Reporters like sifting through campaign finance reports, in part, because of the old adage “put your money where your mouth is.”

If you use that measuring stick at this juncture… only six weeks before election day… it seems unlikely that there will be much “mouth” in support of two of the eight ballot measures: Proposition 79 (prescription drug costs) and Proposition 80 (energy regulation).

Both initiatives qualified for the ballot through the efforts of the Alliance For A Better California, the political consortium of unions and others opposing the initiatives of Governor Schwarzenegger.

Their strategy a few months ago was two-pronged: fight against Schwarzenegger’s efforts, while also moving forward on their own measures– hence, Prop 79’s efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs by threatening drug companies with exclusion from the state MediCal program… and Prop 80’s efforts to reregulate the state energy market in the wake of the 2001 energy crisis. Legislation similar to both initiatives has fizzled at the Capitol.

But the most recent campaign finance reports make you wonder whether the two measures were really efforts to change policy, or merely attempts to divert the attention of Team Arnold and its financial backers.

The “yes” on Prop 79 efforts have so far only attracted about $125,000– which is an almost invisible sum in comparison to the pharmaceutical industry’s “no” on Prop 79 effort that totals about $37.7 million.

Prop 80’s backers have only earmarked $25,000 for their campaign, while some of the state’s largest energy companies have ponyed up a combined $1.8 million to fight the measure.

That’s how Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he’s going to mark his ballot come November 8th.

The Schwarzenegger campaign today released a formal list of the governor’s recommendations for the eight measures being voted on in just a little more than six weeks time. The only one of his choices that’s likely to make news is his endorsement of Proposition 73, which would require a waiting period and parental notification before a minor can have an abortion. There’s no word yet, however, as to whether he’ll actually campaign for Prop 73.

The governor was already on record as endorsing Propositions 74 (teacher tenure), 75 (union dues), 76 (budget spending cap), and 77 (redistricting).

It’s not surprising that he’s also urging a “yes” vote on Proposition 78, an initiative promising to lower the cost of prescription drugs… a proposal that closely mirrors legislation on the subject he (unsuccessfully) sponsored this year.

The two “no” votes: an alternate prescription drug initiative, Proposition 79, favored by Democrats… and Proposition 80, an effort to re-regulate the energy market (similar to legislation he vetoed last year).

If there was any doubt that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s low-standing with many Latino voters was a concern to his campaign team, it was erased today.

The Schwarzenegger camp says it has launched a “Latino Coalition Campaign”, to be chaired by former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin and state Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria). A news release says the campaign will include a “seven figure” purchase of advertising in the Spanish language media, as well as efforts on the grassroots level.

And the outreach is online, too, with a new Spanish language element of the Join Arnold website, which promotes his ballot initiative campaign.

The announcement is significant, considering news reports about criticism from even Republicans in recent weeks… and poll numbers that showed fewer than 1 in 5 Latinos surveyed expressed support for the way Schwarzenegger is handling his job. The governor is scheduled to meet with the governor of Baja California in Mexicali tomorrow.

As the bill signing season gets into full swing, we’ll try to highlight a few of the notable pieces of legislation that Governor Schwarzenegger either signs or sacks.

Without further ado…

* SIGNED INTO LAW: SB 724 (Scott) allows the CSU system to offer a doctoral degree in education, a notable exception to the state’s Master Plan for education, which gives the UC system the sole right to award doctoral degrees… SB 97 (Murray) provides for up to a $1000 fine or 6 months in the hoosegow for e-mail spammers… AB 27 (Mullin) ensures that any county on the receiving end of a change of venue for a high-profile trial gets fully reimbursed. The bill was sparked by San Mateo County’s experience with the Scott Peterson case… AB 105 (Benoit) clamps down those popular little “pocketbikes” by banning them from roads, highways, etc.

* VETOED: SB 874 (Romero) would have punished a company that doesn’t provide up to 5 days of pay for jury service, by barring that company from receiving any state contracts… AB 853 (Jones) would have removed the 10 year expiration date on attempts to collect back taxes by garnishing someone’s wages. The Franchise Tax Board had estimated that the change would have brought in an extra $500,000 a year, but Schwarzenegger’s veto message said removing the time limits would be “at the expense of employers who have done nothing improper.”

A group of 7 radio journalists, myself included, were the final participants this afternoon in the two days of sit-down interviews scheduled with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The governor, to his credit, went longer than the 15 minutes promised. But there wasn’t much news to report.

A few items of note:

* Schwarzenegger distanced himself from the effort by conservative activists who are circulating an initiative that would solidify the state’s ban on same-sex marriages– an initiative that the Attorney General has said would rescind some of the state’s domestic partnership laws. “I have no intentions of undoing anything that we have signed,” said Schwarzenegger.

* If there was any doubt that the Legislature would be his foil in this fall’s campaign, it was erased when he said that in the last few years, legislators have “robbed the place blind.” He also threw in a few more jabs at “union bosses” for good measure, and reiterated his charge that Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez could not negotiate on the special election a few weeks ago because “he had to answer to the unions.”

* And a light moment: during a brief lull in the Q&A, one reporter asked, “anyone want to talk about Warren Beatty?”

“If you want to waste your time,” replied Schwarzenegger.

(Beatty, as you might know, is scheduled to deliver a speech to the California Nurses Association on Thursday, likely chock full of Schwarzenegger criticism.)

On tomorrow morning’s edition of The California Report, we’re trying something different with this interview: we’re giving the listener a chance to hear what it’s like when a reporter’s question is artfully dodged. In this instance, I asked the governor about where to cut state spending, and it became an 8 minute discussion of everything from seismic safety to the economy. (And no, the story doesn’t run 8 minutes… even public radio has to draw the line somewhere.)

