Arnold's Army
From August 2005
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Administration officials say privately that lobbyists who want their clients to believe they have the governor’s ear are the ones who usually perpetuate the notion that Schwarzenegger makes policy decisions based on owed favors.
They say it’s unethical and illegal to engage in any quid pro quo of that sort. An examination of the bills the governor signed and vetoed last year shows a propensity for fiscal conservatism (he vetoed a bill that would have added consumer-protection regulations to the automobile-buying process) and social moderation (he signed a bill outlawing .50-caliber firearms).
“One of the frustrations is there are a lot of allegations and innuendoes made. As to the business community having some perceived entrée? They don’t; they work their bills,” Costigan says.
“We have a standing rule: If the phone is ringing, you have to pick it up. So yesterday, I’m picking up the phone, it’s the NAACP and they asked for me.
“First, they were shocked that I answered the phone. I said, ‘What can I help you with?’ They said they wanted to meet with me. I said, ‘Sure, when do you want to do it?’”
Of all Schwarzenegger’s business allies, much of the focus has fallen on the California Chamber of Commerce and its leader, Allan Zaremberg. Of the chamber’s 15,000 members, 80 percent have fewer than 100 employees and typically depend on the organization to function as their de facto lobbyist in Sacramento.
Under Zaremberg, the chamber in the summer of 2003 made the unprecedented move of endorsing Schwarzenegger for governor in the summer of 2003.
Although the chamber declined to recommend how its members should vote on the question of whether to recall Davis, its endorsement of then-movie-star Schwarzenegger was its first backing of any candidate for any office in the organization’s 112-year history.
Schwarzenegger remains the only candidate the chamber has ever endorsed. There are no plans to recommend candidates for office in future races.
Continued...
They say it’s unethical and illegal to engage in any quid pro quo of that sort. An examination of the bills the governor signed and vetoed last year shows a propensity for fiscal conservatism (he vetoed a bill that would have added consumer-protection regulations to the automobile-buying process) and social moderation (he signed a bill outlawing .50-caliber firearms).
“One of the frustrations is there are a lot of allegations and innuendoes made. As to the business community having some perceived entrée? They don’t; they work their bills,” Costigan says.
“We have a standing rule: If the phone is ringing, you have to pick it up. So yesterday, I’m picking up the phone, it’s the NAACP and they asked for me.
“First, they were shocked that I answered the phone. I said, ‘What can I help you with?’ They said they wanted to meet with me. I said, ‘Sure, when do you want to do it?’”
Of all Schwarzenegger’s business allies, much of the focus has fallen on the California Chamber of Commerce and its leader, Allan Zaremberg. Of the chamber’s 15,000 members, 80 percent have fewer than 100 employees and typically depend on the organization to function as their de facto lobbyist in Sacramento.
Under Zaremberg, the chamber in the summer of 2003 made the unprecedented move of endorsing Schwarzenegger for governor in the summer of 2003.
Although the chamber declined to recommend how its members should vote on the question of whether to recall Davis, its endorsement of then-movie-star Schwarzenegger was its first backing of any candidate for any office in the organization’s 112-year history.
Schwarzenegger remains the only candidate the chamber has ever endorsed. There are no plans to recommend candidates for office in future races.
Continued...
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