Governor unsheathes veto pen

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is rapidly clearing his desk of bills which piled up during the great budget battle, and his messages won’t be a pleasure for many legislators, including the two who represent La Cañada Flintridge.

The governor used his refusal to sign bills as a stick in his effort to get the budget done. With more than 1,100 bills awaiting action, Schwarzenegger braved the threat of writer’s cramp and set to work on the pile.

As of Monday, he had signed 565 bills and vetoed 278, more than the total of 214 he rejected all of last year. More than 341 bills remained on the desk for action.

One of the bills he rejected was Assembly Bill 1863, a measure by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino to mandate the enhanced teaching of Italian American history in California schools. The governor said in his veto message, “I continue to believe that the state should establish rigorous academic standards and frameworks, but refrain from being overly prescriptive in specific school curriculum.”

Another Portantino bill, AB 1366, was vetoed by the governor. The measure would require local governments to have submitted annual housing element progress report to qualify for affordable housing money from the state. According to the governor’s veto message, “While compliance with housing element law is important, withholding funding would have the effect of reducing affordable housing options in communities where they are most needed.”

Sen. Jack Scott had 22 measures approved by the Legislature in this, his final year in the state Senate. Five came bouncing back from the governor during the first push of vetoes.

Senate Bill 1499, a bill which initially would have banned the sale of metallic balloons and then was amended to just restrict them, was vetoed by the governor. The bill was sponsored by local power companies to prevent outages when the balloons touched live lines.

Schwarzenegger said he was being forced to prioritize measures because of the budget delay. He said, “I am only signing bills that are of the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard.”

Also rejected by the governor was SB 1111, designed to simplify the test taking required in public schools to meet state and federal standards.

Schwarzenegger said, “This bill would severely restrict the state Board of Education’s authority to act on behalf of the state to meet federal requirements, and therefore compromises federal funding that California receives. While I support the intent of reducing duplication in educational tasks, I cannot support the approach taken I this measure.”

The third bill vetoed, SB 413, would allow community colleges to apply for funding to deliver classes to correctional inmates. According to the governor, “This bill as drafted appears to create inappropriate fiscal incentives for community colleges, state prisons, local correctional agencies…and other entities that ma lead to supplanting current funding provided through the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.”

Also vetoed by the governor was Scott’s SB 325, which would establish a statewide system of accountability for postsecondary education to assess the contributions of the state’s higher education institutions to meeting economic and educational goals. The governor said, “I believe our public education systems should be held accountable for achieving results… (but) this bill falls short in providing any framework for incentives or consequences.”

Also not winning the governor’s support was SB 146, to move public schools from an average daily attendance to average monthly enrollment system for compensation. Schwarzenegger said, “Because I believe students are best served through vigorous daily classroom instruction, I cannot support this measure.”