From North to South, Governor Makes Case on Ballot Measures

Many in the audience were not old enough to vote, but that did not inhibit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made a vigorous case Thursday for passage of his $15-billion bond and balanced-budget ballot measures before a group of about 2,000 high school students.

In a half-hour address in which he also talked about the financial rewards he had given up to enter politics, the governor told teenage delegates to the annual California Model Legislature and Court in Sacramento that passage of the ballot measures on March 2 would be important to making college a realistic goal for young Californians.

“Our state now has a $22-billion debt that I have inherited,” Schwarzenegger said, as students snapped pictures. “And this debt occurred because our politicians here in Sacramento have overspent year after year. They’ve spent more money than the state takes in, which was absolutely outrageous to do.

“We are taking the $22-billion debt. We’re consolidating it, refinancing it. And then with Proposition 58, we’re cutting up the credit card of the politicians.”

Proposition 57 is a $15-billion bond that aims to cover the state’s shortfall. Proposition 58 would require a balanced budget. The two are companion measures, meaning that, if voters defeat one, the other fails, too.

In reply to a question about college costs, the governor tied passage of the ballot measures to broad financial recovery and, by extension, easier access to school.

Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget for 2004-05 would raise fees at the University of California and state college system and curtail enrollment.

The governor noted that he also wanted tuition increases never to exceed 10% a year, preventing the spikes that make it hard for families to plan.

“But right now I have to say that everyone has to, of course, tighten their belts a little bit, because we know we’re facing one of the worst financial crises in the history of California,” he said.

When it came time to ask questions, dozens of students moved toward the microphone. But they were sent back to their seats. The questioners had been pre-selected through a lottery in which 400 students had taken part.

The first question concerned the two ballot measures.

“Do you think, because Proposition 57 and 58 are supported by both Republicans and Democrats, that there will be an increase in voter turnout on March 2?” a young woman asked.

Schwarzenegger said that the bipartisan support shown for the ballot measures so far would indeed have a “tremendous effect” on turnout.

Pointing to his own path as an entertainer-turned-public official, Schwarzenegger urged the students to think of community before themselves.

“I started making $10,000 a month,” he said. “Then I started making $100,000 a month. Then $3 million a movie. Then $10 million a movie, all the way to becoming the highest-paid entertainer at $30 million for ‘Terminator III.’

” ... I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ All this stuff. I’m always worried about myself. I was always thinking about how can I be the most muscular man? How can I be the richest guy? How can I be in the movies? How can I become a star?

“I had to change.”

In Beverly Hills later in the day, Schwarzenegger renewed his appeal for passage of the two ballot measures before 1,200 guests at a Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce dinner.

Speaking to a bipartisan crowd of county supervisors, state legislators, City Council members, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and others, Schwarzenegger asked them to imagine California without a budget crisis.

The Republican governor picked up an endorsement for the two propositions from his predecessor, former Gov. Gray Davis.

“This is really important to the state’s long-term financial well-being,” Davis told reporters. “I sat there myself, and I know we had to borrow money. He wants to borrow a little more, but I understand why,” Davis said. “It’s the best plan to get the state back on its feet.”

Former Gov. Jerry Brown, now mayor of Oakland, also joined in supporting the measures.

“We need to borrow this $15 billion to get over the next year or two,” Brown said.

At another Southland stop Thursday, Schwarzenegger joined a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new gymnasium at El Roble Intermediate School in Claremont.

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Times staff writers Joe Mathews and Jeffrey L. Rabin contributed to this report.