CA: Governor may say a lot with a yea or a nay

Sac Bee ^ | 8/23/04 | Margaret Talev

[NormsRevenge]

From the morality of goose-liver pâté to outsourcing state jobs to India, where does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stand?

Californians should get a clearer picture starting this week, as state lawmakers send a crush of bills to the first-time officeholder for his approval or veto.

Since his election last fall, Schwarzenegger has controlled most of the agenda in Sacramento rather than taking his lead from lawmakers.

Positioning himself as a moderate Republican and a pragmatist, he has fashioned campaigns of popular appeal - to promote citizen participation, improve business conditions, streamline bureaucracy and encourage bipartisanship - that rarely pin him down ideologically.

That could change, though, with lawmakers poised to send him hundreds of issue-specific measures by their scheduled Aug. 31 adjournment. Schwarz enegger must decide on close-of-session bills by the end of September.

"He's still somewhat of a mystery to some of the policy-makers, and to most of the public who see him still largely as this knight on a white horse," said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.