Arnie's Dinner Bill Feeds Opponents

All major credit cards are accepted. Four photographs of yourself and the governor are included. And you can bring three friends.

For $100,000 (£54,000), Californians are being invited to dinner with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The less extravagant may wish to consider the $10,000 option, although they should be aware that this entitles them only to a single photograph of the governor and no seat at the top table.

The seats are on sale for four events scheduled for the coming months by Citizens to Save California, a group set up to raise money for the governor's latest legislative wheeze: a $50m campaign to place some of his concerns before voters in a special election this year under California's "initiative" system.

But the fundraising has caused a political storm and led to the first meaningful protests against the governor.

A meeting at a hotel in Sacramento, the state capital, was picketed by protesters as a plane towed a banner over the event alleging that Mr Schwarzenegger is in cahoots with big business. Protesters have been riled by budget cuts which have hit health services and education, despite assurances made by the governor during last year's budget round that these areas would be protected.

But the fundraising drive has also raised concerns that the governor, whose poll ratings still show him enjoying wide support, is violating new guidelines. A group called The Rest of Us filed a petition with an electoral watchdog on Monday alleging that the fundraising groups are controlled by Mr Schwarzenegger.

The governor is limited to collecting a maximum of $22,300 from each donor. He can raise as much as he likes for committees backing ballot initiatives, so long as he remains independent of them.

While critics allege that Mr Schwarzenegger controls the Citizens to Save California group, the governor insists he is just helping them out. The group is run by a coterie of Schwarzenegger allies, including the chairman of the California chamber of commerce.