SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With a long-awaited water deal in sight, Gov. Arnold Schwarz- enegger finally took action on the hundreds of bills sitting on his desk for almost a month — a frenzied burst of signatures and vetoes that stretched into the wee hours of Monday morning.
In all, the governor signed 478 of the 705 bills sent his way by the Legislature — delivering the state a series of new laws promising fundamental changes for everyone from schoolchildren to drunken drivers and solar-panel owners.
Evoking perhaps the most emotion was the bill he signed to create a state day of recognition for slain gay politician Harvey Milk, reversing himself a year after he vetoed similar legislation. He also signed a bill that recognized same-sex marriages from other states.
Among the most sweeping is a bill by state Sen. Joe Simitian, meant to help California better compete for billions in new federal education money. Senate Bill 19 will help link data on students’ performance to teacher evaluations.
But for many of those bills, drama over their fates lingered almost right up until Sunday’s midnight signing deadline.
And most would have been vetoed, according to Schwarzenegger, if the governor and the Legislature’s top Democrats and Republicans hadn’t come to what they called a conceptual agreement on a water package. It includes a “strong” water-conservation bill, which would require 20 percent reduction in water use by 2020; a statewide groundwater-monitoring mandate; and increased water-rights enforcement.
Key to the agreement is whether lawmakers can agree on a $9.4 billion bond that would go before voters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
