Hot seat: Abel Maldonado

State Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, has been nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to fill the vacant lieutenant governor’s position.

The Legislature must make an up-or-down vote on the nomination by Feb. 22 or Maldonado, 42, automatically assumes the job. Union-Tribune editorial writer

Chris Reed recently interviewed Maldonado on KOGO 600 AM on his nomination and other topics. The following are edited and condensed excerpts.

Question: You’re not known as a partisan firebrand and you’ve worked well with Democratic lawmakers. Yet your nomination has already drawn criticism from Democrats including Senate leader Darrell Steinberg. This seems partly because some other lawmakers also want to be lieutenant governor and don’t want you to have a leg up in the 2010 race as an incumbent.

Answer: This is supposed to be a confirmation process, but it’s become somewhat political. I’ve worked very, very hard and I don’t make party an issue, and obviously some folks don’t like that. But at the end of the day, I’ve got friends on both sides of the aisle, and I really do believe I’ll be confirmed.

Question: The Chico Enterprise-Record says the lieutenant governor doesn’t have a lot of responsibilities and the job should remain vacant through 2010 to save money. What is your response?

Answer: I think it’s the constitutional duty of the governor to nominate someone when there is a vacancy and the constitutional duty of the Legislature to confirm that person. This notion that we don’t need a No. 2 doesn’t make sense. Today in corporate America or any large business, you wouldn’t get loans or have credibility if you didn’t have a No. 2 in place. California needs a No. 2, period, whether it’s me or someone else.

Question: You have said you would work as lieutenant governor to help the governor implement his agenda, yet you voted against AB 32, the 2006 anti-global warming bill the governor champions that forces a move to more costly forms of energy. Now your Senate Republican colleagues want the bill suspended because they say it will make the recession even worse. That seems to put you in a pickle.

Answer: AB 32 is the law of the land, and we have to work with it. We have to do the best we can.

Question: In 2006, the governor said he wouldn’t sign the bill unless it included a provision under which it could be suspended if the economy were in bad shape. California’s unemployment rate is now 12.5 percent. So why not suspend the law to give businesses a breather?

Answer: That will be a decision for Gov. Schwarzenegger. At this moment, he doesn’t want to suspend it. He wants to make it work. He cares about the environment and he cares about California jobs, and he believes he can do both.

Question: You’ve said the Central Valley, which is a key to California’s economy, is in Third World-type straits, without adequate water for its crops because of a lack of rain and court rulings on water distribution. What should we do?


