Governor vetoes plastic surgery bill

SACRAMENTO -- A measure intended to prevent cosmetic surgery-related deaths fell victim to a rash of vetoes Sunday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill was written after the death last November of Donda West, mother of rapper Kanye West. The 58-year-old woman died one day after breast reduction and liposuction surgery, and an autopsy found health problems, including high blood pressure and cardiac artery blockage.

In vetoing the measure, Schwarzenegger said this summer's historic, 85-day delay in passage of a state budget left him with time to enact only the highest-priority legislation for California.

"This bill does not meet that standard, and I cannot sign it at this time," states the veto message, which he applied to dozens of others Sunday.

Schwarzenegger has until midnight Tuesday to sign or veto all of the nearly 900 bills sent to him by the Legislature last month. If he does not act, those bills become law.

The cosmetic surgery bill, AB 2968 by Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, a Democrat from Rialto, would have required people to undergo a physical examination, give a medical history and get a doctor's clearance before undergoing plastic surgery.

Schwarzenegger also vetoed a bill that was written by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, a Republican from Lake Elsinore, after a couple of bartenders at his local Elks Lodge were prosecuted for running a football betting pool with a total prize of $50. The measure, AB 1852, would have made participation in a sports betting pool the criminal equivalent of a parking ticket.

Hotly debated legislation by Sen. Gloria Romero, a Democrat from Los Angeles, to prohibit convictions based on the uncorroborated testimony of a jailhouse informant also fell by the wayside.

Schwarzenegger signed several bills meant to protect the elderly in California, where the fastest-growing population is over 85. Those new laws mean that next year assisted-living homes will be required to show potential customers their history of rate hikes, tell local prosecutors about suspected abuse and plan for such emergencies as blackouts.