In an event that felt like a blast from the past, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his weight this morning behind another ballot initiative to change the way legislative boundaries are drawn.

I say blast from the past for two reasons: Act One of the Schwarzenegger era was dominated by the governor's recurring threat of using the initiative process to do what the Legislature would not. And as we know, one of the initiatives in his 2005 special election collapse was an effort at redistricting reform.

The initiative the governor endorsed today at the state Capitol is the one written by a coalition of government reform advocates that includes Common Cause of California. It would hand the power of drawing California's 120 legislative districts over to a independent and bipartisan commission of citizens.

"The people," he said at this morning's news conference, "want to bring competition and centrist leadership back to the state of California."

One big difference for Schwarzenegger from his 2005 effort until now: this redistricting initiative leaves the drawing of congressional districts in the hands of the Legislature. In other words, there would be two separate redistricting processes after the next census in 2011.

It's a change in positions for the governor, who has in the past pushed for all map drawing duties to be removed from the hands of legislators. The congressional exemption first appeared earlier this year during Capitol negotiations on redistricting, as it became clear that Democrats were uninterested in endorsing a plan that might threaten their newly acquired majority position in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Does that concession hurt the initiative? No, says Common Cause executive director Kathay Feng, who argues the current proposal is a beginning, not an end.

"We're acknowledging that we're taking baby steps," she said after today's event. Feng also pointed out that her initiative, which is being called California Voters First, actually sets new guidelines for legislators when they sit down to carve up congressional districts... guidelines that include a ban on the notorious ex parte, private wheelings and dealings that have created the maps in days gone by.

The other big question -- one I posed to the governor this morning-- is how hard will he work to get this initiative on the November 2008 ballot and approved by voters? After all, any politco knows that without the money to pay signature gatherers... and without tens of millions of dollars for a statewide campaign... an initiative's chances these days are slim to none.

So will the governor start dialing for dollars? He is, after all, a force to be reckoned with when it comes to campaign fundraising. Schwarzenegger didn't address the cash issue when I asked the question, but did say he would be out collecting signatures to qualify the measure. And today's event was orchestrated by his cadre of campaign consultants... a pretty good sign that he's in it all the way.