A Minnesota Senate committee looked westward-ho today as it mulled over Senate File 481, which would require the PCA to "adopt rules identical to California standards relating to low-emission vehicles" sold in the state. Since the proposal mimics a law in the Golden State, lawmakers wondered whether "California standards" were applicable in the Gopher State.

And that's how Ah-nold got into the act. Toward the end of a debate among members of the Business, Industry and Jobs Committee, Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna, indicated he didn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger picking out his car — evoking that whole conservative notion of local and individual control.

Sen. Linda Scheid, DFL-Brooklyn Park, countered that it really was the automobile manufacturers who were dictating what wheels she chooses and that the industry, frankly, has been slow to change.

But the last word — well, nearly the last word — belonged to Sen. Jim Carlson, DFL-Eagan. "I don't want Arnie Schwarzenegger choosing which car I drive," Carlson said, "because he probably has a Humvee for every day of the week."