[Editor’s Note: Mr. Rice, a lobbyist for City Hall, just filed this report in update mode to Culver City’s leadership.]
Hello to All:
Dateline Sacramento — Happy Holidays, and here is a wrap-up:
Without question, the 2011 state legislative session will go down in the history books as one of the single most challenging years for local governments ever.
From redevelopment, enterprise zones, contracting out for library services, compensation packages for top city administrators, local government audits to even an attempt to dis-incorporate an entire city, local governments were under siege from the moment the legislative session was gaveled into being.
Redevelopment and Enterprise Zones
The new governor came out of the gate in the early part of January and proclaimed that both Redevelopment Agencies and Enterprise Zones were no longer a priority for the state.
He said they should be eliminated to save money for the state. Much to everyone's surprise, Gov. Brown proved over time that he was very serious about his desire to eliminate both entities.
But he wound up caving on the elimination of Enterprise Zones, yet held firm on the desire to eliminate RDA's.
While Gov Brown can only propose budgetary and legislative actions, it is, in fact, the duty of the Senate and the Assembly to pass budgetary and statutory changes. Again, to everyone's surprise, the Assembly and the Senate both agreed to the elimination of Redevelopment Agencies, entities that most everyone understands are the prime generators of economic development on a local level.
Despite the advocacy efforts of many urging the preservation of RDA, this year saw the statutory elimination of RDAs. In the time it takes for the governor to sign his name, over 50 years of active Redevelopment Agencies were eliminated.
AB 438 (Williams)
One of the most bizarre and convoluted pieces of legislation we have seen in our nearly 20 years of working with the Legislature was the introduction, and ultimate signing by the governor, of AB 438 by Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara). As introduced, this bill would have made it nearly impossible for a local municipality to contract out for library services. This bill was considered “dead” at least two times, amended an amazing 10 times and garnered the necessary votes out of committees when the votes were not there at the beginning of those committees.
For a variety of reasons completely unrelated to the policy merits of the bill, this bill was signed into law. At the end of the day, the bill does not prohibit contracting out of library services (which was the original thrust of the bill), but it does impose some additional burdens on local governments before contracting out can occur.
This bill makes the list because despite near unanimity of legislators understanding that this bill probably was not worthy of the support that it received, and that local governments would bear the burden, it still passed the bill anyway….another shot across the bow of local governments.
Bell Bills
In 2010, the city of Bell made national headlines with what turned out to be the irresponsible and egregious acts of some of its top administrators. Even after the appropriate checks and balances weighed in that resulted in prosecutions, the Legislature introduced more than 30 bills to address the failures, both real and perceived, of the city. Even the state's Controller introduced a package of bills he hoped would root out future abuses, while at the same time, greatly expanded the scope of his office in relation to the “oversight” of local governments.
While some of the proposals could be deemed reasonable, many were seen as either punitive or just plain off base. From our perspective, the biggest issue from a state v. local government relationship was that the bills never were vetted with local governments. What could have been a great opportunity to work collaboratively together to root out future problems turned into yet another chance for the state to wag its finger at local government, creating the perception that the Legislature looks with disdain on all local governments.
Coupled with the many other attacks on local governments, this was yet another disappointing outcome increasing the animosity between the two entities that should be working more closely together.
2012…What's Next?
Redevelopment
One of the most closely watched and anticipated items is the state Supreme Court's impending decision on the legality of the elimination of Redevelopment Agencies.
When the Court agreed to hear the case, they indicated they would render a decision no later than Jan. 15. All of us in the local government community are anxiously awaiting their decision. Regardless of what the Court determines, we anticipate future legislative action on the topic.
Budget
Constitutionally, the governor is required to release his proposed 2012-13 budget to the public. Historically speaking, the budget numbers probably have been finalized by now and are on the way to the printers for binding.
Depending on whom you believe, the state is anywhere between $10 billion and $15 billion in the hole for the upcoming fiscal year. Because part of that figure is depressed revenue in the current budget year, the much discussed “automatic” budget triggers have been pulled. They will go into effect Jan. 1. As you recall, as part of the budget package there were triggers that would be pulled for automatic cuts to certain programs, should revenues not meet expectations.
It was largely understood that it would be nearly impossible for the state to realize the revenues in the budget, so without the Legislature's intervention, further cuts were considered a fait accompli. As expected, Gov. Brown announced just last week the trigger cuts.
Process
The year 2012 will mark the second year of the Legislature's two-year legislative session. For action purposes, this means there will be a flurry of activity in January (unlike the first January of a two-year session) whereby those bills that failed to pass their House of Origin in the first year (Assembly bills did not pass the Assembly and Senate bills did not pass the Senate) are allowed the opportunity to be passed to the other house by the end of January before being declared officially dead for the remainder of the session.
Historically speaking, January marks the time that the really bad bills are given one last chance at life…and unfortunately, many of their bill authors avail themselves of this opportunity. Extra vigilance is required during this time.
In addition to the carryover bills, legislators will have the opportunity to introduce a whole host of completely new bills. On top of the current crop of bills to contend with, there will be nearly the same amount introduced again for further consideration.
As always, we will review and analyze every piece of legislation and highlight those worthy of consideration.
Closing
As already described, 2011 was exceptionally challenging for local governments.
Unfortunately, we do not see 2012 as being much better. We will continue to do our very best to keep you abreast of all items of import and offer you the best possible counsel we are capable of.
What makes the battles worthwhile for us is not only having a cause worth fighting for, but to also appreciate and admire the people we are fighting for.
May you and yours have a truly wonderful and memorable holiday season.
Mr. Rice may be contacted at tonyrice@riceenglander.com
