This from yahoo! News:
Schwarzenegger Vetoes Minimum Wage Bill
Sun Sep 19, 4:20 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO - Siding with his business allies, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) vetoed bills Saturday that would have raised the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour and required economic impact reports before local governments approve Wal-Mart-like mega-stores.
AP Photo
The Republican governor also turned down legislation that would have limited drug testing of students and set a goal of holding university fee increases to no more than 8 percent a year.
He contended the minimum wage and superstore legislation would have hurt the state's economy and said drug testing policies should be left up to school officials.
"I cannot support legislation that eliminates the ability of local school districts to make decisions based on the needs and values of their community," he said in a veto message.
The bill, by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, would have allowed random drug testing of students only if the program was voluntary on the part of students and parents and not funded by state or local taxes.
The measure also would have barred requiring students to agree to random testing to participate in extracurricular activities.
It would have allowed nonrandom testing only if school officials had reasonable suspicion that a particular student was using alcohol or illegal drugs.
The bill's supporters called random testing a costly program that creates distrust among students, parents and school officials and distracts from the "core educational mission of the public schools."
The minimum wage bill, by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Santa Clara, would have raised California's minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.25 next Jan. 1 and to $7.75 on Jan. 1, 2006.
Bill supporters said the minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation, adding to a "dramatically rising level of poverty" and greater reliance on taxpayer-funded social programs.
Schwarzenegger said Lieber's bill would have made California's minimum wage the highest in the nation. Washington and Oregon currently have higher minimum wages that increase with inflation and conceivably could have remained higher than California's.
Schwarzenegger also said the bill would have discouraged economic growth.
"Now is not the time to create barriers to our economic recovery or reverse the momentum we have generated," he said. "I want to create more jobs and make every California job more secure."