Little love lost between Perata and Schwarzenegger

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata hasn't spent time with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's family as Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has. He also hasn't made espresso for the governor as former Senate leader John Burton did.

While Perata and Schwarzenegger might not have built a tight bond, they trusted each other enough in 2006 to strike deals on the environment, the minimum wage and public works bonds.

But their feuding has intensified in recent months, particularly on water and health care, creating more friction as they begin trying to close an $8 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

"It may have aggravated what already was a distant relationship," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a University of Southern California political analyst, of their recent policy disputes. "There isn't a rapport there. There isn't the same rapport like there is between the speaker and the governor."

Perata, an Oakland Democrat, has served as Senate leader since 2004 and will leave his post later this year due to term limits. He is in limbo, serving as leader while his successor, Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has already been chosen.

The Senate leader said Friday he believes he and Schwarzenegger respect one another and does not believe they have "any fundamental disagreement." Perata even appeared with Schwarzenegger at an Oakland event last week to promote transportation bond money.

But Perata has taken a strikingly harsh tone toward the governor elsewhere.

He suggested at a press conference last month that the governor cares only about himself and "is no longer a citizen politician." He accused Schwarzenegger recently of ignoring the budget crisis in favor of holding an event at a Sacramento restaurant and "making pretend that some redistricting is going to solve the problem."

He also said last month he was "offended" that Schwarzenegger is pressuring the Legislature to do more on the budget and then threw another jab at the governor for past promises to solve the state's financial problems.

"We've been living on a credit card for a long time," Perata said. "And just going out and having a press conference and cutting up an oversized card doesn't get it done."

Schwarzenegger called Perata "a very sick man" in a private conversation with aides in 2006 that became public. But the two worked side by side that year to enact laws to increase the minimum wage, limit greenhouse gas emissions and persuade voters to approve $37 billion in public works bonds.

Last year, the governor focused on a universal health care plan, which Núñez shepherded through the Assembly in December. But Perata held up the Senate vote until the legislative analyst could issue a review of the plan. The Senate's health committee killed the bill in January.

The Republican governor was frustrated that the Senate killed his plan, which would have given Schwarzenegger a major accomplishment for his legacy.

The governor held a press conference after the bill failed and stood next to Núñez, whom he called "an extraordinary partner." By contrast, he said, "Now, because of the Senate vote the (health care) problem didn't go away; the problem is still existing."

The governor was perplexed at the Senate's reasoning and felt he had been misled, stating afterward that "we have to find out exactly what is the reason, and why it did not pass. Not what has been given to the public, but what is the real reason?"

Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, chair of the Senate Health Committee, disputed the governor's blame of her house or Perata.

"The only people to blame for the demise of the governor's proposal is the governor's staff because the proposal didn't hold up to scrutiny," she said.

The governor's top aides would not comment on his relationship with Perata. Spokesman Aaron McLear said, "The governor considers Senator Perata a friend and a great public servant."

Perata surprised some in the Capitol last month when he missed a "Big Five" meeting of legislative leaders convened by Schwarzenegger, instead remaining at a Senate confirmation hearing where there was opposition to the governor's appointee to the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, Dale Bonner.

Some took his absence as a snub of the governor, but Perata said he couldn't leave the hearing.

"How would it have looked if I had walked out to go downstairs and get a drink of water to go meet with the governor?" Perata said. "As best as I can recall, the meeting was scheduled at the last minute for 3 p.m. with no consideration for my calendar."

The Governor's Office also has found it difficult to arrange for meetings on water with Perata in the last week.

Perata and Senate Democrats felt slighted last month when Schwarzenegger included Sen. Dianne Feinstein in water negotiations, a move they believe the governor took to undercut their position. Feinstein is closer than Senate Democrats to Schwarzenegger's position to place a bond on the November ballot to build new water storage and a Delta water transfer system.

"It's like saying to Senator Perata, I can't get you to be with me, so I'm going to bring in Dianne Feinstein," Kuehl said. "I don't think he's done anything to respect Senator Perata's position."

McLear said Schwarzenegger has been working with Feinstein for more than a year on water and believes she has a legitimate role in developing a bond package.

Burton got along with the governor when they worked together in 2004, and the two remain friends. He said Perata may be more at odds with Schwarzenegger because "when I was here, the governor wasn't cutting (stuff) out of every social program."

Burton said he got along better with Schwarzenegger than with former Gov. Gray Davis, whom he attacked publicly at times in much the same way Perata has done to Schwarzenegger.

"I had to go through that occasionally with Governor Davis, but, I mean, I didn't have to do it with Arnold," Burton said. "You're the Legislature, and you don't like executives telling you what you should be doing."

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• Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548.