Humbled Schwarzenegger urges cooperation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A politically weakened Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sought Thursday to move beyond his failed special election proposals, urging lawmakers to work together and pledging that he had “learned (his) lesson.”

In his third state of the state speech, Schwarzenegger asked Californians to put behind them a year filled with acrimony over the election and devoid of significant political accomplishment.

It was his first statewide speech since voters rejected all four of his ballot measures Nov. 8.

“I have absorbed my defeat. I have learned my lesson. And the people, who always have the last word, sent a clear message – cut the warfare, cool the rhetoric, find common ground and fix the problems together,” Schwarzenegger said before a packed Assembly chamber. “To my fellow Californians, I say, ‘Message received.’”

Facing re-election in November, the governor tried to persuade Californians to set aside any lingering bitterness over last year’s election campaign and regain the bipartisan image that made him so popular during his first year in office.

The vision Schwarzenegger laid out in the 23-minute speech addressed issues basic to the lives of most Californians, including more funding for public schools, rebuilding freeways and transit systems, improving air quality and raising the minimum wage.

He proposed a sweeping $222.6 billion public works program that would require the largest bond package in state history. Schwarzenegger said the plan is necessary to keep pace with California’s expanding population, which is expected to reach 46 million by 2025.

The state has not embarked on such a massive series of public works projects since the 1960s. His plan would need to be approved by the Legislature and then go before voters in a series of elections between 2006 and 2014.

The address contrasted sharply with his speech a year ago, when he had threatened a special election if lawmakers did not meet his demands on a variety of budget and government reforms.

Public opinion of Schwarzenegger soared after he won office during the 2003 recall of former Gov. Gray Davis, in part because his cooperative approach had wide political appeal.

His popularity plunged after he took a partisan turn last year, angering labor unions, teachers and Democratic lawmakers with his proposed changes to the state budget process, pensions, legislative districts, union campaign fund raising, and teacher pay and tenure.