Gov. Schwarzenegger In LB Says Prop 76 Needed To Control Budget And Enable Infrastructure For Projects Including Port Growth & 710 Freeway

LB Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Randy Gordon:...We are here to support a leader and his visionary reforms, a leader who understands the importance of running the state government like a business.

He believes that we should only spend what we have, not a $1.10 on every dollar we take in. We have a legislature that has confused the bill of rights with the right to bill. [applause]

Our right to a vibrant economy and a quality of life is chipped away by a philosophy of spend, spend, spend...

The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce supports Propositions 74, 75, 76 and 77. These propositions will create the tools to save our state. This will bring us closer to our Governor's vision of California as the Golden Dream By the Sea...

Proposition 76, the "Live Within Our Means Act," requires the state to pay local governments for all existing unfunded state mandates...Most importantly, it will repay previously borrowed funds that we can build new roads, and repair existing ones, like the 710 freeway. [applause].

...Would you please join me, ladies and gentleman, for a man who will lead us through these difficult times, and will fight for what is right, a neglected special interest -- the people of California -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger! [applause]

CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: ...I'm happy to be here today at the Port of Long Beach and I love visiting ports because I like seeing the ships coming in and out and to see the cranes moving around and the containers being loaded and unloaded from ships and to see the movement of goods that power the world economy. We can see the energy of global commerce...

[F]or California to continue to compete in the world economy, I think it is very important that we do our infrastructure and we build, such as this port represents here...

Infrastructure is absolutely essential to the state's economic health, which means it's essential to the well-being and prosperity of all Californians...We have now 37 million people in California, and they're traveling on roads that are meant for 25 million people. No wonder the people are upset, because they re stuck in traffic every day, rather than being home with their families...

When I first came here, I remember it took me ten minutes to go from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles. Now it's taking me four times as long...

Half a million people move here to California every year. That means that in the next ten years, we will have to serve five million more people. Think how many more roads that means, how many more hospitals...schools...parks...teachers, or nurses or firefighters or police officers. Think how much more water we need, how much more energy we will need, how much more affordable housing, or how much more port capacity we will need.

This is all called infrastructure. Our systems are at the breaking point right now. How can we ever serve another five million people in ten years from now?...

We have to plan ahead, but how can we plan ahead when all we do in Sacramento is fight over the budget?...How can we build for the future when Sacramento raids transportation funding and uses it for day to day spending?

Only by reforming our budget system can we begin to rebuild our state. The people themselves have taken action when they passed Proposition 42, which dedicates sales and gas tax funds to transportation. But what did the politicians do in Sacramento? Against the will of the people, they've taken this money and instead of spending it on transportation they've spent it on everything else.

Under Proposition 76, this will not be allowed ever to happen again. [applause]

...We have to guarantee that we fund transportation year after year after year.

Now this brings me to Proposition 76, the "Live Within Our Means" proposition. Without Proposition 76, there's nothing on the horizon to bring order to state spending. There's nothing to stop the automatic spending formulas that sacrifice our infrastructure and cheat our future. There's nothing to prevent the politicians from again raiding transportation and other funds that have been set aside...

...We must rebuild California's infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing economy and the growing population. Prop 76 is one of the reform tools that will help us do this...

...It begins with a simple step: get control of the budget process and we can control the future. Ladies and gentlemen, [applause rises] I urge you to vote yes on 76, yes on 76 [applause and cheers], yes on 76 [repeated five more times over applause, leaves podium to rock music].

Reporters were kept in a secured area, nearby but too far to shout questions at the end of the Governor's remarks...which segued into loud rock music. The Governor shook hands with guests, then exited.

Near the end of the Governor's remarks, the sounds of "Hey Hey, Vote No, Arnold Schwarzenegger's got to go" could be heard from street level. A group of demonstrators -- urging "no" votes on the Governor's favored propositions -- drew press attention.