Sacramento -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday smacked down what he called overbearing and expensive proposals for state regulations by vetoing bills that would require that kids wear helmets when on ski slopes and increase fines for people who talk on cell phones or text while driving.

The move came as lawmakers this week consider hundreds of bills before a Friday deadline. Brown took action on dozens of bills already approved by the Legislature, including signing measures requiring greater transparency in the California State University and UC systems and allowing landlords to bar renters from smoking in their units starting next year.

But the vetoes showed that the governor may be setting a high bar for new state mandates.

In his veto message accompanying the helmet bill, SB105 introduced by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, Brown appeared to side with GOP critics who had characterized the measure as "nanny government."

Brown, a Democrat, wrote, "While I appreciate the value of wearing a ski helmet, I am concerned about the continuing and seemingly inexorable transfer of authority from parents to the state. Not every human problem deserves a law."

Supporters were quick to criticize the veto, pointing out that Brown's Republican predecessor supported an identical bill last year and that the bill mirrored existing bicycle helmet laws for children. Jo Linder Crow, executive director of the California Psychological Association, said Brown "chose to ignore the scientific evidence (and) the ski industry's support."

Cell phone bill vetoed

A bill aimed at getting drivers off their cell phones also fell under Brown's veto pen. The measure would have increased the base fines for texting or talking on a cell phone while driving by $50 on the first offense and $100 on subsequent offenses. The measure would have brought the total penalty to $328 for the first offense and $528 for subsequent offenses. It also would have applied to bicyclists, but with lower penalties.

Brown said that was too much. In explaining his veto of SB28, he wrote, "I certainly support discouraging cell phone use while driving a car, but not ratcheting up the penalties as prescribed by this bill. For people of ordinary means, current fines and penalty assessments should be sufficient deterrent."

Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who authored the bill, disagreed.

"I think anyone who has looked out their car window has seen there is a significant minority of folks who aren't complying with the law on a regular basis," he said, noting a state survey from September 2010 that showed about 27 percent of people talked on a handheld device sometimes or regularly.

Brown signed a bill that subjects state university and college foundations to public records laws, a controversial measure that arose in 2009, after California State University Stanislaus hired former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to speak at a fundraiser but refused to say how much it was paying her. Ultimately, a judge ordered the contract be made public.

Anonymity of donors

State university officials lobbied hard against two similar earlier bills, which former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed. But they withdrew their opposition this spring after Yee agreed to protect the anonymity of donors who do not receive anything in return for their gift.

The smoking ban signed by the governor, SB332, gives landlords the explicit ability to prohibit smoking in units or anywhere on their property starting Jan. 1, and requires that landlords be explicit about where smoking is prohibited. For tenants who have signed leases prior to that date, banning smoking where it previously was allowed will constitute a change in the terms of tenancy and require written notice.