SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will call next week for an immediate legislative special session to consider plans to restrain state spending and alter the way congressional and legislative districts are drawn.
In doing so, the governor also will force a confrontation with the Legislature. He intends to leave no doubt in his State of the State speech Wednesday that if lawmakers rebuff him or refuse to act, he will take his proposals directly to voters as early as next fall, according to people familiar with his plans.
Schwarzenegger's action could convulse the state's political culture. He hopes to strip lawmakers of the power to create politically safe districts and give the responsibility instead to a panel of three retired judges.
Depending on how the borders were drawn, redistricting could send more Republicans or Democrats to the Legislature or Congress, with profound implications for policy. It also could change the type of lawmaker elected by making districts more friendly to political centrists.
New spending constraints may guard against future deficits, but also could staunch the flow of money into social service and education programs, angering Democratic lawmakers who contend that Schwarzenegger promised them a year ago he would not take such a step.
Schwarzenegger plans to reveal more specifics when he releases his new budget Jan. 10. Democrats plan to send an early message of conciliation. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) is expected to present him with, literally, an olive branch at the State of the State speech on the Assembly floor to show the Democrats' commitment to two-party peace.
Ambitious change is to be Schwarzenegger's major theme in 2005. The year may be the last and best chance of his term to deliver on promises to wipe out the state's perennial budget shortfalls, streamline bureaucracy and make elected officials more accountable. In 2006, he is up for reelection. Should Schwarzenegger run again, that race probably would prove a distraction that could make it tough for him to simultaneously push through an overhaul on the scale he is considering.
"He'll be giving the Legislature a giddyap," said Rob Stutzman, the governor's communications director. "He's not going to be content to watch them spend months being inactive.
