Gov., Democrats Argue Over Budget

Partisan tensions erupted Wednesday as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accused lawmakers of ignoring his call for sweeping changes in budget and election practices, and Democrats countered that his agenda undermines schools and threatens the poorest Californians.

Speaking to the Sacramento Press Club, the governor said the Legislature had been wasting time, squandering the special session he had opened three weeks ago to restrain state spending and redraw voting districts.

“The people of California have sent the legislators to Sacramento to work,” the governor said. “Not to just hang. That’s what they’ve been doing the last three weeks: hang.... Nothing has been introduced. Nothing is going on. Dead.”

Schwarzenegger vowed to hit the road in March, visiting shopping malls and Costco stores, gathering signatures for an aggressive initiative campaign that would carry out a promise to take his agenda directly to the voters if lawmakers refused to follow his lead.

The governor has until June 15 to call a special election that would be held Nov. 8, the most likely date for the vote.

“This time we’re going to go all the way,” Schwarzenegger said.

The governor said he was still open to negotiations on his proposals, but there were signs his patience has worn thin.

A legislative official said Schwarzenegger’s office had wanted lawmakers to create “working groups” to consider the governor’s agenda, but Schwarzenegger’s office withdrew that request abruptly Wednesday. The governor’s aides denied that any negotiations had been canceled, adding that they were awaiting counter-proposals from the Legislature to go forward.

As the governor issued his lunchtime broadside, lawmakers were picking apart his budget plans in committee hearings. In pointed questions to Schwarzenegger’s finance director, Tom Campbell, Democrats made clear that they believed the governor’s spending proposal was too hard on the poor, the elderly and the state’s troubled school system.

“It seems to me we are looking at funding California public schools into a level of mediocrity or worse,” said Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles). “I think what this is proposing is pretty Draconian, and will have a negative effect on who stays and who goes into teaching.”

The skirmishing came as a new statewide poll offered evidence that Schwarzenegger’s Democratic backing may be eroding and that support for the governor is increasingly dividing along partisan lines.

A Public Policy Institute of California survey showed that 60% of Californians approve of Schwarzenegger’s job performance -- relatively high for any governor -- but the percentage of Democrats who dislike him has jumped. The poll found that 49% of Democrats disapprove of the way Schwarzenegger is running the state, while 43% approve.

That’s a shift from a year ago, when 46% of Democrats approved of Schwarzenegger’s performance and only 27% disapproved.

Mark Baldassare, the institute’s research director, said the public “no longer views him as being above the political fray.”

Schwarzenegger has a number of matters awaiting legislative action. He has submitted a $111.7-billion budget that would scale back money owed to schools and cut deeply into social services and healthcare spending. If enacted, the budget would leave a shortfall of $10 billion in the 2006-07 fiscal year.

On a separate track, Schwarzenegger wants the Legislature to place on the ballot measures that would reward teachers based on merit, carve new legislative and congressional district borders that would take effect next year, cut spending across the board when the budget falls out of balance, and convert the state’s pension system to a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

Aides to Schwarzenegger said his intention at the luncheon was to prod a Legislature that was moving too slowly for his taste. Though he ridiculed lawmakers at times, Schwarzenegger insisted he was willing to listen.

“If they act on time and come up with good proposals, we will sit down with them and ... there are things we can compromise on, but we want to see a proposal first.”

Schwarzenegger said his staff had been told by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Alameda) that, before they act, lawmakers want to tour California as part of a “fact-finding” mission. He mocked that idea.

Schwarzenegger said lawmakers should already be familiar with what needs to be fixed. “Why would they have to go out now to find out what the people of California want? The people of California want reform! That’s what the recall election was all about.”

Perata later countered: “The Legislature believes in having public commentary, which is why we’re holding the town halls around the state -- the way the governor often visits restaurants and shopping malls.... That’s not delay; that’s democracy.”

A dispute flared Wednesday over who was to blame. None of Schwarzenegger’s major bills has received a hearing by any legislative committee.

Republican lawmakers said they were waiting for the bills to get committee assignments -- a job of the Democrats, who hold the majority in the Legislature.

For their part, Democrats said Schwarzenegger’s Republican allies in the Legislature have not pushed to move quickly. Democrats said they’re hardly resting, but working hard in the meantime on the governor’s 2005-06 budget proposal.

“The governor ought to get his facts straight and stop lobbing mud,” said state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica).

Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Glendale), the Democratic majority leader, said there is neither a public clamor for Schwarzenegger’s plans, nor any urgency for lawmakers to act.

Democrats agree that Californians want reform, Frommer said, but “unfortunately, the voters are not buying the reform the governor is offering ... “

“We are moving quickly to look at his proposal, to come up with our own proposals,” Frommer added. “We’re going to look at all their information. We’re not going to move in a rash or hasty fashion, and frankly, we’re hearing from our constituents that they don’t like the governor’s proposals.”

Schwarzenegger reiterated an old and much-disputed charge: that lawmakers are beholden to “special interests” while he is immune.

As governor, Schwarzenegger has accepted campaign money from many entities commonly thought of as special interests, including companies that do business with the state.

Asked to explain his thinking, Schwarzenegger said his chief complaint is that “special interests” have been “running the show” in Sacramento -- wresting favors from lawmakers susceptible to their influence. He said he is in a different category because he is wealthy and not as easily swayed.

“As far as I’m concerned, no one can buy me,” he said.

The governor’s legislative critics said it is not so simple.

“He is actually vetoing legislation to give California lower prices on drugs,” Frommer said. That, he added “shows the governor’s ability to make decisions may be influenced by his contributors.”

Times staff writer Evan Halper contributed to this report.