Democratic, Schwarzenegger Agendas Could Delay Progress on Health Care, Other Issues
Differences in the legislative agendas of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and the Democrat-led Legislature likely indicate "continuing gridlock on important issues" such as health care, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Programs approved in the Legislature "are likely to get the same response from Schwarzenegger as his priorities have received from the Democrats" in the Legislature, who are "pursuing an agenda that ignores [Schwarzenegger's] priorities of fiscal and political reform," according to the Daily News.
For example, some Democrats in the Legislature are working on a package of measures that would make it easier for California residents to purchase prescription drugs from Canada. Schwarzenegger opposes reimportation because of concerns over safety issues and federal legality.
In addition, Democrats in a Senate committee last week rejected a bill (SB 19) to enact a prescription drug discount plan that Schwarzenegger negotiated with pharmaceutical companies.
Rob Stutzman, a spokesperson for Schwarzenegger, said Democratic legislators were "puppets, and the puppeteers are the powerful public employee unions, and they have obstructed any movement toward reform in the Legislature."
Steve Maviglio, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), said that health and transportation programs "are the things people care about, not redistricting."
Schwarzenegger has called for legislative redistricting (Sheppard/Drucker, Los Angeles Daily News, 5/2).