RECALL OFFERS two shades of Gray. On Saturday, at an anti-recall rally outside Los Angeles, the California governor reportedly told a supporter, “You shouldn’t be governor unless you can pronounce the name of the state.” The next day, Davis told reporters he was “kidding around in a private conservation.” All of this, only hours after Davis stood before of a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Los Angeles, introducing himself to Latino voters as “Gris” (Spanish for “Gray”, pronounced “grease”). Grease is the word: the closer recall gets, the more Davis’s Wessonality shines through. On the outside, the governor claims to be humbled by the recall. But every so often, his inner demons surface. In last Wednesday’s debate, Davis sniped that Republicans “would rather shoot their mothers than raise taxes.” Before that, there was a statewide address denouncing right-wing conspirators. Now he has problems with the way Ah-nuld says “Kal-ee-for-nee-ah.”
If only Davis were as discriminating in his official business. On Friday, the governor signed a new law enabling some 2 million illegal immigrants to obtain a California driver’s license and purchase auto insurance. It was one of the more remarkable flip-flops in recent California history–he had twice had vetoed similar legislation. “The tragedy of September 11 made it abundantly clear that the driver’s license is more than just a license to drive,” Davis wrote in last year’s veto message. “Unfortunately, a driver’s license was in the hands of terrorists who attacked America that fateful day.”
Apparently, Davis forgot about that–to say nothing of his guiding principles. Last year, the governor said he wouldn’t sign a bill unless applicants could prove they’d been working in California for 15 months, were in the process of applying for legal residency, and didn’t have an outstanding arrest warrant for a serious crime. None of those safeguards were in the bill Davis signed Friday. As the new law stands, applicants won’t face a background check. All they have to show is a federal taxpayer identification number (easily fraudulently obtained) or some other state-approved form of ID.
Davis even went against the advice of California attorney general Bill Lockyer, who withdrew his support after the bill was stripped of a provision requiring high-tech fingerprinting. “Now, if you have a drivers’ license, there’s no way to tell you are not a legal citizen,” said a Lockyer spokesperson. “If you lie and say you are, California will have no way of rebutting that.” (This likely wasn’t an easy decision for Lockyer, who earlier this year wed a Latina political activist).
Watch for illegal immigration and driver licenses to take center stage when recall’s hopefuls gather in Sacramento on September 24 for the next debate. Cruz Bustamante sides with Davis on this one–both want to boost Latino turnout (though 16 percent of registered voters, Latinos accounted for only 10 percent of the vote last November). Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock oppose the new law. McClintock goes so far as to say that if elected he’ll revive the legal battle over Proposition 187. That might be too much for the more moderate Arnold to stomach. Still, the Terminator didn’t hesitate to accuse Davis of pandering to Hispanic voters (“Now, it’s election time. Of course, everything changes.”), or point out to reporters that he’s the only major candidate who is also a first-generation American (“Whereas other candidates are maybe sons of immigrants, but I’m the true immigrant, Okay?”).
Then again, the candidates might have more than one Davis bill-signing to discuss by the time the next debate arrives:
Workers’ Compensation. With the legislature set to adjourn on Friday, a six-member conference committee is trying to devise a plan to trim up to $6 billion from California’s out-of-control workers’ compensation system (work comp costs have grown from $9 billion in 1995 to $29 billion at present). Davis has asked the legislature to send him a reform package. In the past, he’s rejected reform efforts, but now he’s under self-imposed pressure to act (Schwarzenegger says he’ll call a special session of the legislature to deal with workers’ comp). But the governor also faces pressure from insurance firms that have donated to his no-on-recall campaign–and have very specific views on what is and isn’t good reform.
Health Mandates. California Senate Bill 2 requires businesses with 20 or more employees to pay 80 percent of their employees’ health coverage–under one proposed amendment, companies with more than 200 employees would have to pay for entire families. As reported by columnist Jill Stewart, “it’s common knowledge that some of the details of SB2 . . . were ghost-written by the Service Employees International Union. Davis recently had a chat with the SEIU about the bill. Then, miraculously, the SEIU handed Davis a check for $250,000.” Davis has run hot and cold on health care legislation during his administration. This would be a sharp turn to the left, and a huge sop to Big Labor. As with driver licenses, it also puts Bustamante and Schwarzenegger/McClintock on opposite sides.
Indian Tribes. Davis created a controversy when he suggested that California’s gaming tribes should help fill empty seats on the state commission overseeing tribal casinos. Here’s something else that should outrage his opponents: The governor wants to sign SB 18, which gives the state’s Native American Heritage Commission the power to prevent any land development it sees a desecrating a sacred site (the bill defines this as “places of spiritual and ceremonial importance” that pertain to “prayer, vision quests, medicine-making, and traditional ceremonies”). Originally, the bill placed a five-mile limit around sacred sites. But as there seems to be no limit to lawmakers’ appetite for gaming money, that provision was tossed out.
More contradictions are certain to come as Davis has the next six weeks to decide hundreds of bills coming his way once the legislature adjourns. Usually, this is a California governor’s time to shine–to make news signing landmark laws and showcase political beliefs. But recall has Gray Davis over a barrel. For special interests, it’s a bonanza. For Davis, fun times at the Panderosa.
Bill Whalen is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he follows California and national politics.
