Editing Gray Davis (section)

===Second term===
[[File:Davis signs bill.jpg|thumb|right|Davis signs AB 574 on September 11, 2003, establishing a student loan repayment program for members of the State Military Forces.]]

Davis's second term, which lasted only ten months, was dominated by the [[recall election]]. He was widely criticized for responding to the budget crisis by reversing a decade of fee reductions on motor vehicles, a decision which his opponents repeatedly referenced.<ref>{{cite news |last= Richards|first= Gary |date= May 13, 2018 |title=Higher car fees cost Gov. Gray Davis his job: Roadshow |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/13/higher-car-fees-cost-gov-gray-davis-his-job-roadshow/ |work= Mercury News|location=San Jose, CA |access-date=March 3, 2020 }}</ref> Not long after Davis signed a law allowing the Department of Motor Vehicles to grant driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, he was challenged to a recall election. Davis had also signed legislation requiring employers to pay for medical insurance for workers and legislation granting domestic partners many of the same rights as married people, and vetoed legislation that would have given undocumented immigrants free tuition for community college.<ref name="Floor">State Net California Journal. "From the Floor - Gray Davis' final acts." Copyright 2003 State Net(R). November 1, 2003, Saturday. Vol. 55, Iss. no. 11, Pg. 40. Accessed on LexisNexis August 10, 2007.</ref> Some political observers saw these efforts as an attempt to reinforce support from Hispanics, labor union members and liberal Democrats.<ref name="Floor"/> Ultimately, Davis did not have as much support from Hispanics and union members in the recall election as he did in his 2002 re-election.<ref name="Style"/>

[[File:BushCAGovs.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Governor-elect [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], President [[George W. Bush]] and Governor Gray Davis speak to firefighters on November 4, 2003.]]

Davis was governor during the southern California fires of 2003, more commonly known as the [[Cedar Fire (2003)|Cedar Fire]]. Davis declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County and Ventura County in October 2003 and deployed the National Guard to help with disaster relief. By mid-November, the greater South Los Angeles area had been declared a disaster area. This enabled federal funding to help repair flooding and weather-related damage, including the destruction of thousands of acres of vegetation.<ref>City News Service. "Gov. Grady Davis Declares State of Emergency in South Los Angeles." Friday, November 14, 2003. Copyright 2003 News Service Inc. Accessed on LexisNexis August 10, 2007.</ref> The Cedar Fire was the last major event during Davis's tenure as governor. Both Davis and governor-elect Schwarzenegger worked to help with disaster relief. Schwarzenegger went to Washington, D.C., and met Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] to lobby the federal government for more disaster relief funds.

Davis spent 1,778 days as governor and signed 5,132 bills out of 6,244, vetoing 1,112 bills.<ref name="End">{{cite news |author1=Salladay, Robert |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/12/MNGCC2VVFM1.DTL |title=State of Transition: End of the Davis era, Tempered temperament led state |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522102751/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2003%2F11%2F12%2FMNGCC2VVFM1.DTL |archive-date=2012-05-22 |work=The San Francisco Chronicle| date=November 12, 2003 |access-date=August 22, 2007|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>