Time to Take On Schwarzenegger?
SACRAMENTO — This year's state budget talks provide the first real test for what may become the most important relationship in California politics, that between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first-year Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.
The governor gained early political momentum after he reduced vehicle license fees, muscled the Legislature into repealing a law that would have given driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, won passage of a $15-billion deficit-reduction bond and negotiated a legislative deal to reform the workers' compensation system. When it looked as though Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers would meet the often-missed deadline for a budget, the governor was hailed by many observers as an unstoppable political force.
The speaker was understandably reluctant to challenge Schwarzenegger. Nunez (D-Los Angeles) followed the governor's lead, taking tax increases off the table as a possible solution to the state's multibillion-dollar deficit. He played to the middle, calling for the restoration of proposed cuts in higher education funding instead of focusing on Schwarzenegger's cuts in health and welfare programs.
Poll after poll showed the governor's approval rating reaching record levels. Schwarzenegger's swing through the state earlier this year to gather signatures to place a workers' compensation reform package on the ballot had pushed Democrats to pass a legislative compromise, and many lawmakers remained careful not to pique the governor's ire on budget matters.
But a strange thing happened when budget talks began dragging and Schwarzenegger shifted into campaign mode to get his way. Democrats didn't seem to care. Increasingly inside the Capitol, there is a sense that when Schwarzenegger goes to a mall in Chico or a Mexican restaurant in Dixon to talk politics, the people flock to see the Terminator, not the governor. There is a corresponding belief among Democrats that the governor's personal popularity doesn't automatically translate into support for his policy proposals.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger developed a minor credibility problem in Sacramento, which can be disastrous for a politician. Mistrust helped sink Gray Davis' governorship prematurely, and if there was a lesson for the new governor during the opening days of July, it was that a handshake deal in Sacramento actually means something.
