SACRAMENTO -- Though criticized even before its release, the unprecedented plan Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled Tuesday to remake state government is sprinkled with popular nuggets - - bigger lottery jackpots, paying car taxes less often, buying surplus state property online and so on.

Some Democratic officials, taxpayer groups, think tanks and political analysts expect Californians to embrace parts of the proposal during upcoming public hearings throughout the state.

"I want to hear directly from you," Schwarzenegger said during a news conference Tuesday. "I'm asking every citizen: 'How can we make our government better for you?'"

While the broadest ideas to streamline the deficit-plagued government and avoid tax hikes are likely to remain controversial, the administration hopes to adopt at least parts of the plan through legislation, executive orders or voters.

The report was prepared at the governor's request by a state task force, but he has yet to endorse all the proposals.

For days prior to the official release of the 6-inch-thick report, formally know as the California Performance Review, critics attacked the plan as everything from being flawed to employing failed ideas to being overly ambitious.

The most powerful critic, Democratic Senate leader John Burton of San Francisco, said the Democrat-dominated Legislature would likely reject the overhaul and then work with the governor on narrower reforms.

But on Tuesday, state Controller Steve Westly -- a Democrat -- cautiously embraced the report at a news conference, though he expressed concerns about weakening environmental controls, consumer rights and local control of education.

"If this could save even a fraction of the $32 billion (over five years) the governor believes, that would be a great thing for the state of California," Westly said. "On balance, it's something that I think is a step forward. We just need to make sure that it's implemented in the best way possible."

Two other Democrats, Treasurer Phil Angelides and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, issued statements saying the report had been compiled in secret and relied heavily on business and corporate input -- assertions dismissed by the administration. Both officials plan campaigns for statewide office in 2006.

The CPR proposal -- the largest of its kind in modern times -- would consolidate 11 agencies and 79 departments into 11 divisions and cut growth in state employment by 12,000 positions by 2010 while eliminating 118 boards and commissions.

The plan "should be warmly received by taxpayers ... frustrated by Sacramento politics that waste valuable, hard-earned tax dollars," said Larry McCarthy, president of the California Taxpayers' Association.

Carl DeMaio, of the private, nonpartisan Performance Institute, said the proposal would "finally bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to the state government without raising taxes or slashing services, but instead by eliminating waste and a bloated bureaucracy."

Schwarzenegger unveiled the report using a surplus property warehouse as a backdrop to emphasize one of the recommendations, which calls for creation of an online system to auction off unneeded items.

Another suggestion calls for the state to improve its flawed method of selling off surplus land and structures. The governor already has kicked off the effort with an executive order.

The state owns more than 2,000 properties, encompassing 2.5 million acres of land and 195 million square feet of buildings.

Another part of the plan recommends an overhaul of the ailing state lottery that would make California part of a multistate lottery game, bolster jackpots and remove constitutional bans on games with more popular themes, such as blackjack and roulette.

The list of more than 1,000 suggestions also includes creating Department of Motor Vehicle kiosks and allowing motorists to renew vehicle registrations online to trim lines at the DMV, along with allowing drivers to pay car registration every two years rather than annually.

Analysts expect many of the ideas to be embraced by Californians, particularly in light of a recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. It found that 77 percent of California residents thought the governor's performance review would help the state's fiscal woes at least somewhat.

"People have a pretty high level of suspicion about how sensibly and economically the tax money they send to Sacramento is used," said poll director Mark Baldassare.

Contact Sacramento Bureau Chief SteveGeissinger at sgeissinger@angnewspapers.com .

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