From the Los Angeles Times
Dated Tuesday May 17
Gov. Readies Special Election to Attack Legislature, Unions
One proposed initiative could halt political fundraising by labor through paycheck dues.
By Robert Salladay, Times Staff Writer
Sacramento — After five months of failing to sway Democrats to his "year of reform," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has directed his political staff to prepare for a special election campaign that would attack the California Legislature and its union benefactors.
Escalating the governor's fight, chief political consultant Mike Murphy said Monday that Schwarzenegger would almost certainly call a special election that would include his package of reform initiatives, and possibly another measure that could disable the money-raising machine of public employee unions.
Murphy said the governor has asked him to conduct polling and voter focus groups on a so-called paycheck protection initiative that would require public employee unions to get permission from members before using their dues for political campaigns.
"Arnold has not touched the Legislature with a feather yet compared to what the real campaign will be," said Murphy, one of the governor's closest advisors. "It's a referendum on the governor versus the Legislature, and he will win."
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