Life In The Fast Lane For Schwarzenegger When It Comes To Work Comp Change
By John Franklin - April 14, 2004Gov. Schwarzenegger flew back from Maui over this past weekend, stopped at his Brentwood pad, hit the air again for Sacramento on Sunday to talk with President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), and then came back down to Burbank in order to promote signature gathering at the Burbank Costco on Monday for the November ballot initiative.
Burton told Senate members that the bill should be ready for a public hearing in a legislative committee on Wednesday and be put up for a vote in both houses of the Legislature by Thursday, April 15th.
Schwarzenegger is working both angles to achieve radical reform in the California Work Comp System-- from the ballot initiative side to a deal struck between him and the Legislature side.
"That sends a clear message to the legislators in Sacramento: Do your job now--this week--or the people will do your job in November," Schwarzenegger said.
The partnership between Costco, the nation's 29th largest corporation, and the California Governor is unusual and perhaps even astonishing. One Los Angeles political consultant, Harvey Englander, stated it could probably not be duplicated by any one other than a celebrity politician.
"I know when I visited a Costco right after this was announced, people were lining up to sign the petitions. Arnold brings to politics and government all the marketing skills that he learned from his career as a bodybuilder and actor."
Tuesday, yesterday, Schwarzenegger returned to Costco, this time in Sacramento. Each day inside its 98 stores in California, Costco employees set up tables and ask shoppers if they would like to sign the petitions. The legal deadline to collect the 598,105 signatures required to put the initiative on the November ballot is Friday, April 16th.
Costco's current California Workers' Comp bill runs $60 million a year. It's motivation is clear. | 
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