SACRAMENTO — In a further sign of deteriorating relations between lawmakers and the governor -- just when they need to come together to agree on a state budget -- Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traded barbs Tuesday over elements of a special election expected this year.
Nunez called the Schwarzenegger administration dishonest, saying the governor had repeatedly broken his word. Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, criticized lawmakers for proposing new taxes to balance the budget.
Nunez's comments came a day after Mike Murphy, Schwarzenegger's chief political consultant, gathered reporters to say that the governor was considering backing a proposed initiative that could shrink the political influence of public employee unions.
Nunez said the Republican governor had privately and repeatedly assured him that he had nothing to do with the "paycheck protection" initiative, which would require that public employee unions get written permission from members each year before spending their dues on political campaigns. The governor's support of such a measure would amount to a declaration of war on Democrats, who hold a majority in the Legislature, and some of their most generous donors.
"We've questioned him all along," Nunez told reporters in a hastily called news conference. "People that are very close to the governor have been raising money for [the union dues initiative]. And we said, 'Governor, do you have anything to do with this? Do you have any ties to this?' And he totally distanced himself from it, saying he had nothing to do with it.
"I just took his word for it. And now we learn yesterday that not only is the governor ... tied to it, he now has decided that he's going to go out and raise money to get this on the ballot and certainly to get it passed.
"It really speaks to the type of dishonesty that has come out of the governor's office."
On other issues, such as workers' compensation reform, public pension reform and the budget, the governor has "gone back on his word, he's gone back on his deals," Nunez said.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said Nunez misunderstood Murphy's comments and owes the governor an apology.
"He should knock off his Howard Dean histrionics and come to the table to do what is in the best interests of California," she said, referring to the Democratic presidential candidate's televised scream after losing the Iowa caucuses.
