Governor defends water-bond bill, denies pork claims(1)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday defended $11.1 billion in new borrowing as a critical investment in the state's water future while at the same time insisting California must cut its way toward a balanced budget in the short term.
In an interview Thursday with The Bee's editorial board, the Republican governor also took aim at the state's prison employees and advocated for a constitutional change allowing California to rely more on private workers.
After reaching a deal last week with state lawmakers to bolster California's water infrastructure, Schwarzenegger is trying to build popular support for the plan, knowing voters will have the final say when they consider the $11.1 billion bond next year.
Fiscal conservatives have assailed the bond for increasing the state's debt load and for paying for local projects such as $20 million for economic development in Siskiyou County, where Klamath River dams are being removed.
Schwarzenegger defended the bond Thursday, saying the state would stagger its borrowing to reduce impacts on its overall debt load. He said the money would help leverage an additional $25 billion to $30 billion in federal funds.
And he denied that local water projects in line for money were political pork, as critics have suggested.
"A lot of times people call something pork when in fact it is for something really important," Schwarzenegger said. "For instance, I asked for $1 billion to clean the water. … It is very important to take care of that and there are so many cities across California that have problems with water and need to clean their water."
The governor acknowledged that such projects were also included to help build political support among local leaders and voters next year. He compared it to his 2006 effort to persuade voters to approve $37.3 billion in public works bonds by including specific local road projects across the state.
"It's important that when those communities all of a sudden see the bond and ask themselves 'What is in it for us' … then you can go and have the mayor say, 'Well, we got this amount of money for cleaning our groundwater,' " Schwarzenegger said.
The governor signed the fifth and final water bill Thursday along a Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levee outside of Isleton – a region where many residents oppose a potential canal around the Delta. He was joined at a bill-signing for the first time by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
The Senate leader said the effort was "historic" because traditional water rivals have joined together.
"In short, this is not 1982," Steinberg said, referring to an election in which voters rejected a "peripheral canal" around the Delta.
Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, has criticized the water deal both for its debt load and potential impacts on water supplies for Northern California. He warned that if some communities don't meet conservation targets by 2020, they could lose their water rights.
Niello said the state should wait to build new water-system infrastructure until its economy recovers and budget problems are resolved. He added that a smaller bond would suffice to serve the state's water needs.
"I don't think it takes $11 billion," he said. "I think there's billions of dollars in there, as the governor said, to recruit community support but that are loosely connected to the water supply."
Schwarzenegger invited Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, to the editorial board meeting to provide support for the water plan. The governor said Cogdill is on his short list of possible appointments to fill a lieutenant governor vacancy, although he noted Thursday that the nomination is "definitely not one of the most important things" right now.
Schwarzenegger said the state could face a $5 billion to $7 billion budget deficit in the current fiscal year alone, on top of the $7.4 billion gap projected for 2010-11. Controller John Chiang reported Tuesday that California general fund receipts were 7 percent higher than expected in October, but Schwarzenegger said that did not mark a trend. The state is still $854 million behind for the fiscal year.
