One of the more intriguing items inside Governor Schwarzenegger’s revised budget seems to imply that the governor only supports restoration of Prop 42 funding if his package of transportation bills is passed by the Legislature.

You can hear more on the issue this morning on The California Report.

To be fair, the administration adamantly denies any intention of linking Prop 42 money to the “GoCalifornia” package of bills. Those bills would give Caltrans the power to work with private companies on building new toll roads and toll lanes, as well as make changes in the design-build process used in transportation projects.

But it’s the language on page 65 of the May revise that started the whole thing. “The May Revision proposes that these measures be considered budget trailer bills and link their passage to the availability of the Proposition 42 funds.”

Democrats say it sounds a little bit like what happened last summer, when Republicans argued for linking two policy bills to the Big 5 budget negotiations (schools districts contracting with private firms for non-educational services, and an effort to end the “sue your boss” workplace lawsuits). Democrats argue that tacking policy bills to the budget is the wrong way to go.

But again, the administration denies there is a link. Budget spokesman H.D. Palmer says there’s no plan to try and hold back Prop 42 money if the bills don’t get to Schwarzenegger’s desk, instead calling the idea of linkage only a “recommendation.”

And he says there is, in fact, precedent for placing policy items in the budget process– pointing to then Governor Pete Wilson’s call for class-size reduction in the ’90s as an example.