Building consensus

IN HIS STATE OF THE STATE speech, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled the golden age of California and the glory days of his gubernatorial campaign. In 2003, he said his goal was to return the state -- beleaguered by fiscal problems, an aging infrastructure and an ever-increasing population -- to preeminence. On Thursday night, he took a giant step in that direction by inviting the Legislature to join him in a massive infrastructure program that inevitably will draw comparisons with that of Democrat Pat Brown, who presided over the birth of the State Water Project; the grand expansion of state college, university and highway systems, and what were acknowledged as the best public schools and state parks in the nation.

Times have changed dramatically. But the 10-year, $223-billion program the governor outlined before the joint session of the Senate and Assembly at least has the prospect of accommodating the Californians here now and the millions more expected to come -- and drive the highways, learn in the schools and drink the water. The core of the program is a $25.2-billion bond issue that would go on the ballot this year.

Some will ridicule the plan as grandiose, a product of the former action hero’s ego. Others are already calling it a campaign gimmick, a calculated makeover of the Republican governor’s political agenda after his year of fighting with Democrats and losing every issue he backed in November’s special election.

Forget the labels. Anyone can see that the state’s infrastructure is crumbling all around us, the product of near-criminal neglect for at least the last 20 years, and must be rehabilitated and expanded. If not, a future generation of children will be doomed to overcrowded schools and an underachieving economy.

Schwarzenegger delivered the 30-minute speech briskly and matter-of-factly, with none of the theatrics that have become normal for such addresses. He offered no introductions of heroes. His only personal anecdote involved state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), commending her perseverance in pursuing passage of a bill to get soda and junk food out of schools. He invited all lawmakers to show the same sort of perseverance “to help our children, our families, our communities and our state.”

Critics will quibble with parts of the program -- the lack of money to fix down-at-the-heel state parks, for instance. Republicans won’t like user fees to expand water systems. Some Democrats applauded what the governor said but questioned his sincerity in following through. For now, they should take him at his word. In a sharp break from last year’s practice, Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata have promised to work together.

For too long, lawmakers have engaged in ideological warfare and deadlocked over minor issues while neglecting core services and infrastructure. Governors who struggled with fiscal crises and natural disasters did not plan for the future the way Brown and Earl Warren did. Schwarzenegger is correct when he says the infrastructure is at the breaking point.

Call this ambitious plan a product of the governor’s ego, or a political ploy, or the outcome of his political rebirth after his embarrassment last fall. The motive doesn’t matter. What’s important is that it is good -- and critical -- for California.