[Editor’s Note: Mr. Rice, a Sacramento lobbyist for City Hall, has filed this update on the increasingly fragile state of California’s endangered 398 redevelopment agencies.]
We are currently in a holding pattern regarding the fate of the redevelopment legislation.
That bill, and the bills to place the tax extensions on the ballot, are awaiting a signal from Gov. Brown as to when he feels he either has the votes for the tax extensions, or realizes the votes are not there, and suggests the Legislature proceed without an agreement.
This is not to suggest that the fate of the redevelopment bill is solely tied to whether a vote is held in June to extend taxes. But we do know there continues to be conversations on the topic with some of the members of the so-called GOP 5.
Tomorrow, the Senate Democrats are having a leadership caucus first, and then a general caucus with the remaining Democrats to immediately follow. We expect them to discuss these two items at length, and possibly determine a short-term game plan.
One of the difficulties that is being encountered by those who seek to eliminate RDA’s is that in order to capture the $1.7 billion, it seems there is now a thought that the vote must be two-thirds.
Previously, the leadership and their staffs felt confident that they could approve the Governor’s proposal on a straight majority vote, if need be.
They felt, though, that it was preferable to garner the two-thirds vote, making it an urgency measure and thereby the bill would take effect almost immediately upon the Governor’s signature.
Passing the bill in this manner would allow maximum opportunity to raid the funds sooner than later.
While the proponents of the bill feel confident they can eliminate RDA’s with a majority vote, capturing the revenue for the state is posing difficulties.
We have heard rumors of some staffers looking at alternatives to the Governor’s proposal that would still eliminate RDA’s in the short term, but work out the details later.
More will be known over the coming hours and days, but we wanted to continue to keep you abreast of the latest developments.
