Arnold Schwarzenegger Now California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Politics - Governor takes heat for absences - sacbee.com: "Every time Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves the state, he must relinquish his powers to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante under a law written in the days before the telephone was invented.

Now that it is easier to get in touch with travelers than it was back in 1849 when the law went into effect, state Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, has introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow the governor to keep his authority when he leaves.

But Cox was forced to delay a preliminary vote on his proposal Wednesday when Democrats on the Senate's Government Modernization, Efficiency and Accountability Committee used a hearing on the matter as an opportunity to blast Schwarzenegger for spending a fifth of his time outside of California."

Bustamante, a Democrat, has not used his temporary powers to make any major changes to the Republican governor's policies. As acting governor, he has largely limited himself to issuing honorary proclamations.

But Bustamante has also publicly released tallies of just how often he is called upon to take over when Schwarzenegger leaves the state or the country - about 106 days so far out of the nearly 500 since the governor took office.

At the same time, Schwarzenegger has criticized the Democrat-controlled Legislature for failing to work hard enough.

Democrats at Wednesday's hearing suggested they would keep that in mind when they voted on the measure, SCA 6.

"I'm a little testy about the fact that the governor has made a big deal about whether we are here working," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica. "I have not missed 20 percent of the time I'm supposed to be here, but the governor has missed 20 percent of the time he has been in office."

Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina Del Rey, noted that the governor has traveled to Washington, D.C., and New York to raise money for his political battles with Democrats. "It does not go unnoticed that some of the trips have been fund-raising trips to fund ballot initiatives that bypass the Legislature," she said.

And Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, said she was concerned that the governor often does not tell the public where he is and what he's doing when he leaves the state, though his agendas are public when he is in California.

"How public is his agenda?" Ducheny asked. "Right now his agenda when he's not in the state is not a public document."

Cox said it was simply a matter of bringing California in step with modern times.

"We're in the 21st century today," he said. "You have a cell phone, and by and large you can use it anyplace in America."

Twenty-eight states have policies allowing their governors to retain their powers when they travel, Cox said.

Several members of the Senate committee were absent from Wednesday's hearing. So when it became clear that the measure did not have enough votes to gain approval from those present, Cox said he would ask for a vote at a later meeting.

A similar measure proposed last year by former Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte failed to gain support.

Though he did not testify at Wednesday's hearing, Bustamante has come out against the bill. His spokesman, Stephen Green, said the lieutenant governor believes it is important to have a governor or an acting governor in the state at all times.

In 1991, during the Los Angeles riots, "Pete Wilson had to take personal command of the National Guard," Green said. "How's Arnold going to do that when he's at the Cannes Film Festival?"

About the writer:

* The Bee's Clea Benson can be reached at (916) 326-5533 or cbenson@sacbee.com.


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