The California Correctional Peace Officers Association had filed a notice of recall against Schwarzenegger and a proposed petition to circulate. (The petition was not approved, and the union had been expected to file a revised petition this week). Now a spokesman for the prison guards' union tells the AP there wasn't much point to the recall. Even it succeeded, Schwarzenegger would be removed from office only for the final lame-duck months of his term.

This is a smart move by the union. The governor, a strong foe of the union, not only would have survived a vote but also might have gained new political capital as a result.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Assn's petition to recall Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was filed late Monday, according to the Secretary of State's office. Now the secretary of state has to decide whether to approve the petition or send it back for revisions. The rules for such petitions and other information on recalls is available here.

Lots of afternoon news in California.

NEW BUDGET COMPROMISE, VETO AVERTED: Legislative leaders have reached an agreement with Gov. Schwarzenegger on modifications to the budget compromise. The governor won't veto as a result. Apparently, there are stronger protections to prevent untimely raids on the rainy day fund and some differences in the gimmicks used to pretend the budget is balanced. More details to come.

RECALL GOING FORWARD, IT APPEARS: Mike JImenez, the president of the prison guards' union, won re-election during a vote at the group's convention in Las Vegas today. The union also voted, by acclimation, to go forward with the recall of Schwarzenegger, albeit with a few caveats.

WHEN DO WE VOTE ON NEW MEASURES? The budget compromise looks like it will include changes that have to go before voters (among them borrowing against lottery revenues and provisions of the state rainy day fund). But it's too late to add measures to this November's ballot. Can such measures really wait until the next scheduled statewide election in the spring of 2010. This budget deal would seem to clinch a special election in 2009.

The target of a recall in California is entitled to a 200-word official response. Gov. Schwarzenegger filed his today, in response to a notice of recall advanced by the state's prison guards' union. It reads:

"This recall petition is special interests politics at its worst. It's not about the people of California; it's an intimidation tactic by the prison guards' union to force Governor Schwarzenegger into giving them a bigger contract. The bosses want the same sweetheart deal Governor Davis gave them after $3 million in campaign contributions. When Governor Schwarzenegger ran for office he said if special interests try to push him around, he would push back.

"The Los Angeles Times said this union is 'fooling no one.' The Sacramento Bee called it a 'self-serving grab for power and money.' The San Diego Union-Tribune says it's a 'bullying tactic.' The San Jose Mercury News calls this an attempt to 'pressure' the Governor to 'give away the store like his predecessor.'

"Even Democrat lawmaker Jackie Speier said this union has 'a lock on the Legislature... They telegraph loud and clear: 'If you cross us, we'll take you out.''

"It's offensive that one special interest is using a recall to get more money. California faces a financial crisis and this union's leadership wants $1.3 billion more from taxpayers. Governor Schwarzenegger refuses to be intimidated and will do what's best for California, not a special interest."

Here's my LA Times piece arguing that Gov. Schwarzenegger should respond to the prison guards' recall effort -- by embracing the recall vote and using it to rebuild his political capital.

That's how Lance Corcoran of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association described the threatened recall of then Gov. Gray Davis in July 2003 in the LA Times. Corcoran is now serving as the face of his union's threatened recall against Gov. Schwarzenegger. I wonder if his first comment might apply to his own effort. If the recall were to go forward, the likely potential winner would be Schwarzenegger, who is unpopular right now but not unpopular enough to get recalled. The governor, assuming he survives a recall, could emerge with a new mandate.

In related news, Matier & Ross explain the current leadership fight in the prison guards' union. One question I have: Isn't it bad form for a California union of state workers -- especially one that is seeking raises with a new contract -- to have its convention out of state, in this case on Sept. 18 in Las Vegas?

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO CIRCULATE RECALL PETITION

TO THE HONORABLE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Pursuant to the California
Constitution and Section 11020, California Elections Code, the undersigned registered qualified voters of the State of California hereby give notice that we are the proponents of a recall petition ( and that we intend to seek your recall and removal from the office of Governor of the State of California and to demand election of a successor in that office.

The grounds for the recall are as follows:

Catastrophic leadership failings and inept management, including, but not limited to, repeated acts of untrustworthiness, gross fiscal mismanagement jeopardizing funding for schools, infrastructure, public safety and other essential services; reckless borrowing, saddling taxpayers and future generations of Californians with billions of dollars in new debt; breaking your promise to "cut up the credit cards" and oppose new taxes; failure to reform California's correctional system, causing a federal takeover of prison health care and costing taxpayers an estimated $8 billion; using state workers as "scapegoats" for your leadership failure and threatening their rights and financial wellbeing; soliciting and accepting special interest money at levels never before seen in California history'; betraying voter trust and mortgaging our children's future; and leaving California in far worse shape than before your election.

Why would the prison guards' union seek to recall Gov. Schwarzenegger? A spokesman for the union has called Schwarzenegger the worst governor ever. And the union has been fighting him since the beginning of his administration over contract, working conditions, and the union's power in the prisons.

In my reporting today, however, sources inside and outside the union offered a little more context and another explanation for the recall: the internal politics of the union, the California Correctional Peace Offircers Association. Union president Mike Jimenez is running for re-election, and he faces several challengers. They have found plenty to complain about. The union has been working without a contract since 2006, which means no raise for members. Jimenez has drawn criticism from some members for entering into talks with inmate advocates on reforms to the system. One group of dissidents, calling themselves Officers for Change, is sharply critical of Jimenez on its web site. CCPOA's membership is hardline anti-governor. Is the recall threat simply an attempt by Jimenez to win guards' support for his own re-election?

We'll likely hear more about the upcoming union elections in the days ahead.

The governor and his aides are hitting back at the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. -- the prison guards' union -- for its threat to recall the governor. A union official says the group is beginning the process of gathering 65 signatures on a notice of recall.

 So far, the Schwarzenegger strategy is to accuse the guards of using the recall to seek a contract that the cash-strapped state can't afford. According to the Sacramento Bee, Schwarzenegger said today: "I will not be intimidated by anybody that is demanding more money than the state can afford and that demands deals more than the state is wanting to give. So the prison guard union is not going to intimidate me with their kind of action."

The idea behind such a response is to try to keep the issue narrow--and focused on the prison guards' contract. Schwarzenegger and his team need to prevent others with grievances against the governor -- just about every interest group in the state has been at odds with him at one time or another -- from joining up. This response makes the recall seem narrow and small. It hints at what should be the first battle -- a behind-the-scenes effort by the union to build a coalition in support of a recall, and by the governor to prevent such a coalition from forming.

Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, tells a Sacramento TV station that paperwork will be filed Monday.