SACRAMENTO -- The California Democratic Partly filed an ethics complaint Tuesday with the state's political watchdog agency questioning a multimillion dollar contract Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger had with fitness magazines.

The complaint alleges the governor broke state ethics laws by serving as a paid consultant to magazines that derive most of their profits from the nutritional supplements industry. A similar complaint has been filed by a Petaluma couple who say their son's death in 2002 was tied to steroid use.

Both complaints note that Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill last year that would have regulated nutritional supplements. They claim his action was linked to the consultant contract that paid him a minimum of $1 million a year for five years.

Schwarzenegger has since ended the financial relationship with Weider Publications, a subsidiary of American Media Inc., but has said he will not give back any of the money he already earned. He said he has done nothing improper.

Democratic Party spokesman Bob Mulholland said the issue won't go away just because the governor severed his financial ties to the magazines.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire," Mulholland said. "Anyone who takes a deal worth as much as $8 million and doesn't tell the voters about it -- that's smoke."

The Fair Political Practices Commission has 120 days to act on the complaints.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the governor does not believe there was a conflict of interest and would have no comment about the filings.

The ethics complaints come at a critical time for the governor. He is negotiating with the Legislature's Democratic leadership over possible alternatives to ballot measures set to go before voters in the Nov. 8 special election.

Although one of the complaints filed with the FPPC came from the Democratic Party, the ranking Democrat in the Assembly said he was not interested in conducting a legislative investigation.

"My decision is to stay as far away from this as possible," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles. "It's going to take a lot to convince me that the Legislature ought to have a role."

Schwarzenegger reached a memorandum of understanding with Weider Publications two days before taking the oath of office in October 2003. The contract took effect the following January and was announced publicly in March 2004.

It made Schwarzenegger executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines and required him to write a fitness column. Both magazines are owned by American Media, which also publishes such celebrity tabloids as The National Enquirer and Star.

At the time, the governor said the amount of money he would make from his consultant contract would be "petty compared to the movies." He told reporters that the magazines also agreed to donate $250,000 a year to the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.

The extent of Schwarzenegger's payment was not know until last week, when American Media filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Morgan Smith, attorney for parents Denise and Raymond Garibaldi, said the governor failed to fully disclose his consultant contract.

The couple gained national attention this year when they testified before Congress about the harmful effects of steroids on young people.

"When a public official has a financial interest, that interest must be immediately identified and in sufficient detail to be understood by the public," Smith said. "My review of what is known about the governor's action, there was no disclosure that would have met that level of detail."