Tonight’s State of the State by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was a challenge to the Legislature for reform on both a small and large scale. But the speech wasn’t the only thing worth noting.

A full roundup of the speech, including news that the governor wants extra money earmarked for K-14 education to be spent elsewhere, can be heard this morning on The California Report.

In the meantime, a few anecdotes from inside– and outside– the Assembly chambers:

* For the second year in a row, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante used his brief moment in the spotlight not for the traditional introduction, but rather to deliver some not-so-thinly veiled jibes at the policies of the man who would speak next. For example, Bustamante suggested that Schwarzenegger work to close more tax loopholes for corporations, instead of proposing budget cuts. Schwarzenegger drew a good laugh from the audience as he thanked Bustamante for the “nice introduction and wonderful speech.”

* Excluding applause for First Lady Maria Shriver, an unofficial count suggests that the governor was interrupted for applause 28 times. But most times, the hands making noise were almost exclusively Republican.

* Schwarzenegger’s aides say this was the first time the State of the State speech was offered as a live webcast on the governor’s official website.

* The speech was largely the work of former Reagan speechwriter Landon Parvin, who has been the wordsmith behind many of Schwarzenegger’s high-profile appearances.

* Three former governors sat in the cheap seats this time to watch someone else in the spotlight: Republican Pete Wilson, and Democrats Jerry Brown and Gray Davis.

* When the speech was over, many of the VIPs made their way to a private reception hosted by the California Protocol Foundation, which is headed up by Charlotte Mailliard Shultz (wife of Reagan cabinet member George Shultz). A full bar and appetizers awaited the guests, who mingled both in a large tent on the West Steps of the Capitol, and inside the Capitol rotunda. And contrary to yesterday’s posting, there was indeed food for the media inside their tent on the North Steps… though the muffins on a tray paled in comparison to the food on the other side of the building.