After a tumultuous year, lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally get a break from one another – and, boy, do they need it.

Democrats grew angry this week after Schwarzenegger finished vetoing 35 percent of the bills on his desk, a modern record. They're particularly incensed that the Republican governor issued a standard message for 136 of his 415 vetoes in which he blamed the state's 85-day budget delay.

Schwarzenegger's unusual veto approach capped a divisive two months in which he turned combative with lawmakers as budget talks broke down.

The governor drew their ire in late July after signing an executive order that laid off 10,000 temporary and part-time state workers and sought to reduce 200,000 others to the federal minimum wage until the budget was signed. He vowed in August to veto every bill until lawmakers passed the state budget. And he threatened to impose a historic budget veto when lawmakers delivered their first compromise spending plan in mid-September.

The governor has talked about docking legislators' pay if they miss budget deadlines in the future. And he will spend the next month running them down as he campaigns for Proposition 11 to remove lawmakers' power to draw their own districts.

"I think it's a pretty good indication of his frustration with the Legislature," said Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. "He vetoed 10 percent more bills than the last record. It was such a dramatic increase that it clearly indicates a new attitude."

When asked twice this week whether his vetoes at the close of the signing season were payback for the Legislature's delay this year, Schwarzenegger insisted it had nothing to do with retribution.

"No, in our business it's never about getting back at anyone," Schwarzenegger said Monday at a bill-signing ceremony.

Even if Schwarzenegger wasn't revenge-minded, he seemed intent on sending a message. The governor told San Diego radio station 1700 AM that there were "a lot of terrible bills" on his desk.

"There are so many lousy bills where you say to yourself, 'Why would the Legislature deal with those bills during the budget negotiations when we didn't have a budget yet?' " he said.

Among bills killed by his boilerplate budget veto: restrictions on exhibitions of dead bodies and a prohibition on motorists having a pet in the driver's seat.

The Legislature withheld its bills until it passed the final budget 11 days before the Sept. 30 bill-signing deadline, reducing the governor's usual monthlong signing period. But Schwarzenegger's legislative aides and various state agency officials review bills and negotiate with lawmakers throughout the year.

For that reason, lawmakers questioned Schwarzenegger's argument that the late budget forced him to veto a larger number of bills.

"There is no connection between the budget delay and having enough time to review bills," said Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento.

Chris Kahn, the governor's legislative secretary, said aides needed sufficient time to present all of the bills to Schwarzenegger, a process that didn't begin until after budget negotiations were over. He said individual bills took as long as 10 hours to discuss. It was the governor's call to use a standard veto message whenever he determined bills were unnecessary.

"With a compressed period of time, he could only focus on bills that were high priority," Kahn said.

Yet lawmakers remain unconvinced. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, who has served in the Legislature under three governors, called the move "unprecedented."

"I think the governor's just very angry," Kuehl said. "He had the responsibility to get the budget passed and he could not … . I think it's just childish for a governor to govern out of anger and frustration, because a lot of regular people will suffer."

And his vetoes have little consequence for GOP lawmakers, who seemed happy that Schwarzenegger vetoed more bills than usual – partly because so few of their proposals make it to his desk under a Democratic-controlled Legislature.

"Most Republicans would be happy if he vetoed 55 percent," said Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines. "We'd actually like more vetoes."

While the governor ended the year on a rocky note with lawmakers, he moved Wednesday to improve his relationship with Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, who will become Senate president pro tem on Nov. 30. The two had a press conference in West Sacramento to celebrate the signing of Senate Bill 375 to include greenhouse-gas reduction in land-use planning.

Steinberg earlier called the signing messages "unfortunate," though he said the Legislature needs to look past them next year.

"State government needs a whole lot of work and a whole lot of healing," Steinberg said. "We have to put our energy and attention on getting off to a positive and fast start next year. We have to work through difficult issues early."

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