The author of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s preferred method for raising California’s minimum wage today suggested the governor could pretty much get what he wanted without the Legislature, using a dormant– but not dismantled– state commission.

Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) today called on the state’s Industrial Welfare Commission to raise the minimum wage by $1 over the next 18 months, from the current $6.75 to $7.75. That’s the same proposal Maldonado has carried in the Legislature with SB 1167, a proposal endorsed by the governor earlier this year.

SB 1167 is technically still pending in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. But today is the final day that the proposal can be considered before this week’s policy bill deadline, and majority Democrats are firmly opposed to any minimum wage hike that doesn’t also provide a formula for future increases based on inflation.

Here’s where things get interesting. The IWC was stripped of its funding by the Legislature in 2004, and the terms of its commissioners– appointed by the governor– appear to have expired. But technically, it still exists on the books. And Maldonado, in a letter to Schwarzenegger, suggests he “reconstitute” the IWC and hike the minimum wage on his own.

Furthermore, the suggestion appears to have precedent. Research provided by GOP legislative staffers shows that the minimum wage has been raised 16 times in California since 1963. And while some of those hikes were authorized by the IWC, none were instigated by the Legislature.

If Schwarzenegger were so inclined, it would seem the action could also have a major political upside: more money in the pockets of the working poor, no automatic increases as opposed by the business community, and “action, action, action” instead of a protracted debate with the Democratically controlled Legislature.

So what’s the governor’s reaction? His press secretary, Margita Thompson, released a statement this afternoon that only says Schwarzenegger will “continue working” on the issue.