"He has also tried to give licenses to illegals.".
does not even come close to meaning...
"He has also tried to give licenses to illegals.".
Bad spin, again.
I'm afraid it is you who is guilty of spin, because this quote of Arnold from the same post indeed comes very close:
We are right now in the middle of working very hard with Senator Cedillo. My staff and his staff. Everyone is working together. And we are absolutely positive that we will come up with a great bill. With his help and with my team's help, I think we will work it out.
State Senator Gil Cedillo, author of SB 60, has met with the Governor, who offered to work with him on a new bill. Based on that conversation, Senator Cedillo asked his fellow Senators to join him in repealing SB 60, which they did. I voted in the Assembly Transportation Committee for its repeal, and a full vote of the Assembly is expected on Monday, Dec. 1. SB 60 would not have gone into effect until Jan.1, 2004.It is likely that if a new bill is drafted, it will include many safeguards, such as background checks, evidence of employment, having applied for citizenship, etc. Law enforcement officials and the Governor’s office will be involved in drafting any new proposals. 13 states currently issue driver’s licenses regardless of a person’s immigration status, and for 65 years, California also did. If people are driving illegally, which I don’t condone, I continue to believe that they should be required to pass a driving test, know our laws, and carry insurance. Under current law, if pulled over by police or sheriff, the person’s car is impounded, but for $600 it is returned right back to them.
Committee OKs Drivers' Licenses for Illegals
The bill has significant differences from SB 60, the measure signed last year by Davis and then repealed by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after Davis was recalled. SB 60 contained fewer limits on an illegal alien’s ability to qualify for a license.Asked about the latest version of the bill, Schwarzenegger said today that he is “working very hard to make this happen.”
The Sacramento Bee (Dan Weintraub's weblog) published another interview
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/insider/archives/000955.html
Arnold on drivers licenses
Reporter:
"You did say that to me when we talked one on one (Sept. 6, 2003) that
you would consider a package deal that would have included a requirement of insurance for those people that are going to get the drivers license. That I know is something that you believe in. Do you also believe that all undocumented immigrants will be able to get a drivers license if they present insurance, if they have a background check, fingerprints?
Governor:
"Absolutely...yes. This is what we are going to work on. This is what we are going to talk about, but right now the most important thing is to get this passed (the repeal of SB 60) so we can move to other issues. I think Senator Cedillo was extremely gracious and helpful with this whole thing. He is a great leader, he understood what would be the best thing for California; rather than just doing an immediate fix, but to make everybody happy. It doesn't make sense if the majority of Californians run around and hate the idea of undocumented immigrants having drivers licenses because there is no background check, because it doesn't solve the problem with insurance. Let's do it the right way, let's make every Californian happy and let's make the undocumented immigrants happy."