Work piles up with Schwarzenegger still ailing

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is spending another day at home, still recovering from an illness. Meanwhile, his work in Sacramento is piling up.

The state is now in the middle of its longest-ever budget standoff, with no spending plan in place 83 days into the new fiscal year. Not only that, there are 765 bills on Schwarzenegger’s desk -- bills that were passed by the Legislature last month.

Schwarzenegger has not signed any bills since before he left for his weeklong trade mission to Asia. Before leaving the country, Schwarzenegger signed a bill that increased sentences for sex offenders. While he was gone, Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado signed a bill that returned $2.9 million in illegally assessed property taxes to residents of the city of Bell.

In years past, Schwarzenegger has issued blanket vetoes of bills as budget negotiations have dragged on. But his spokesman, Aaron McLear, says there are no plans to issue those types of blanket vetoes this time.

“He’ll get through all of them. He’s reviewed a number of bills at this point,” he said. McLear added that Schwarzenegger’s legislative unit has briefed the governor on a number of bills and Schwarzenegger knows whether he will sign or veto many of the 765 bills on his desk. He just hasn’t formally acted on those bills as of yet.

In years past, Schwarzenegger has not hesitated to wield his veto pen. Schwarzenegger vetoed 240 bills in 2009 -- about 28% of all of the legislation that reached his desk. In 2008, he vetoed 414 bills.

-- Anthony York