Props. 57, 58 Will Help Police, Governor Says

As he received endorsements from a swath of law enforcement groups Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that police and firefighters around the state would lose their jobs if the two ballot measures he backs, Propositions 57 and 58, were not passed by voters on March 2.

Proposition 57 is a $15-billion bond to cover the current year’s budget deficit.

Proposition 58 is a balanced budget amendment to the state Constitution. The measures are linked so that if either fails, both fail.

“If Prop. 57 and 58 fails, many law enforcement and public safety officials have to be laid off,” Schwarzenegger told a small crowd of law enforcement officials during an appearance at a training facility for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in the city of Orange. “It will be terrible for our neighborhoods. It will be terrible for our state.”

The measures have nothing specifically to do with law enforcement, and Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget takes away money from localities that might be used for law enforcement.

But representatives of 14 law enforcement groups, including the California State Sheriff’s Assn. and the California District Attorneys Assn., said that without the money from Proposition 57, cuts to law enforcement would be even worse.

Orange County Sheriff’s recruits did push-ups in the governor’s honor. And Schwarzenegger was joined on stage by Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who suggested California could face something akin to Orange County’s 1994 bankruptcy if the propositions didn’t pass.

During his speech, Schwarzenegger briefly invoked the career of his late father, a police officer in his Austrian hometown who died 30 years ago.

“I know that he’s looking down now, and he’s very proud that his son is getting such great support and such great endorsements from the law enforcement community,” Schwarzenegger said.

“And I was raised, of course, to honor and to support the men and women who put their lives on the line every day, so we can live and raise our families with a sense of peace and security.”