Work on Health Reform Helps Schwarzenegger, Lawmakers

California lawmakers' work on health care reform and water issues "seem[s] to explain a recent rise in the public's esteem for the Legislature" found in a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday, columnist Daniel Weintraub writes in the Sacramento Bee. "Little else" could explain a four-percentage-point increase in support for the Legislature from May, according to Weintraub.

Ten percent of respondents cited health care as the state's most important issue, after immigration, the economy and jobs, each of which was cited by 18% of poll participants, Weintraub writes.

In addition, the poll indicates that Californians hold a more favorable view of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and state lawmakers than they do of President Bush and Congress, according to Weintraub.

Weintraub writes that "the results of this survey suggest that Schwarzenegger and the state's other leaders look good compared to the situation in Washington and are getting high marks from voters for trying to work together to solve the state's problems." However, he cautions that "those good feelings could quickly fade if California's politics become more partisan and confrontational again in 2008."

The poll was based on interviews with 2,002 adults between Nov. 27 and Dec. 4 and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points (Weintraub, Sacramento Bee, 12/13).