![]() Schwarzenegger is expected in his budget proposal, due to come out on Friday, to demand that the state get back more of the taxes it sends to Washington and to threaten large new cuts to social services, mass transit and other programs if U.S. The governor’s initial strategy for the budget appears to be an attempt to pressure the federal government for more funding that he says California needs to comply with federal laws. Schwarzenegger will lay out his agenda for the year during his State of the State address Wednesday. Schwarzenegger may try during those talks to obtain changes to the state’s costly pension system, which he has been seeking for several years, as a last major accomplishment. Lawmakers cannot wait for another governor to resolve the problem. With a deal on the state’s water system completed with lawmakers in November, the only main issue around that he can still negotiate is the ongoing state budget crisis. Schwarzenegger, by contrast, has fewer chances to punish lawmakers who defy him and fewer issues he can use as leverage to negotiate. But these chits may hold more value with a governor who will have up to eight years to serve. The power to give a governor anything he might want is a bargaining chit for lawmakers. He said he would consider other appointees on “a case-by-case basis.” “There have been pro tems who have made the decision to simply not confirm any long-term nominee in the last year of an administration,” Steinberg said. Steinberg cited Chong’s record as the problem but also indicated that he is likely to reject more of Schwarzenegger’s appointees whose terms would last well into the next governor’s tenure. ![]() That Schwarzenegger’s power is waning was evident last month, however, in the decision by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to kill the governor’s reappointment of Rachelle Chong to a six-year term on the Public Utilities Commission without a confirmation hearing. “He’s proven time and again that he can get stuff done even during difficult times.” Schwarzenegger is going to approach this year no different than any other, with an aggressive agenda to fix what’s broken in the state,” said his spokesman, Matt David. If that pattern continues, Schwarzenegger will have to fit it into a busy schedule.īesides the budget, he is expected to campaign for a system of open political primaries on the ballot in June and an $11-billion water bond measure slated for November. Schwarzenegger took a jaunt through the Middle East and Europe in November and flew to a climate conference in Copenhagen last month while aides were dealing with a $20-billion deficit. “He is by definition a lame duck, but being a lame duck does not mean that you have to sit back and let the situation overwhelm you,” Whalen said. The question for Schwarzenegger is whether he will focus his energy on resolving the state’s renewed budget crisis or take a more passive approach and spend his time on a publicity tour around the state or the globe to burnish his legacy, said Bill Whalen, a former speechwriter for Gov. More of all this seems inevitable in the year ahead. Schwarzenegger himself has stopped curtailing his famous mischievous streak. Members of his staff have steadily been quitting, and replacements are hard to come by. Even as a pregnant man in “Junior,” Schwarzenegger reflected a particular kind of strength.īut legislators have already begun sensing that as a lame duck he is easy prey and openly disregard some of his wishes. ![]() Universe known to legions of moviegoers for vanquishing opponents as Hercules, Conan and the Terminator. This status, defined by the weakness of a politician whose term will soon expire, may be difficult to swallow for a former Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger has begun his transformation into a lame duck. But with a year left in office, there are signs that Gov. ![]() No self-respecting politician wants to be one. ![]()
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