Governor Unveils Agenda For New Year

Dec. 5 - KGO (KGO) -- State lawmakers got an earful today from Governor Schwarzenegger as he unveiled his plans for the new term. While new legislators are still learning their way around the capitol, the governor made it clear he thinks there should be more new members.

Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled today the first major proposal of his 2007 agenda - it's to have an independent citizen group redraw political district lines. He's unhappy that in the last three state elections, only four out of 459 congressional and legislative seats changed parties.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "That is evidence of a system that has become unresponsive and is stuck in a status quo. We must bring competition back to the political process."

The governor's anxiously-awaited plan to provide health coverage to California's more than 6,000,000 uninsured is still in the works though.

Just today, a think tank group called the New America Foundation held a forum on the importance of tackling the problem as soon as possible.

David Lesher, New America Foundation: "The cost of health insurance for those who are paying for it are paying for those who are uninsured - so there's an unfairness in the costs."

Next year's agenda also includes relieving the state's overcrowded prisons before a judge orders the early release of inmates to fix the problem. But can the governor make headway on all three complex areas?

This year was one of the most productive legislative sessions because he embraced Democratic proposals in a re-election year. Just yesterday on the first day of the new session, Republicans signaled it'll be different this time, defying a vote on a relatively minor procedural change.

Assm. Sam Blakeslee: "It is therefore, with regret that I must ask my Republican colleagues to vote no on the motion."

And that worries the Democratic leadership.

Assm. Speaker Fabian Nunez: "It would be an error for us to allow the politics of division to lead the way for the Republican legislators."

So much for bi-partisanship. Democrats have already said they don't like the Governor's redistricting plan because it doesn't ensure diversity on the independent panel.

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