LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the University of Southern California announced Thursday they are partnering to create a policy think tank.
The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy will be funded with a Schwarzenegger commitment of $20 million, which will include a personal donation as well as money from fundraising. Schwarzenegger's personal donation was not disclosed.
The former bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-governor said the think tank will allow him, among other things, to pass along his experience from his seven years in Sacramento.
The Republican governor worked with Democrats to enact California's landmark 2006 global warming law, called AB32, which paved the way for the state's cap-and-trade system for controlling greenhouse gas emissions by the worst polluters.
"One of the great lessons I learned as governor of California was that the best solutions to common problems could only be found when each side was willing to engage thoughtfully and respectfully with each other," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
"This institute is dedicated to promoting a new era of post-partisanship, where solutions are the result of intelligent and civil discussion between people with deeply held principles who understand the need to work through their disagreements to achieve real solutions," he added.
The Schwarzenegger institute will be housed at USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy in Los Angeles.
School officials said the endowment is expected to be fully funded within two or three years.
Since leaving the statehouse, Schwarzenegger also has returned to acting, with several projects in the pipeline and a co-starring role in "The Expendables 2," which opens in theaters later this month.
He was at Comic-Con in San Diego last month to accept an award, and said at the time he was happy to be back in the movies.
