Governor ready for election gamble
Call for ambitious, risky vote expected Monday
By John Marelius
STAFF WRITER
June 11, 2005
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is poised to call a historic special election that could dramatically reshape California government and politics, and perhaps his own political future. The Republican governor is expected to call the election during a televised speech from his Capitol office at 5 p.m. Monday.
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Eight initiatives probably would be on the November ballot, and additional measures could be added later by the Legislature. Schwarzenegger is sponsoring three initiatives. One would give the governor authority to cut state spending when revenue falls behind expenditures and the Legislature fails to act. Another would take the power to redraw political district boundaries away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of retired judges. The third would extend to five years from two the time it takes for public school teachers to become permanent employees.
Other groups have weighed in with their own measures.
Abortion opponents have qualified an initiative requiring parental notification before an unmarried minor can get an abortion. Organized labor is backing a plan to re-regulate electricity. And there are rival low-cost prescription drug measures – one backed by labor, the other by the drug industry.
Perhaps the most incendiary measure is the so-called paycheck protection initiative, which seeks to curb the influence of public employees unions by requiring them to get written permission from members before using dues money for political purposes. Schwarzenegger has not endorsed it, but some of his supporters are helping to finance it.
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Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050611/news_1n11special.html John Marelius: john.marelius@uniontrib.com
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