According to a preliminary decision from a superior court ruling on Jan. 26, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger broke a state law during the closing weeks of the recall race when he took out $4.5 million in bank loans to help his ironically cash-starved campaign. If the court’s decision is upheld, the governor could be forced to pay back the loans out of personal funds.

This comes in the wake of a lawsuit waged on behalf of the University of California Students Association, asking the court to overturn the recent reduction of vehicle license fees and block budget cuts ‹ particularly to University of California ‹ in Schwarzenegger’s 2004 budget.

The suit argues that state law allows for reduction of vehicle license fees only when there is sufficient money in the state’s general fund to repay cities and counties for the lost revenue. Since the current general fund does not have enough money to cover the deficit resulting from the cuts to license fees, the governor couldn’t circumvent the legislature and cut programs.

The governor was advocated as someone capable of fixing problems creatively because he wasn’t a politician. Accusations made against Schwarzenegger’s actions make it difficult to see him as a political outsider capable of coming up with unconventional solutions to serious political probelms. Unless his definition of unconventional is synonymous with law-breaking, the current accusations made against the governor cast doubt on his ability to effectively deal with California’s bleak financial situation.