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After Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, his re-election campaign quickly dispatched an e-mail to reporters, quoting his claim to have sharply reduced spending and brought the budget much closer to balance. Characterizing his $222 billion infrastructure improvement plan as "investing in the future" but "not spending," Schwarzenegger added, "Spending we have reduced. Remember what I said. We have cut down the structural deficit by 75 percent. It was expected to be $16.5 billion. We're now at $4.7 billion. That is great progress ... no matter what anyone says." Schwarzenegger thus exposed to a national audience a...

BERKELEY – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today (Thursday, Nov. 4) announced the appointment of Tom Campbell, dean of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, as the new director of the California Department of Finance. Campbell, an economist and lawyer who served five terms as a Republican congressman representing the Silicon Valley and also served as a California state senator, will take a leave of absence from his university post and is expected to begin his new job Dec 1. "Tom is a brilliant economist with intricate, first-hand knowledge of public and fiscal policy who shares my commitment to...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state's finance director, a strong conservative voice in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration, has resigned after 11 months on the job. Donna Arduin could leave as soon as Friday, according to the governor's office. The cabinet position will be temporarily filled by Arduin's deputy, Michael Genest, until the government finds a replacement, officials said Wednesday. Schwarzenegger has called Arduin his resident "genius" and praised her "machine"-like work habits, Arduin, 41, who left her imprint on the governor's initial budget, is the first major political appointee to leave the administration, and her departure could show a shift in...

<p>Donna Arduin has a quaint idea about government finance: She thinks every state program should have specific goals laying out what it is trying to accomplish and clear measures to help the public determine whether those goals have been achieved.</p>

SACRAMENTO -- The plan is for the good ship California to float to safety over jagged economic reefs -- mostly reefs of its own making -- on a tide of testosterone. But the second-most crucial member of the ship's new crew is named Donna. Being director of California's department of finance is not for the fainthearted. "Breathtaking" and "staggering" were among Donna Arduin's initial descriptions of the state budget, which is triple the size of Florida's, although California's population is only double Florida's. She guesses that 75 percent of California's budget is controlled by constitutional or other state and federal...

<p>The state will still have to borrow to cover its debts if voters do not approve the $15 billion bond measure that is a centerpiece of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's economic plan, Finance Director Donna Arduin told business leaders Thursday.</p> <p>The day after two polls showed the measure lagging, Arduin stepped up the administration's efforts to win public support for the bond and a companion measure that would prevent the state from ever again borrowing to cover a deficit. The package, termed the California Recovery Plan by the administration, will appear on the March 2 ballot. Both measures must be approved for either to go into effect.</p>

But the administration is not going to be printing hundreds of volumes of the budget. It will instead distribute the plan on computer CD-ROMs, a move that could prove controversial. Finance Director Donna Arduin made a similar move while budget director in Florida. Democrats there complained her "e-budget" was stylish and user friendly, but short on substance and difficult for them to analyze effectively.

In California, Arduin is taking on a state budget shortfall that could easily balloon past $25 billion, thanks to a chronic imbalance between spending and revenues and legally dubious borrowing. Campaign strategist Mike Murphy first suggested that the new administration consider Arduin, whose work he knew from Michigan, where they both had jobs in the early 1990s. Schwarzenegger's transition chief, Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), was impressed by rave reviews of Arduin, and then by conversations with her. "She likes to say this is the Super Bowl of budgeting, to deal with the kind of challenge California faces," he said....

The state teachers union immediately balked at the Riordan appointment, having wanted the governor-elect to abolish the position of education secretary outright. John Hein, an official with the California Teachers Assn., resigned from his seat on Schwarzenegger's transition team Monday, partly to signal the union's unhappiness over what it portrayed as a snub.... Conservatives were pleased by Schwarzenegger's choice. Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. and one of many advisors to Schwarzenegger on transition issues, called Arduin "no nonsense and willing to make some tough recommendations." As for Riordan, he comes to the job with a power...

<p>Schwarzenegger Taps Florida's Arduin as Budget Chief (Update1) Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger named Donna Arduin, Florida's budget chief under Governor Jeb Bush, to serve as director of California's $100 billion budget.</p> <p>Arduin, 40, is on leave from her Florida post to conduct an independent audit of California's finances in advance of Schwarzenegger's first budget plan due in January. Schwarzenegger made the announcement in a written statement from his Sacramento transition office. Arduin's immediate task will be to find ways to fill a budget deficit that could exceed $20 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 1.</p>

<p>Donna Arduin is a 40-year-old wunderkind who has helped Republican governors in three states cure their fiscal woes. She currently serves as budget director for Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Now she has been tapped by Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to take a leave of absence and head his audit of California's sprawling $100 billion state budget.</p>

<p>Donna Arduin draws little attention as she walks the halls of the Florida State Capitol - most folks in that state don't know her name or the important role she plays in state government.</p> <p>But the budgets she helps craft for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush - slashing taxes and state spending alike - have helped him and the Republican Party implement their conservative vision.</p>

<p>Gov.-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's choice to head the audit of California's $99 billion budget is known as a fiscal conservative not afraid to cut spending, say those who have worked with her.</p> <p>Donna Arduin, the budget director for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush since 1999, will lead the team of auditors combing through California's budget for waste and duplication -- as Schwarzenegger promised during his campaign.</p>

<p>October 10, 2003 -- SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday tapped a former New York state budget director to lead a massive audit of California's hemorrhaging budget.</p> <p>The Terminator-turned-governor picked Donna Arduin to be finance director on his 68-member transition team. She most recently worked for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.</p>