Update: The governor made good on his threat last night, vetoing AB 264, a bill to create a day honoring Vietnam veterans that the Assembly sent back to his desk as a "dare." Read more from Kevin Yamamura here.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has demanded that both houses withdraw 73 bills awaiting action on his desk as an apparent bargaining chip in the final days of the session. He has threatened to veto any bills that he must act on by the end of business Wednesday.
Though an e-mail circulated to Senate chiefs of staff says the request is to provide the governor's office with more time to act on the bills, an e-mail sent to Assembly chiefs of staff and a statement by Schwarzenegger's communications director point to the host of large issues still looming over legislators' heads with just three full days left before the regular session ends Friday.
"The Governor believes that we must act on the major issues facing our state - water, prison, renewable portfolio standard, appointments - before we consider other issues. These issues have been debated for up to 5 years; it's time for action so we can move California forward," Schwarzenegger's Communications Director Matt David wrote in an e-mail.
The 43 Senate bills and 30 Assembly bills he has asked lawmakers to pull back had to be acted on Tuesday or Wednesday. Rescinding and resubmitting the bills would extend the timetable the governor has signing or vetoing the measures.
The news did not sit well among Assembly Democrats.
Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, accused Schwarzenegger of extortion, noting that it is illegal for lawmakers to barter actions on unrelated bills. He said the Assembly should refuse to participate and make the governor veto the bills.
"It's important that we protect the institution, and the institution is more important than the political agenda of any individual member," Calderon said.
E-mail sent to the Senate by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's chief of staff:
Hello Chiefs of Staff,
The Governor's office has requested the Senate to withdraw a number of bills from Governor's desk that, by law, must be acted on by Governor today or tomorrow. The list is copied below. If the Senate fails to withdraw any of these bills, the Governor's office has pledged to veto them. There are no requested amendments, just more time on which to act on these bills. We are withdrawing them to protect your hard work.
Bill Number Author
SB 11 Negrete McLeod
SB 48 Alquist
SB 52 Correa
SB 102 Committee on Local Government
SB 103 Committee on Local Government
SB 109 Calderon
SB 115 Lowenthal
SB 133 Corbett
SB 166 Runner
SB 169 Benoit
SB 209 Corbett
SB 215 Wiggins
SB 219 Yee
SB 224 Correa
SB 237 Calderon
SB 239 Pavley
SB 247 Alquist
SB 257 Pavley
SB 272 Wiggins
SB 283 DeSaulnier
SB 288 Yee
SB 305 Corbett
SB 308 Harman
SB 314 Calderon
SB 318 Calderon
SB 320 Corbett
SB 325 Alquist
SB 345 Negrete McLeod
SB 431 Benoit
SB 469 Aanestad
SB 470 Corbett
SB 481 Cox
SB 571 Maldonado
SB 589 Harman
SB 605 Ashburn
SB 636 Ashburn
SB 644 Denham
SB 671 Runner
SB 739 Strickland
SB 743 Committee on Health
SB 783 Ashburn
SB 818 Committee on Veterans Affairs
SB 831 Committee on Governmental Organization
E-mail sent to the Assembly by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass' chief of staff:
The governor's office has asked the Assembly and the Senate to pull back from his desk all of the bills that require his action either today or tomorrow. The stated reason for their request was that the governor didn't want to act on these bills while other priorities of his have not been approved.
To help you avoid an automatic rubber stamp veto of these bills, the Speaker will be asking the Assembly to withdraw them from the Governor's Desk today. These bills will be resent to the Governor later this week.
If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.
Later, the clerk's office provided a list of bills:
Ab 20, Solorio
AB 32, Lieu
AB 117, Niello
AB 134, Blakeslee
AB 174, Carter
AB 239, Brownley
AB 261, Salas
AB 264, Cook
AB 292, Yamada
AB 400, De Leon
AB 501, Emmerson
AB 506, Furutani
AB 576, Torres
AB 595, Adams
AB 645, Niello
AB 653, Feuer
AB 672, Bass
AB 720, Caballero
AB 825, Blakeslee
AB 873, Price
AB 906, Hill
AB 1046, Anderson
AB 1143, Ma
AB 1169, Ruskin
AB 1457, Davis
AB 1459, Davis
AB 1463, Smyth
AB 1464, Smyth
AB 1510, Eng
AB 1515, Eng
Kevin Yamamura contributed to this post.
Torey Van Oot and the Bee Capitol Bureau report on the people and politics of California government. Get 
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