The Very Partisan Pattern to Schwarzenegger Vetoes in 2007

He both signed and vetoed much of the environmental legislation passed to him. Some have touted his "greenness" and saw much to celebrate in the environmental legislation he signed, especially for a Republican governor. Others saw some of the green building bill vetoes in particular, as an indication of the opposite and point to the veto of SB 210 (Kehoe) on alternative fuels. But the governor signed AB 118, the Speaker's bill on alternative fuels and he signed a comprehensive flood control package. Of note are some of the bills that did not make it to his desk because of veiled or not so veiled threats to veto them, including Senator Lowenthal's bill to clean up the Ports which are polluting the air and causing lung problems for many. He said he would work with the Senator to revise the bill and hopefully that will be one he can sign last year.

He was generally "tough on crime" although he did sign a bill for release of terminally ill prisoners who the sentencing judges find to be not a danger to society. Otherwise, he signed a massive prison construction increase, perhaps the largest in the United States and major sentencing reform legislation did not make it to his desk. He vetoed three bills recommended by former Attorney General and LA District Attorney Van de Kamp who headed up a special committee on wrongful convictions in the state.

He signed firearm measures opposed by the NRA. One of them, on microstamping of cartridges from semi automatic firearms was supported by most of law enforcement in the state. The other bill was to ban the use of lead in bullets used in the territory used by the California Condor, a bird that nearly became extinct. Some saw this as proof that the Governor is going to be running against Barbara Boxer for the U.S. Senate in 2010 when his term expires, and a recognition that he could not afford to have a negative record on gun control, given how this issue polls in California, and especially after negative publicity from firing a state official over that official's support of the lead bullet ban.

The Governor vetoed all 12 measures that were on the California Chamber of Commerce's "job killer list" all of them by Democratic authors. The Los Angeles Times noted this pattern and saw it as the governor protecting his friends.

He vetoed AB 8, the Democratic health bill and SB 1002 by Democratic Senate President pro Tem Don Perata, that would have appropriated bond money already passed by the voters for water on items that had general agreement. These two areas, health and water, are now the subject of special sessions called by the Governor.

The budget and trailer bills, many of them committee bills, were signed by the Governor--but only after he blue penciled, in effect vetoing, $700 million from it--after the Democrats had already cut much out of the budget in an attempt to get the support of Republicans and the two-thirds vote needed for the budget's passage. Of course, this came after the Governor was critical of the Republican holdup of the budget.

In so many policy areas there were both victories and defeats for progressives and conservatives and many are still trying to find the pattern from Schwarzenegger's actions as a predictor of the future. These numbers indicate he is largely a Republican Governor.

Compare all this to what he did in the last legislative session of 2005-06 and our analysis of the 8.2% of Republican bills and 28% of Democratic bills the Governor vetoed.