Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger preferred to sign the state's $103.4 billion budget Tuesday in his office with officials from Placerville and other cities – and not one legislator.
The Republican governor then moved quickly to turn the state's record 85-day budget delay into a political asset, holding a news conference to blame lawmakers for failing to compromise and then campaigning to change how California draws the boundaries for their political districts.
After threatening a historic budget veto last week, Schwarzenegger has grown comfortable with the idea of the entire Legislature as his foil. If Tuesday is any indication, he will use the state's historic budget dispute as a launch pad to ask voters for some of the systemic changes he failed to win in 2005.
Schwarzenegger wants voters to approve a redistricting initiative this fall, and he will seek another special election next year to change California's budget process. He wants to create real consequences for lawmakers if they do not approve future budgets on time, possibly putting that on next year's ballot as well.
Each step of the way, he is sure to remind Californians of this year's record-setting budget dispute.
"It certainly wasn't something that he planned intentionally, but the impact of the budget stalemate is that voters are going to be more receptive," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. "Not much that happens in the state Capitol gets the attention of most voters, but this budget crisis cut through, and it made people mad."
Schwarzenegger previously had few good ways of selling redistricting, the abstract concept of changing how California draws its political boundaries every decade.
Three years ago, he lay a piece of oversized tape between two houses in Elk Grove to show that current districts drawn by legislators made no sense because they broke up neighborhoods. Such over-the-top events never resonated, and 60 percent of voters opposed the initiative as labor unions attacked his proposals.
The governor on Tuesday saw a new opportunity to make redistricting tangible. He essentially told voters that if they hated how long legislators took to pass the budget, they ought to vote for Proposition 11 to change redistricting in California.
"It's three months late because both of the parties stayed in their ideological corners and refused to come out," he said, later adding, "Let me tell you something, last time they drew the district lines, they drew it themselves, and they created safe Democratic districts and safe Republican districts."
Schwarzenegger insisted the record delay came because Republicans and Democrats refused to compromise on how to solve the $15.2 billion shortfall. Republicans demanded no new taxes, while Democrats sought tax increases on the wealthy in addition to spending cuts. The governor argued that Proposition 11 would lead to voters electing more moderate legislators because contests would be more competitive.
In a rare move, Schwarzenegger opted for a small budget ceremony in his office, inviting cameras but not a single state lawmaker. The governor then walked outdoors to the east steps of the Capitol, where he deemed it inexcusable that the Legislature was three months late on the budget.
"There are very important things that need to be addressed and taken care of, and they can't get it done," he said. "That is why the Legislature's approval rating is right now at an all-time low."
Only 15 percent of voters said they approve of the Legislature, while 73 percent disapprove, according to a Field Poll released this month. That marks a record low in the 25 years Field has asked voters to rate the Legislature.
In 2005, when Schwarzenegger last pursued a redistricting proposal and an initiative to change the budget process, lawmakers received between 24 percent and 34 percent approval.
"What we didn't have in 2005 was a problem that was readily apparent," said Rob Stutzman, a GOP political consultant and former Schwarzenegger aide. "Now that voters see the deficit piling up again and the dysfunction in Sacramento, there's a much better chance they're ready for reform in 2009."
Still, the challenges of 2005 could trip up the governor again. Unions spent $121 million against his proposals that year and were enraged by his efforts to make it more difficult for public employee unions to raise money and for teachers to obtain tenure.
Those two proposals are not on the table this time around, so it is unclear whether unions will have similar motivation to defeat his initiatives. But Democrats, led by outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, are already fighting the redistricting plan, with support from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
"What we've seen here today is the governor, the most powerful politician in California, advancing his own political agenda, which is to get more power for himself and the politicians who agree with him," said Paul Hefner, spokesman for opponents to Proposition 11 and a Perata campaign aide.
Labor unions also remain opposed to Schwarzenegger's "rainy-day fund" proposal, which lawmakers approved last week as part of the budget deal. Gale Kaufman, a Democratic political consultant, said unions are discussing whether they will counter it when it appears on a special election ballot.
And while voters may be disgusted with lawmakers, budget politics and redistricting still don't get the heart racing.
"I'm not sure if voters are in the mood to burn up the whole constitution and start over," said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic consultant. "Yes, they're grumpy. But they don't want to turn every ballot into the class in high school that they hated."
Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548. Jim Sanders of The Bee Capitol Bureau contributed to this report.
