Water bond, health care unlikely to make February ballot By Tom Chorneau San Francisco Chronicle October 13, 2007 The leader of the state Assembly said Friday that legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are not likely to agree on health care reform or expansion of water storage in California in time to put the issues before voters in February. But Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, insisted that negotiations will continue at least for the next few weeks in hopes of hammering out a compromise on both issues that might go on the ballot either in June or November 2008. That means a special legislative session that Schwarzenegger called last month to consider health care and water issues will not close as expected on Tuesday but likely will run through mid-November. Also on Friday, Núñez defended himself against recent criticism of his lavish use of campaign money while on international junkets, saying the spending was legal and did not influence his voting in California. Núñez, 40, a former labor organizer who grew up in hardscrabble parts of Tijuana and San Diego, didn't use tax money for his business trips to Europe and South America in recent years. But his campaign disclosure statements show that he spent $8,745 at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a meeting at a winery in France's Bordeaux region; and $2,562 for office expenses at Louis Vuitton, a Parisian store that specializes in leather goods and clothing. "Everything I have purchased with my campaign account is totally legal and is a completely legitimate use of campaign dollars," he said. Meanwhile, the gap between the Republican governor and Democrats on health care and water appeared to widen on Friday. Schwarzenegger vetoed a Democratic health care bill aimed at covering 4.8 million uninsured Californians paid for largely by employers - and urged lawmakers to continue working on a deal. The governor and Republican lawmakers want to put a $9 billion water bond measure before voters that would allow most of the money to be used for the construction of two dams and the expansion of a third. Democrats want more of the money used for water conservation programs, recycling and other, less-expensive strategies. They've proposed a $6.8 billion plan that would spend far less on dam construction. Núñez said Friday that he would not support any bond measure that set aside any money exclusively for dams. He also said the governor and Republican lawmakers must revise their proposal in order to gain Democratic support. On health care, Schwarzenegger and Democrats agree that all 6.8 million Californians that lack health insurance should get coverage and that employers and workers along with government should share most of the costs. But Schwarzenegger wants to require that all residents have health insurance and require all insurers to accept any applicant regardless of health or background to create as large an insurance pool as possible. Democrats continued to be concerned about the cost of policies that low- and moderate-income families would be required to have. Núñez said the two sides remain at odds. "We are not going to do a deal just to do a deal - we are going to get it right," he said. E-mail Tom Chorneau at tchorneau@sfchronicle.com Copyright 1999-2007, California Coastal Coalition Phone: (760) 944-3564