From time to time, I’ll point out the work of some of my colleagues at The California Report, and this weekend you might want to check out coverage of two subjects: the housing crisis in California, and the myriad of health issues sprouting up along the California-Mexico border.

On Friday, we began a series of reports on the state’s growing housing crisis by examining a “tale of two valleys”: the rapid changes for life in the Central Valley, and the legacy of similar changes after decades of growth in the Santa Clara Valley. You can listen to the report from my colleagues Peter Jon Shuler and Sasha Khokha here.

And on Monday morning, Khokha and producer Andrea Kissack kick off “Crossing The Border”, a series of reports examining public health issues that have sprouted up along the southern border with Mexico. The audio and other materials from the complete series are already online here.

[SATURDAY UPDATE: The governor’s speech to the state GOP convention in Anaheim today included an endorsement of Proposition 75, the union dues initiative… it did not, however, include the image of “corporate America” as one of the bad guys, as noted below.]

Was it an intentional shift in political imagery?

Just before he got to “The Announcement” today in San Diego, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched into his criticism of how things work in Sacramento, and his belief that the system is broken.

“We still have the same government employees, union bosses up there,” he told the crowd. “We still have the same special interests, we still have the same legislators, the powerful groups, corporate America…”

Corporate America?

Turns out the governor actually said the same thing earlier this week in Riverside, and almost the same thing in Fresno. It’s an interesting addition to his now well-known hit list of the bad guys– especially given the narrow definition of “special interests” he’s used so far, and how his financial backers have largely been part of “corporate America.”

The supposed topic of today’s Arnold Schwarzenegger event in San Diego was his agenda for reform. But it became overshadowed by The Announcement.

Just after 11:00 am, CNN broke in with a news alert… quoting the Associated Press that Schwarzenegger was running for a second term. Anchor Wolf Blitzer introduced a live feed of the event around 12:15 pm, only to end up breaking away before the big revelation. It seems the governor’s long discussion of the initiatives was taking too long for network TV.

In the interest of full disclosure, our friends at NPR also aired reports all morning long about the expected announcement. The celebrity governor is still big national news.

All of this gives us a chance to examine the Schwarzenegger political style since he landed in the top job two years ago. On this weekend’s newsmagazine edition of The California Report, we take a look at a governing strategy that’s fluctuated between compromise and confrontation.

[You can listen to the story here]

In the course of my reporting, I asked more than a half-dozen political and policy folks (on and off the record) “when do you think the political tide turned for the governor?”

Some say it began with his decision to back off some of his budget cuts in 2004, which emboldened Democrat; others say things changed when he started what one insider called a “holy war” with the unions; and one GOP source pegged the demise to this past spring’s controversy over the pension reform initiative, which Schwarzenegger had to scrap after questions arose about its effects on death and disability benefits of law enforcement officers.

The reporting also seemed to find a consensus that Schwarzenegger’s style of “governing by threat of initiative” works best when the proposed initiative is well-vetted, something that did not seem to happen in 2005.

“They did everything backwards,” said GOP political analyst Tony Quinn. “They went with the election before they had the proposals.” Quinn’s take on when the tide turned: March 1, when Schwarzenegger jumped in a Humvee and left the Capitol to campaign– almost a month before the initiative now called his centerpiece, Proposition 76, was even cleared for signature gathering.

By the way, one sign of just how bad things were between the governor and majority Democrats by the end of this year’s session: a bill carried by Assemblymember Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg) to keep private some data and documents on the state’s infrastructure system was actually sponsored by Schwarzenegger. Canciamilla says he never told anyone that the bill, AB 1495, was being carried for the administration because he feared it would be killed purely for political reasons.

Last year Steve Poizner was running for the Assembly, spending some $6 million of his own money in a losing effort. Recently, he’s been gearing up for a race for Insurance Commissioner. And now, he’s signed on as the point man for Proposition 77, Governor Schwarzenegger’s initiative to change how political districts are drawn.

The press release from Team Arnold says that the 47-year old former Silicon Valley tech exec will lead a “broad coalition”of Prop 77 supporters known as Redistrict California.

Those efforts will be separate, however, from the group already campaigning for Prop 77, Californians For Fair Redistricting. That group is led by another wealthy GOP businessman who may aspire to public office, Bill Mundell.

Mundell actually sent out his own release earlier today, saying he will continue to campaign “independently” of the Schwarzenegger team. (Mundell, by the way, is contemplating a challenge to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein next year)

Other than his bid for elective office, Poizner also made headlines earlier this year when the governor chose him for a seat on the Public Utilities Commission– a job Poizner eventually had to decline, after questions were raised about whether his many investments in tech issues would create a conflict of interest.

So what might Poizner’s new Prop 77 efforts mean? The fall campaign could certainly help raise the name ID of a candidate running for statewide office in the 2006 GOP primary. And some political insiders say it could also mean a new source of cash for the “yes” on 77 efforts: the Poizner family trust.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s top staffer has officially transitioned to his campaign team for the November 8th special election.

Pat Clarey, who has served as chief of staff since the beginning of the Schwarzenegger administration, left today to join Team Arnold’s campaign in a similar capacity. Her departure is the third high-profile staff shift, following communications director Rob Stutzman (yesterday) and finance director Tom Campbell (last week).

Taking over on what’s described as an “interim” basis is legal affairs secretary Peter Siggins. A statement from the campaign says Clarey will return to her state job after the election.