By Kimberly Kindy
The Orange County Register

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gray Davis has flipped his position on a number of controversial issues- moves that critics say are intended to raise contributions and support from key interest groups as he struggles to hold on to his job.

Davis' reputation for linking politics and fund raising to policy decisions has vexed Californians and helped his foes secure the recall election.

But instead of curtailing the activity that helped get him into trouble with voters, he's kicked it into overdrive, lawmakers and Capitol watchdogs say. He's signing bills he vetoed just last year, provided they appeal to groups he needs to win over.

"The governor is sending clear signals that he will sign anything that lands on his desk that will make him look good," said Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. "He is definitely using bills to pander to groups; there's no denying it."

Davis' aides insist he's signing bills because the authors addressed his concerns.

"I kind of understand when people say he flip-flopped, but from our perspective there was no change in the governor's position," said Davis spokesman Russell Lopez. "On a lot of these bills, the governor was supportive of the concept. There's been a lot of compromise and negotiations that have taken place over the past year."

The Register found that in six cases Davis is supporting bills that contain many of the problems he cited as reasons for refusing to support the legislation in the first place.

Just this week, Davis publicly asked the Legislature to send him workers' compensation bills. Davis killed most past reform efforts, and his commitment comes at a time when 20 authors are in the mix and a compensation package has not been finalized.

California businesses - both big and small - are pushing hard for reform because claims filed by injured workers are increasing and insurance premiums to cover them are skyrocketing.

Insurance companies that have big dollars at stake are weighing in with money. Zenith Insurance, a key player in the workers' compensation industry, has already committed $200,000 to the anti-recall campaign.

Assemblyman Ken Maddox, R-Garden Grove, said Davis has made this commitment blindly, which is making lawmakers and lobbyists involved in the process wonder if he cares what the bill says.

"I'm not sure policy is a factor in what Gray Davis signs," said Maddox, a member of the conference committee that will craft the legislation. "We don't know what the bill will look like, and whether it is good or bad remains to be seen. But he'll get a bill to sign."

Other examples of Davis' flip-flops include bills dealing with automobile insurance, driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, sacred sites for American Indians, environmental waste and consumer privacy rights.

The auto bill
Davis signed SB 841 last week, giving insurance companies the ability to offer lower rates to their competitors' longtime customers to lure them away.

The Department of Insurance opposed the legislation last year and again this year for the same reason: It conflicts with Proposition 103, a voter initiative passed in 1988 that requires that rate reductions benefit all drivers.

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said the law would dramatically raise rates for new drivers, a clear violation of the initiative. The conflict is no small matter. A lawsuit has been threatened, and the state's legal fees could reach $1 million.

Lopez, Davis' spokesman, said the governor changed his mind about the bill because a Department of Insurance analysis was "inconclusive" about the conflict with Proposition 103. But a copy obtained by the Register shows the department remained firm that the new law would violate the initiative.

Driver's license bill
One of Davis' most visible reversals came just days after tallies showed the recall might qualify for the ballot. At a Latino civil-rights dinner in Los Angeles, Davis was asked to change his position on legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

There was no pretending. Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, told Davis that he was bartering with him: Opposition to the recall would come only in exchange for a promise to sign the bill.

"To mobilize Latinos, you need to deliver for them," Gonzalez told Davis before hundreds of people at the July 11 dinner. "You need to declare your unconditional support for SB 60, the driver's license bill for immigrants."

Davis, who had twice vetoed driver's license bills, said he would sign it in "a heartbeat," surprising even his aides.

His switch played well with the Latino community.

However, he hit a bump last week when a union - which has given Davis $542,500 since January 2000 and $25,000 in June as recall petitions circulated - issued a press release opposing the bill.

The California Union of Safety Employees got a bill amendment that added a costly Department of Motor Vehicles computer upgrade that would capture and compare drivers' thumbprints.

Even after this change, the bill still lacks last year's requirement that applicants submit Immigration and Naturalization Service documents. These records would show the immigrants' identities had been confirmed and they were in the process of becoming citizens.

Davis said he was not concerned about dropping this provision because several law enforcement agencies were now backing the bill.

On Thursday, however, law enforcement threw a wrench in this.

The California State Sheriffs' Association now opposes the bill because the INS provision was dropped and said the price tag for the thumbprint identification system - roughly $60 million - was "tough to swallow at a time when local law enforcement keeps sustaining tremendous budget cuts and laying off deputies statewide."

Law enforcement officials say they are angry with Davis over his reversal and, as the bill stalls, the governor isn't benefiting from the kind of support he hoped for from the Latino community.

Polls continue to show no change - 50 to 60 percent of Latinos support the recall. And Latino lawmakers are not rallying behind him. Last election they pulled their endorsement after he vetoed the driver's license bill. On Wednesday, the state's Latino legislative caucus voted to support Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the leading Democratic candidate in the campaign.

Tribal support
The same pattern developed with American Indians.

Lobbyists and leaders for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians met in early May with Rescue California to discuss funding the recall drive against Davis.

By mid-May Davis had dropped from his proposed budget more than $1.5 billion that he wanted tribes to pay to the state's general fund. He also attended a grand opening of a new Morongo casino in Riverside County and met with tribal leaders to discuss their concerns. Shortly after that meeting, he announced he had reversed his position on a "sacred sites" bill he vetoed last year. The proposed law would allow tribes to claim land their ancestors inhabited, specifically if there is proof of sacred artifacts or history. Still, as with Latinos and the driver's license bill, the governor's efforts haven't turned the tribes into devoted supporters. More than 20 tribes decided last week to support Bustamante.

Other Davis reversals are seeping into his daily campaign speeches, including a privacy bill that died four years in a row until he revived and signed it this month. The bill blocks banks from selling client information. Also, environmentalists - who last year watched the death of a bill that would regulate how computer monitors and televisions are disposed of - are hustling to get it back before Davis as he makes his environmental record a key part of the anti-recall campaign.

Register staff writer Ronald Campbell contributed to this report.