SCHWARZENEGGER SAYS HEALTH BILL ADDS BILLION IN CALIFORNIA COSTS

January 11, 2010

The Sacramento Bee -

In a national television interview that aired Sunday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said California's congressional members "are not representing us really well" as he pushed for higher federal reimbursements to help reduce the state's structural budget deficit.

The Republican governor said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. Senate's proposed federal health care overhaul would saddle the state with an extra $3 billion to $4 billion in annual costs due largely to an expansion of Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California. Schwarzenegger believes the health care plan would enshrine existing cost-share formulas that he says are unfair to the state.

The governor has attacked changes won by Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, particularly one that would exempt Nebraska from additional Medicaid costs. Schwarzenegger said California's congressional members "are not representing us really well in this case."

He added, "I cannot imagine why … our senators and congressional people, how they would vote for something like that where they are representing Nebraska and not us. And, by the way, as I said in my State of the State, that's the biggest rip-off. I mean, that is against the law to buy a vote."

Schwarzenegger's comments in recent days have sparked a rebuttal from California's Democratic U.S. senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

The governor said California receives only 78 cents back for every dollar its taxpayers send to Washington, based on a study released by the Tax Foundation. The figure is from 2005.

Boxer, running for re-election this year, on Friday released a study she commissioned estimating that California received $1.02 per federal tax dollar in 2008 and $1.45 in 2009, with the latter number including federal stimulus dollars. Feinstein last week said, "California's budget crisis was created in Sacramento, not Washington."

Health Access California, an advocate for low-income residents, disputed Schwarzenegger's estimates. The group said that the federal government would pay for most of the expansion costs and that the state would not face added expenses until 2018-19.

Schwarzenegger is attacking the health care bill to make a broader case for more money from the federal government as the state desperately tries to plug a $19.9 billion budget deficit.

Schwarzenegger said he plans to travel to Washington with the state's four legislative leaders to lobby federal officials and the state's congressional delegation.

Entering his final year, Schwarzenegger said, "Even though California is known as a state that is not governable – it is very hard to govern California, probably the toughest state to govern – but still we got a lot of things done."

He then pulled out a paper to-do list from his coat pocket in which nine of 13 items were checked off, six of which were related to public works bonds. His unchecked items were "budget reform," "tax reform," "open primaries" and "campaign finance reform."

Asked whether he would run again for political office, Schwarzenegger said, "Well, you never say never. But I mean, you know, right now I have no plans, period."

• Return to main industry news & articles page