Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 Governor's State of the State speeches

On Budget & Economy: Painful spending cuts & temporary tax increases were needed

$11 billion in water bonds will be on the ballot this November. Some people say "how can we afford these bonds in the current economic climate?" I say, how can we not?

On Crime: Allow private prisons to compete, to spend less on prisons

Spending 45% more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future. What does it say about our state? It simply is not healthy. So I will submit to you a constitutional amendment so that never again do we spend a greater percentage of our money on prisons than on higher education.

And the way we get this done is to find more cost-effective ways to run our prison system and allows private prisons to compete with public prisons. Competition and choice are always good. I mean, California spends $50,000 per prisoner. The ten largest states spend $32,000 only.

If California's prisons were privately run, it would save us billions of dollars a year. That's billions of dollars that could go back into higher education where it belongs and where it better serves our future.

On Education: Until now, children were trapped in low-performing schools

For too many years, too many children were trapped in low-performing schools. The exit doors may as well have been chained. Now, for the first time, parents--without the principal's permission--have the right to free their children from these destructive schools. That is great freedom.

Also in the past, parents had no power to bring about change in their children's schools but that will now change too. Parents will now have the means to get rid of incompetent principals and take other necessary steps to improve their children's education.

And to increase accountability, we finally broke down that firewall so that teachers' performance can be linked to students' performance.

On Environment: $11B for water bonds to invest in future water flow

And now we must work very hard so that we pass the $11 billion in water bonds that will be on the ballot this November. And Democrats and Republicans will have to travel up and down the state to educate the people of California why those bonds are so important.

Because some people say "how can we afford these bonds in the current economic climate?" I say, how can we not?

It is the law that you cannot build a school or that you cannot build a factory or that you cannot build an office building or a housing development without identifying first a source of water. Our economy cannot grow without water.

Now is exactly the time to invest in it, so that when Californians turn on that faucet there is safe and reliable and clean water coming out that tap and not just five years from now but 30, 40 and 50 years from now.

On Jobs: $500M jobs package, plus $10K homebuyer tax credits

There are four proposals to spur job growth that I will introduce.
• First, you will receive a $500 million jobs package that we estimate could train up to 140,000 workers and help create 100,000 jobs.
• Second, you will receive a measure to streamline the permitting of construction jobs that already have a completed environmental report.
• Third, to stimulate other construction jobs, you will receive a proposal for homebuyer tax credits of up to $10,000 for the purchase of new or existing homes.
• Fourth, since we want California to be the dynamo of green technology, I ask you to pass our proposal exempting the purchase of green-tech manufacturing equipment from the sales tax. That too means jobs. Those are jobs for the new economy.

On Tax Reform: Our economy is 21st century & our tax system is 20th century

Our economy is diverse, whereas our tax system is not; 144,000 taxpayers pay almost 50% of all personal income taxes. Now, think about that--38 million Californians have to rely on 144,000 people for their schools, their public safety and so many other services. That makes absolutely no sense.

Now, here is what we need to accept. Our economy is 21st century and our tax system is 20th century. It is stuck in the wrong century.

The Tax Reform Commission proposed major, radical reforms. Now, some people right away said they are too bold and thu they would be too hard to enact. Now, what do they mean too bold? Bold is what we do in California. And what do they mean too hard? If I had hesitated in my career every time I made a move because it was too hard, I would still be yodeling in Austria.