Arnold Schwarzenegger

Governor Schwarzenegger launched the most ambitious rebuilding of California’s infrastructure in half a century. The Strategic Growth Plan (SGP) was designed to restore and expand our highways, roads, and transit systems as well as our schools, courthouses, ports, levees, and water supply systems. By investing and leveraging billions of dollars in the state’s infrastructure over the next twenty years, the Governor sought to maintain California’s vibrant economic growth, improve the environment, and ensure a high quality of life for generations to come. Read more

In his State of the State address, Governor Schwarzenegger established a bold roadmap for the future of public education, committing to the goals of expanding charter and career technical schools, providing funding flexibility to public schools, and ensuring that every classroom has an effective teacher and every school has an effective principal so that all students in California graduate prepared for college and career success. Read more

Under Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership, the State Board of Education adopted the first-ever physical fitness standards for California schools; and in the Governor’s subsequent budgets, he provided unprecedented funding for school PE teachers, equipment, and supplies. Read more

As part of his commitment to protect California’s most vulnerable citizens, the Governor secured $1.7 billion in new federal assistance for seniors receiving In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS); the funds allow 66,000 aged, blind, and disabled residents to continue receiving IHSS through the Independence Plus Waiver. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger signed a package of legislation that enhanced existing foster care programs and created the Child Welfare Council, to better maintain sibling relationships between foster youth and help protect these vulnerable youngsters from identity theft. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointments to public offices have been among the most diverse and inclusive in California history. More than 41 percent of all Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointments were highly qualified women—a higher percentage than any governor in history. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger gave remarks at the groundbreaking of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Israel was the Governor’s first trade mission after taking office, and his 2004 visit opened up many opportunities for collaboration between California and Israel over the next seven years, including a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Governor and Israel’s Minister of Tourism to promote tourism between the two states. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger established the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission. In April 2004, the Commission issued 48 recommendations for improving emergency preparedness to prevent and respond to California wildfires. Governor Schwarzenegger then established the Blue Ribbon Task Force—which included representatives from county, city, and state responders, OES state fire chiefs, and labor unions—to ensure these recommendations are implemented. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger worked with the U.S. military and the federal and state Departments of Veterans Affairs to launch the Troops to College task force, to make California’s higher-education system more accessible to military personnel leaving the service. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger strengthened Megan’s Law by signing AB 488, which requires the Department of Justice to post specified information regarding high-risk sex offenders on the Internet for public access. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger reformed workers’ compensation, which has saved employers more than $70 billion to date and reduced rates by nearly 65 percent. In 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have undermined the bipartisan workers’ compensation reforms passed by the legislature in 2004. Read more

On his first day in office, Governor Schwarzenegger kept a campaign promise by repealing the car tax, returning $4 billion to the people of California. This major tax cut has saved California taxpayers more than $33 billion dollars over the last seven years and will continue to save taxpayers nearly $5 billion each year into the future. Read more

The Governor expedited $148 million of Proposition 46, the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002, to build affordable housing units throughout the state. As of December 21, 2008, $1.52 billion of Proposition 46 money had been awarded, creating or incentivizing more than 84,300 units of affordable housing. Read more

Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 890, closing a loophole that allowed third parties to contribute to political party committees in the final days prior to an election without immediate disclosure. Read more

Ten months after the Governor called the state’s pension obligations to government employees a “financial train on another track to disaster” in his State of the State address, the administration reached a first-of-its-kind pension agreement with a state employee union. The union representing state lawyers and administrative law judges agreed to pension reforms that make workers contribute more to their pensions, and that end the practice of pension “spiking.” Read more

The Governor’s first budget reform proposal (the California Recovery Plan) included a constitutional amendment to limit spending; financed inherited debt by issuing economic recovery bonds; and reformed California’s workers’ compensation system. Read more

Governor signed Executive Order S-7-04, creating a public-private partnership to build a Hydrogen Highway in California. With the goals of cleaner air, greater independence from foreign oil, and lower fuel prices, this initiative resulted in the development of more than 50 operational hydrogen fueling stations throughout the state. Read more