Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday he would enlist donors from across the country to fund a multimillion-dollar fight over California's public pension system and its voting districts -- reforms being watched with keen interest on Wall Street and a bit of panic in Washington, D.C.
The governor's comments signaled that his ambitions for 2005 could flood California with campaign contributions from lucrative new sources. And raising money on a national scale would allow Schwarzenegger, frequently mentioned as a presidential hopeful even though the Constitution bars foreign-born citizens from serving, to take a wider stage and expand his fundraising network.
In a wide-ranging interview, Schwarzenegger also modified his plan to reward teachers with merit pay based on their performance in the classroom -- a controversial idea staunchly opposed by unions. The governor shifted his focus to the less contentious idea of "combat pay" -- extra money for teachers who work in low-income schools where, he said, they are "threatened always with their lives and their cars are stolen."
As for his political ambitions, the governor said he wanted to raise at least $50 million to fund his 2005 proposals for overhauling government. His plans, announced three weeks ago, could include multiple ballot propositions and a TV advertising blitz leading up to a special election in November.
"We all know the issues we are addressing are not just state issues, that the rest of the country is looking at California and as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation," said Schwarzenegger, who spoke Friday to the Los Angeles Times editorial board and to a news reporter in a later telephone interview.
The governor's aides have said they hope to raise another $50 million for a possible reelection campaign in 2006. Combined with the $50 million already spent on Schwarzenegger's 2003 recall election and ballot campaigns last year, the governor would have collected and spent $150 million in just three years in politics.
In Washington, Democratic and Republican party leaders have taken interest in the governor's plan to prohibit lawmakers from drawing their own legislative districts. Few issues carry such fierce controversy among political leaders as how districts are drawn.
