Car-buyer protection bill among big vetoes
cont'd


Peter Welch, president of the California Motor Car Dealers Association, in a prepared statement praised "the governor's ability to look beyond the exaggerated claims of consumer benefit for this bill and recognize it for the lemon it is."

Consumer advocates balked at the governor's rationale. They noted that one of the two partners in the public relations firm advising car dealers on the legislation, Wilson-Miller Communications, was Marty Wilson, the governor's campaign fund-raising liaison.

Advocates also pointed to the roughly $1 million in contributions car dealers and manufacturers have given to campaign committees under Schwarzenegger's control since he announced his candidacy in last year's gubernatorial recall.

And they spoke of how car dealers and Schwarzenegger campaigned side by side in that election as he promised to roll back vehicle license fees.

"It's ironic for someone who campaigned on getting rid of the car tax, which pales in comparison to these schemes," said Shahan of the consumer group that sponsored the bill.

"The average amount people got back on their car tax was something like $165," she said. "A dealer markup can cost you thousands. What's the good of getting a tax refund if the governor's contributors just soak it up through these scams?"

Montañez said Schwarzenegger's veto message "sounds to me like a regurgitation of letters we received from the car dealers themselves."

"I want to believe the governor means it when he says he wants to do what's in the best interest of Californians," she said. "We're going to carry the measure again next year, and next year I hope he has a closer understanding and connection to what people in the state want him to do."

Meanwhile, Wilson's partner, Beth Miller, said she, not Wilson, handled most of the public relations advice and that there was no trading on Wilson's relationship with the governor.

"Marty keeps a very bright line between the two, what he does for the governor and what he does for clients," Miller said. She also said the governor signed some bills that car dealers had opposed.