It certainly seems like Governor Schwarzenegger wants folks to know that a broken leg isn't keeping him from his official duties.

The above photo from the governor's office was released this morning, along with a statement from Schwarzenegger that he is "feeling great" and is busy at work from his hospital bed in Santa Monica, two days after surgeons repaired his broken leg from a pre-Christmas skiing accident.

The statement goes on to say, in part: "I am preparing for my State of the State address, meeting with members of my staff and working on the state budget. I am also looking forward to my inauguration to a second term as your Governor - even if it means I have to walk into my swearing-in ceremony on crutches."

Earlier, the governor's communications director sent out an e-mail to reporters stating that Schwarzenegger was meeting via videoconference with his Sacramento staff.

If nothing else, today's PR effort seems aimed at portraying the governor as fully engaged during one of the busiest times of the year for his administration. Schwarzenegger is expected to lay out at least some of his ideas for health care reform in his State of the State speech on January 9. Given his current predicament, you can expect that speech to be laced with jokes about his own health care needs.

(photo: Duncan McIntosh, Governor's Office)

A break from politics for me for the next 10 days or so, as I head to Kauai and all of you head out to your holiday festivities.

Here's wishing you the best! Mahalo, and Aloha. --JM

Governor Schwarzenegger's inaugural committee has a new set of bipartisan co-chairs, and an equally impressive set of financial heavy-hitters who are footing the bill for the festivities that begin on Friday, January 5.

The co-chairs announced today range from former Governor George Deukmejian to House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi... to even the man Schwarzenegger booted from office three years ago, former Governor Gray Davis.

As for the donors, the inaugural committee had promised a while back to make that list public, even though the committee's non-profit status doesn't require such disclosure.

You can see the whole list for yourself here. But in a nutshell, most are well-known backers of the governor... including the California Chamber of Commerce, Chevron, and the California Building Industry Association.

And several of the inaugural funders will be very interested in what Schwarzenegger does in 2007 when it comes to health care reform. That includes donors on the list like the California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies, and the Cooperative of American Physicians.

And one other interesting name on the list: Robert J. Lowe.

Sure, this Robert Lowe is a bona fide 'FOA' (Friend of Arnold). But, alas, the guy who's handing over the cash is a different Robert Lowe. And that's probably the kind of 'FOA' that counts.

This week's story concerning an investigation into honorary badges issued by a Democratic legislator just got a little more strange... and more heated.

Assemblymember Mervyn Dymally (D-LA) has come under fire for handing out law enforcement-looking badges that identify the carrier as an "Assembly Commissioner." There is no such post, and as the Los Angeles Times has been reporting, the badges have drawn criticism from prosecutors in L.A.

Now, the Assembly Rules Committee is investigating the use of the badges-- a committee led by Assemblymber Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate).

Today, in an e-mail exchange with the Capitol Television News Service, Dymally reportedly said the entire controversy was started by De La Torre, and that his fellow Democrat is a racist.

"Assemblyman De La Torre is the most racist legislator I have encountered in over 40 years," reads a transcript of the email exchange between CTNS and Dymally. "De La Torre has a reputation of racial antagonism towards African Americans," says Dymally later in the email.

De La Torre said that his committee's investigation "isn't specific to any [Assembly] member." In fact, he was asked to begin the investigation by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-LA), according to a letter Nunez's office distributed to reporters earlier this week.

Dymally, 80, is a longtime fixture in California politics, having served as lieutenant governor in the 1970s and as a member of Congress after that. He is also the incoming chair of the Assembly Health Committee, which is expected to be one of the battlegrounds for the 2007 debate over health care reform.

A bitter and personal intra-party squabble is likely the last thing that Democrats want as they head into the new year.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is again pushing to extend his influence on the issue of global warming beyond California's borders, by striking an agreement today on greenhouse gas emissions with the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Earlier today in Santa Monica, the governor and Manitoba's Premier Gary Doer signed a memorandum of understanding pledging a "coordinated, collaborative response to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." The document outlines Manitoba's interest in developing a carbon trading program, which in general allows for the sale of pollution "credits" from cleaner industries and companies to less-clean industries and companies. California and Manitoba would also work to enhance business partnerships that promote cleaner-burning vehicles. Finally, the agreement highlights a swapping of technologies-- California offering up expertise in solar energy, and the Canadian province offering up its expertise in geothermal energy.

The agreement can be found here.

Today's action follows similar agreements signed by Schwarzenegger in the last few months with New York Governor George Pataki, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The agreement is not legally binding, but certainly continues the governor's PR campaign toward giving California a leg up on other states... and the federal government... in the global warming debate.

(Above photo: Duncan McIntosh, Governor's Office)

As Governor Schwarzenegger prepares for a second term in office, he's bringing in a few new faces and shuffling some of the current folks to new positions.

