SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As the number of women claiming they were groped by Arnold Schwarzenegger grew to 15 yesterday, the actor headed for a campaign march in Sacramento, while Gov. Gray Davis signed a law making California the largest state to require employer-paid health care.
A poll released late Saturday found support for recalling Democrat Davis might be slipping, although 54 percent favored removing him while 41 percent were opposed. Republican Schwarzenegger continued to lead among potential replacements in Tuesday's election.
Davis, in Los Angeles yesterday, signed a law he predicted will provide health insurance to nearly 1.1 million working Californians who do not currently receive job-based coverage. Though small businesses are exempted, the measure requires most employers to pay for their employees' health care.
Today we take a bold step to reform health care
Davis said before signing the bill at a ceremony attended by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, actor Danny Glover and labor leaders.
Four more women surfaced yesterday to accuse Schwarzenegger of groping, spanking or touching them inappropriately, it was reported.
The latest group included an unidentified 51-year-old woman who said Schwarzenegger pinned her to him and spanked her repeatedly three years ago at a West Los Angeles post-production studio.
Three other women named said Schwarzenegger fondled them in separate incidents outside a Venice gym in the mid 1980s, at a bar in the late 1970s and on the set of the movie Predator in 1986. 17
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