governor’s race. Perata said “We have a job to do. We weren’t sent to Sacramento to be a stalking horse for candidates for Governor.” Later on he added “If we hadn’t done this, we should have been thrown out of office.”

I think Perata is right. The Democrats seized an opportunity to accomplish good public policy. Had they not done so, their own approval ratings would have been lower. But more importantly, an opportunity would have been squandered. Believe me, I have not had time to read through the bills and understand all that is in them. Even though Assembly Minority Leader Plescia said “You’ll see there’s a lot of things Democrats like and a lot of things Republican’s like,” I have a gut feeling that Democrats came out ahead on the bonds and associated bills.

Schwarzenegger, in answering a question talked about the give and take said “As you know, I wanted to have prisons built.” His initial proposal did not have many of the public transit and housing assistance in it that Democrats were able to bargain for. There is, as far as I know, an absence of new prisons.

Perata predicted that the campaign for the bonds would feature those who are affected—ordinary Californians including teachers, students, parents, and those stuck in traffic, and not those running for office. “Politics makes for strange bedfellows” said Jerry Brown. It will indeed be interesting to see how this all plays out.

After the formal press conference, Perata did say that as to transportation “The fact of the matter is, I had been working on this for a year.” There is a lot more that can be said about where all these ideas came from. They are a far cry from what the Governor showcased in his State of the State speech in January.

If the facts do matter, Perata did introduce SB 1024 in February of 2005. This was a transportation bond package. Proposition 46 from November of 2002, was spearheaded by former Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson. John Burton also played a major role in this housing bond measure. It is this successful bond program will have its coffers refilled by this latest bond package on housing. Speaker Nunez introduced AB 58 in December of 2004. This was a school bond many had hoped would become a reality in 2005 and it became the $10.4 billion bond that will go on this November’s ballot. There’s more, but today is Arnold’s day in the sun.

Fabian Nunez said to Jerry Brown that the name of Pat Brown had not been invoked as much in recent years. He quipped “I’d like to say it is because you are running for AG.” He then spoke passionately of the school children in portable facilities and how they would be affected by the bonds and about many other items that will help all Californians. That is the focus of what we all ought to be thinking about.

But politics is politics.