Dan Dunmoyer becomes the governor's new Cabinet Secretary, the main liaison between Schwarzenegger's inner circle and the myriad of state agencies. Dunmoyer, who has been on the governor's staff for the past year, is best known in Capitol circles as the former head of the Personal Insurance Federation of California-- the lobbying association of the "property-casualty" insurance industry. Dunmoyer becomes Governor Schwarzenegger's fourth Cabinet secretary in the past three years.

Meantime, the governor's new #1 liaison with the Legislature is Chris Kahn. Kahn moves into the job of Legislative Secretary after spending the last seven years as a Capitol lobbyist. The bio for Kahn on the website of his now former employer touts his focus on lobbying for local government issues. His (ex) lobbying firm's clients include PG&E, Verizon, and the CSU system. Some will also notice that Kahn's former firm represents Blue Cross of California, a player with a vested interest in the governor's 2007 focus on health care reform. Kahn also served on the legislative affairs team of former Governor Pete Wilson.

Other staffing changes reflect more of a shuffling, with former chief deputy legislative Cynthia Bryant moving to director of the governor's Office of Planning & Research, and current OPR director Sean Walsh moving back into the Capitol as a senior advisor to Schwarzenegger. Also of note is an additional job title for Daniel Zingale, the chief of staff to First Lady Maria Shriver. Zingale is a former Cabinet Secretary to Governor Gray Davis and also once led Davis' Department of Managed Health Care. He now will also be a "senior advisor" to Schwarzenegger, probably reflecting the large amount of work he's doing on the governor's health care reform agenda.

Meanwhile, Zingale is getting another Democratic co-worker inside the inner circle, as the governor has tapped Ross LaJeunesse to be his deputy chief of staff. LaJeunesse's most recent gig had been as chief of staff to Controller Steve Westly, but he also used to lead the staff of Schwarzenegger's chief of staff Susan Kennedy, when Kennedy served on the Public Utilities Commission.

If you're going to follow what appears to be the single biggest issue in California politics this year, then you're going to need to learn a few key terms, starting with...

"Pay or play"... "Mr. MIBB"... "ERISA"... and, today's most important concept, "mandates." Yes, we're talking about health care reform.

This morning, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) threw his hat into the ring with a proposal he admits is a work in progress. By this time next month, you're likely to see several more plans floated in Sacramento, all aimed at shrinking the number of uninsured Californians.

In fact, several legislators introduced their own proposals last week. But today's announcement symbolizes the opening bid from at least one half of the Democratic leadership. And any plan from the Pro Tem will likely carry a lot of weight in negotiations with Governor Schwarzenegger in the new year.

What follows is by no means a full explanation of the Perata Plan, but it should give you the general gist of what he's pitching.

The Senate leader says he's aiming to provide health insurance for all citizens who have a job and their families. That, he says, would cut the number of insured Californians by some two thirds... but would still leave more than 2 million without coverage.

(By the way, the group to be covered does not appear to include illegal immigrants, either adults or children.)

It might help to think of his proposal as a modified form of 2003's Senate Bill 2, later overturned by voters in a referendum known as Proposition 72. The Pro Tem's suggestion is to return to the notion (contained in SB 2) of mandates on employers.

Employers would have to either offer health insurance, or pay money into a state system that then attempts to buy affordable coverage for millions of currently uninsured workers. [Hint: this is the often referred concept of "pay or play."]

But Perata also includes mandates on employees. Workers would have to prove they have health insurance, or else forfeit some existing state tax credits they currently receive.

Perata's aides say the plan would cost between $5 billion and $7 billion. To help defray the cost, it would attempt to collect additional federal dollars by making more of the working poor eligible for Medi-Cal coverage (that expansion would theoretically trigger a new federal subsidy, thus some extra cash to make this all work). But none of the costs, says Perata, would come out of the state's already-strapped General Fund.

So, how much of the costs would an employer pay, and how much would an employee pay? SB 2 pegged it at 80/20 (employer/employee). The governor has said that's why he campaigned to overturn the law; in an interview this past June, he suggested something like "50/50" might be more reasonable. Consumer advocates, however, say that would be too much out of a worker's pocket.

And if that isn't enough, legislative Republicans are already saying they are against any mandate on employers to pay for employee health care coverage. Period.

Still, the debate is only beginning. And all sides said today they appreciate the Senate leader putting some ideas on the table, ideas he admitted are likely to get tweaked. "Everybody has to be engaged," Perata told reporters.

Some audio clips of Senator Perata from this morning are below:

* On the reaction to his proposal, and how he hopes the debate will play out.

* On why he's not pushing a proposal for universal health care coverage.

* How the issue, and the various legislative proposals, will be handled.

The release of a new comprehensive post-election statewide poll shows that voters feel pretty optimistic about things in the Golden State... but at the same time, don't expect too much in the way of change.

