SACRAMENTO — As he rebuffed legislation with an intensity rarely seen in California's Capitol, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's commitment to boost business generally overruled his desire to help the environment and consumers this year.
He vetoed an increase in the minimum wage, he blocked consumer protections for used-car buyers, and he refused to impose new air pollution standards on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. He killed all the top 10 "job killer" bills on the California Chamber of Commerce's list.
Even so, Schwarzenegger wasn't close to predictable, sometimes moving far from other Sacramento Republicans.
He created a land conservancy to protect the Sierra Nevada and banned .50-caliber guns. He agreed to let released felons receive food stamps. He legalized the sale of over-the-counter syringes -- something Gov. Gray Davis, his Democratic predecessor, had refused to do.
"I was prepared to see a more sustained and consistent veto message that was more traditionally Republican than what we saw," said Don Perata, the Oakland Democrat who is the incoming Senate president pro tem.
In vetoing a near-record 25% of the bills passed by the Legislature, the governor began to show how he was balancing the various promises he made in last year's recall election. He pledged to be "the people's governor," battling special interests. He also vowed to improve the state's economy.
But when economic and social concerns clashed in dozens of less-heralded pieces of legislation, Schwarzenegger's empathy for business worries usually came out on top.
Schwarzenegger opposed creating a state "green business" certification program for companies that operated in an environmentally friendly manner. He refused to provide state assistance to clean up emissions from metal-plating companies, and vetoed a plan to clamp down on air pollution at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. He quashed an effort to shift the focus of California's management of forests away from timber production and toward recreation and public enjoyment.
"There are any number of bills that the governor signed that are good environmental bills, but to my knowledge there are almost no major bills that were opposed by the Chamber of Commerce that were signed by the governor," said Michael Schmitz, executive director of the California League for Environmental Enforcement, a statewide coalition based in Oakland.
In the conflict between consumers and companies, the governor usually sided with business.
"What the governor did over the last year was very reflective of where California is," said Richard Costigan, Schwarzenegger's legislative advisor. He said the governor backed "reasonable legislation that really focused on turning around the economy."
Schwarzenegger had campaigned on the theme of boosting California's economic climate by easing mandates on businesses, so it was not much of a surprise that he vetoed bills that would have increased the minimum wage or made it harder for Wal-Mart and other companies to build so-called superstores.
But beyond those high-profile measures, the smallest new obligations on business invariably ended up demolished by Schwarzenegger vetoes.
He declined to force the agricultural industry to offer direct deposit to its employees. He refused to require that hotel room attendants get longer rest breaks, saying that "California does not need more labor laws, just tougher enforcement of its existing laws, especially in industries with high numbers of vulnerable workers and a history of labor law violations."
Schwarzenegger showed zero tolerance for regulation of businesses even where the threat of job losses was not apparent.
He vetoed a privacy bill that would have required businesses to inform workers if management planned to monitor their e-mail or other Internet use. He rejected an effort to stop unscrupulous car dealers from deceiving customers to sell them loans more expensive than they could get elsewhere.
He refused to block hospitals from charging uninsured patients more than they charge those with health coverage. He said no to requiring that insurers cover maternity care, though he acknowledged the "difficult policy choice" between ensuring that pregnant women have appropriate healthcare and keeping insurance costs down.
Though a self-styled revolutionary ready to "blow up" the way state government works, he turned timid when Democrats suggested creating websites to direct Californians to Canadian pharmacies where they could buy cheaper drugs. The sites, Schwarzenegger said, could make the state vulnerable to lawsuits or federal sanctions.
