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Among other things, Schwarzenegger signs into law legislation giving discounts on prescription medicines SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger trumpeted a season of legislative triumphs with a flurry of bill signings Friday, including bills that will affect everyone from low-income prescription drug consumers to hybrid drivers to television watchers to vendors who sell Vietnamese rice cakes. He signed 179 bills and vetoed 115, leaving around 175 to be signed today, the constitutional deadline to consider legislation. In total, Schwarzenegger has signed 800 bills and vetoed 189. Whether it was environmental protections, raising the minimum wage or providing discounted prescription drugs, many...

Telephone companies can dive into California's $5.3 billion-a-year cable TV industry under a law signed Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said the measure, backed by millions of dollars in corporate contributions, will offer consumers better service and lower prices. Rushing to beat a midnight Saturday bill-signing deadline, the Republican governor joined with Democratic legislative leaders Friday to also back programs lowering the cost of prescription drugs for poor Californians and to test thousands of volunteers for possible toxic contamination. All three bills could serve as models for other states and the nation, supporters said. AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications...

Given that many moderate and conservative Californians see Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto pen as all that protects them from the most far-left Legislature north of Caracas, it may be a surprise to learn that so far the governor's sign-to-veto ratio on bills sent his way is a stunning 19 to 1. As of Thursday afternoon, Schwarzenegger had given his official blessings to 379 measures while only rejecting 20. The governor seems to think California doesn't have enough laws already. We disagree. Here is our second list of bills now on Schwarzenegger's desk whose next stop should be the trash can, not...

Given that many moderate and conservative Californians see Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto pen as all that protects them from the most far-left Legislature north of Caracas, it may be a surprise to learn that so far the governor's sign-to-veto ratio on bills sent his way is a stunning 19 to 1. As of yesterday afternoon, Schwarzenegger had given his official blessings to 379 measures while only rejecting 20. The governor seems to think California doesn't have enough laws already. We disagree. Here is our second list of bills now on Schwarzenegger's desk whose next stop should be the trash can, not...

One of the most mindless laws approved was Assembly Bill 2108, by Sonoma County Democrat Noreen Evans. It requires parents to stick kids in automobile backseat booster seats until they turn age 8, or the kids grow to a specified height. This onerous law will cost parents millions of dollars, and save between zero and seven lives annually in California. Is that a typo? Is it possible that our full-time, "professional" Legislature approved a law forcing parents to spend millions of dollars, and preventing their small children from riding with their bigger kids in the front seat, all to save...

Children under the age of 8 must be restrained in a child seat while traveling in a vehicle, under a bill sent Thursday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill's author, Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, said her measure would bring California in compliance with recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board. Vehicle-related accidents are the highest cause of deaths for 6- and 7-year-olds, she said. Existing state law requires that children younger than 6 years old or less than 60 pounds sit in a booster seat. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, described the measure as government "nannyism." The 6-foot-4 lawmaker said...