The survey from the Public Policy Institute of California provides some insight into how voters feel about the choices they made at the polls on November 7, and the general direction of the state.

In a nutshell: more voters feel optimistic about things after this election than after the 2005 special election... 53% of those surveyed think the state is headed in the "right direction" (compared to only 23% thinking so just one year ago)... and 60% approve of the job performance of Governor Schwarzenegger. Heck, even 36% of those polled approve of the Legislature. That's pretty high, considering just 20% liked the institution overall in November 2005.

But the poll also shows voters are, well, skeptical. 68% of the voters surveyed by PPIC think state government is run "by a few big interests." And only 34% are more optimistic about the state's future in the wake of passing the massive set of infrastructure bonds.

The message may be that voters are keeping an open mind, but not for long.

A couple of other interesting items. First, it's not surprising that the vast majority of Californians who think the state is headed in the right direction (65%) voted to re-elect the governor. But even 45% of those who think the state is headed in the wrong direction voted for another Schwarzenegger term. Democrat Phil Angelides only garnered the votes of 48% of that gloomy group.

Second, the poll includes an interesting comment about the way gubernatorial campaigns are run. The governor would only agree to participate in one debate this year, with his staff often arguing that incumbent California governors usually have only debated once. But in this new poll, 67% of those surveyed would support an initiative requiring five prime-time TV debates.

Sure, political junkies like me would've loved to have seen that. But would the public have really tuned in?

The full poll will be online here later.

The last time Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger attempted to push a plan to redraw political districts, he stood in a Sacramento suburban neighborhood and started pulling up some red tape that had been laid down to show how two side-by-side homes were in different legislative districts.

(Of course, it turns out that pesky district line was actually several blocks away from where staffers had laid down the tape... but I digress.)

Today, the governor called a Capitol news conference-- now devoid of such gimmick photo ops-- and said the time is right for a new effort at taking process of political map drawing process out of the hands of legislators, one year after voters rejected the Schwarzenegger-endorsed Proposition 77.

"I am absolutely sure that this is the year where we can do it," he said.

The governor's proposal (which reportedly does not have a legislative sponsor at this point) is similar to a plan that failed to make it out of the Assembly before the end of the 2006 session. As with the previous proposal, political districts would be drawn by an 11-member citizens commission, with no more than 8 members being either Democrats or Republicans.

But there are a few new twists. For one, the governor's plan calls for a panel of county clerks to oversee the creation of a pool of eligible commissioners. And after the four legislative leaders each exercised their vetoes of two candidates, the state's Fair Political Practices Commission would randomly draw names to pick the actual members.

The governor continues to sell the idea of redistricting by noting that no legislative seats changed parties in the last two elections. "We must bring competition back in the political process."

But his proposal does not require the citizens commission to use voter registration data to make districts competitive. That's partly because the concept of a "competitive district" is somewhat subjective.

Several researchers have concluded that, yes, there could be a few more competitive races... but not a large number, especially if districts must also remain geographically compact. For example, you can't draw many Republican-friendly seats in the Bay Area, and you can't draw many Democrat-friendly seats in the Central Valley.

But when I asked the governor about the issue of competitiveness, he seemed to say that it would happen somewhat organically if his proposal was enacted. "There will be many more seats that will be competitive if you draw [districts] the right way," said Schwarzenegger.

Audio clips of the governor's Q&A with reporters are below.

* On the issue of competitive districts

* On whether the governor is willing to link redistricting to a modification or extension of term limits

* On whether he is willing to join the reform groups who support his proposal (and were on stage) and take this to the ballot as an initiative if the Legislature fails to act

* On why, after the Legislature failed to enact redistricting reform in 2006, he thinks anything will change in 2007

* On whether adding this issue to health care, prison reform, the budget, and others... is an overly ambitious agenda for a single legislative year

[Late word: Governor Schwarzenegger now appears poised to release details of his own proposal tomorrow morning. --JM]

Every political reporter, as much as we were working on other stories today, wanted to know whether there is new life to the much ballyhooed idea of linking reform of political redistricting to reform of the state's term limits law.

For those of you unaware of the chatter: there were several high-profile discussions last year to modify term limits, by allowing 12 years of service in one legislative house, rather than a combined 14 in two houses. And to make that seemingly bitter pill go down easier with voters, the proposal was to link it with a plan to strip the Legislature of its power to draw political maps.

Well, the talks fizzled... so, too, did a proposal dealing only with redistricting. But the talk has begun anew in Sacramento, and the three legislative leaders who held news conferences today were each asked about the idea. Their reponses, it seemed, were maybe... maybe... and nope.

Click below to hear who said what on the subject:

* Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland)

* Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines (R-Clovis), who introduced his own redistricting plan, ACA 4, today.

* Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-LA)