Not quite the whole story.
Arnold used the threat of a referendum he conspicuously refused to support to defeat SB 60, so that he could get a better bill" that gave CDLs to Illegals with background checks.
He is now working with Cedillo on that "better bill," which is SB 1160, and which includes the "urgency clause" that would make it referendum-proof.
No, it's a new facet of the old "Arnold really supports CDLs for Illegals" ballgame, which many of his supporters refused to believe he was playing.
The urgency clause in SB 1160 has been public knowledge for five weeks. Arnold has yet to distance himself from it, is known to be working on the bill with Cedillo, and has zero credibility in opposing CDLs for Illegals.
Against that backdrop, reports that he supports, the urgency clause are perfectly credible.
If he wants to put reasonable suspicions to rest, let him immediately declare he won't sign SB 1160 with an urgency clause.
Here is the danger this urgency clause poses for California: the law would take effect immediately and it would take a full ballot initiative in March of 2006 to get it overturned, which is more difficult to qualify than a referendum. Meantime, Illegals would be getting CDLs for two years.
If Arnold signs SB 1160 without an urgency clause, it would not take effect until January 2005, and could be contested by a qualifying referendum petition. Once the referendum qualified, the entire matter would be stayed until March 2006.
Schwarzenegger is not trusted on Illegal Alien CDLs because he doesn't really oppose them in principle, as his words and actions have shown. His big issue with SB 60 was background checks, not the Illegal status of the Aliens.
Let him put this story to rest. Let him declare that SB 1160 with an urgency clause is DOA. Until then, he is suspect.
