Governor Schwarzenegger Throws Tantrum and Threatens California

Reading this article in the San Francisco Chronicle , I was reminded of my five year old twins. Sometimes when they get mad at each other, they stomp their feet and threaten to throw their toys. Its behavior that I’m sure they’ll grow out of…at least I hope.

But, those hopes were dampened a little when I read about the implicit threat coming from Governor Schwarzenegger to veto all 700 + bills sitting on his desk if the legislature does not reach an agreement with him on a water package by Friday. As we saw towards the end of the session, a package acceptable to the Governor must include more surface storage (or “dams” as you and I might call them), and the package discussed last month included legislation that would facilitate the construction of a costly and environmentally damaging peripheral canal.

The Governor made a similar threat last month, and then retaliated by vetoing a bill that would have honored Vietnam Veterans .

These are not trivial issues, and there are several important bills pending before the governor, including legislation that would establish a human right to water for all Californians.  AB 1242 (Ruskin) would establish clean, affordable water as a human right for all Californians. Agreement on this principle is critical to any comprehensive water solution as there are over 150,000 Californians who currently lack access to safe affordable water.

There are other bills pending that address a wide range of important issues from renewable energy to voting rights, education to health care. Rather than threatening to veto these bills, Governor Schwarzenegger should do what Governor’s are supposed to do: review the substance of the legislation and sign or veto based on their merits.

Our state water issues desperately need to be resolved, but not at the expense of the other issues facing our state. Californians can take action by urging their state legislators to not sign off on a bad water package just because the Governor is throwing a tantrum.

-Mark Schlosberg