Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed bills at nearly twice of the rate of his two most-recent predecessors, Gray Davis and Pete Wilson. And if this year is any indication, he has rejected Democratic measures at several times the rate of GOP-authored bills.

Looking at veto rates of the last fifteen years, Schwarzenegger's reign is notable for three things: the higher veto rate, his consistency in vetoing at least 22 percent of the bills that hit his desk, and the low number of bills reaching his desk.

Over four years, Schwarzenegger has rejected 23.3 percent of the bills reaching his desk in a given year. For Davis, the rate was only 14.8 percent; for Wilson, it was 13.7 percent over his last six years. While we did not evaluate data prior to 1993, conservative columnist Debra Saunders wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday the Schwarzenegger had the highest veto rate of any California governor in 40 years.

"I don't think there's anything to it," said the governor's press secretary, Aaron McLear. "The governor tries to evaluate each bill on its merits and looks at what's best for California.

"He does not consider what previous governors have done, or whether it's a Republican bill or a Democrat bill," McLear added.

Wilson's veto rate fell by half during the two years the GOP controlled the legislature in his second term. He turned back only 7.7 percent of the 1,195 bills that landed on his desk in 1995, and only 8.3 percent of bills the next year. When Democrats controlled the Legislature, his average veto rate jumped to 16.5 percent, peaking at 21.8 percent in his final year, 1998.

Democrat Davis never had to deal with a Republican legislature, but still rejected 22.3 percent of the 1,617 bills on his desk in 2000. In 2003, however, he vetoed only 5.2 percent of bills, the lowest percentage for any year from the past three administrations.

Legislative Republicans have been frequently critical of Schwarzenegger, saying he often doesn't live up the ideals of the party. But they can likely take some solace in his veto record.

Schwarzenegger vetoed 133 Assembly bills this session, and 129 were authored by Democrats. Of the 451 Assembly bills he signed, 132 had Republican authors. Put another way, he signed 97 percent of Assembly Republican bills (132 of 136) and 71 percent of Assembly Democratic bills (319 of 448).

This number includes so-called "committee bills," carried by Assembly committees, all of which are chaired by majority democrats. According to an article by Frank Russo, publisher of the California Progress Report, the governor signed 86 or 90 committee bills from both houses, meaning the true veto rate for Democratic bills was actually higher than 29 percent.

On the Senate side, only five of 81 vetoes went to GOP bills. Schwarzenegger signed nearly 300 Senate bills, about one fifth of them from Republicans.

In other words, an Assembly Democratic bill was nearly ten times as likely to be vetoed as a Republican bill, while the Senate had a lower but still significant difference. The reasons for this may not be strictly partisan on the governor's part, noted Beth Willon, press secretary for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nez, D-Los Angeles.

"The Republicans didn't do anything of substance," Willon said. "So, logically, there were fewer vetoes."

Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, agreed, noting: "That's because there's 90 to 95 percent Democratic bills."

Still, he praised the governor for holding the line on so many bills. Each year his caucus has sent Schwarzenegger a list of bills they're asking him to veto. Ackerman said that there were between 220 to 240 bills on the list, and 55 percent to 60 percent were vetoed, down slightly from a year ago.

Many of the governor's vetoes of Democratic bills were those opposed by business interests. Of the dozen bills from the California Chamber of Commerce's "Job Killer" list that made it to his desk, none made it past his veto pen. This prompted Chamber CEO Allan Zaremberg to issue an uncharacteristically gushing press release, in which he was quoted citing the Governor's "great leadership" from day one of his governorship.

"It's clear that he takes most of his marching orders from the big business community," Willon said. "He talks post-partisanship, but his vetoes show he doesn't walk the walk."

Schwarzenegger's veto pen has managed to hold back numerous policy changes strongly opposed by Republicans, including gay marriage, drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, and condoms for prisoners. OIn these and other areas, Democrats have often sent him essentially the same bill two or more times, hoping to pressure him in the court of public opinion.

Many of these vetoes could be prevented, according to Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, if the governor's staff had been more receptive about communicating with Democratic lawmakers about what he would accept. He pointed to last year as essentially the only year that Schwarzenegger has signed a large number of landmark bills, he said, and also the only year the administration has communicated extensively with the legislature.

Levine compared last year to the movie [I]Awakenings[/I], in which a group of long-comatose patients are temporarily revived.

"The problem is the governor doesn't reach out to the legislature," Levine said.

"Frankly, the Democrats have been his best allies in the legislature," Levine added. "It should be painfully obvious to him by now."

Again, McLear took issue, saying the governor's legislative staff held meetings on just about every bill, and met with essentially every serious group that wanted to discuss a bill.

Schwarzenegger has also been remarkably consistent in the portion of bills he's turned back. He vetoed 24.5 percent in 2004, 24.1 percent in 2005, 22.4 percent in 2006, and 22.2 percent this year -- a difference of only 2.3 percentage points from the highest to lower year. Wilson's spread between the highest and lowest veto years was 14.1 percent. Davis vetoed a mere 5.2 percent of the bills sent to him in his final year, 2003, a difference of 17.1 percentage points from 2000.

Schwarzenegger has also dealt with fewer bills. An average of 1,092 bills have made it to his desk over four years; he saw only 961 in 2005 and 964 this year. Davis got an average of 1,428 bills a year, with a low year of 1,142 in 2003. Wilson had to get through 1,566 bills a year, led by a whopping 2,053 bills in 1993. Overall, there was a trend towards fewer bills passing over the last fifteen years.

There have been several explanations put forward for the growing legislative gridlock in Sacramento. One that comes up often is term limits, which critics say results in less-skilled legislators who also have fewer incentives to compromise in the interests of maintaining long term relationships with legislators across the aisle.

But it could also reflect growing partisanship on both sides. Ackerman said that each year his caucus tries to hold down the number of bills reaching the governor's desk, he said.

"The fact that he's higher than his predecessors is welcome," Ackerman said. "We're more concerned about the bills he signs."