(Sept. 15, 2019, 10:10 a.m.) -- LB City Councilmembers (who set City policy) quietly let LB Mayor Robert Garcia (who doesn't have City Charter authority to set City policy) use his office to support a Sacramento bill letting local government bodies (including City Councils) tell voters to "See voter guide for tax rate information" instead of summarizing in a 75 word ballot title taxpayer impacting details of measures that seek to impose or increase taxes with more than one rate or approve debt-bonds that would increase property taxes.
SB 268, advanced by state Senator Scott Wiener (D, SF) and Assemblyman Mark Stone (D, Santa Cruz) was opposed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the CA Taxpayers Association. It was supported by the Mayors of Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and Riverside and various groups (listed below in a Sept. 9 state legislative analysis.) LB-area state Senators Lena Gonzalez (D, LB-SE LA County) and Tom Umberg (D, SE LB-west OC), Assemblyman O'Donnell (D, LB) all voted for SB 268. A copy of the letter voicing Mayor Garcia's support (either a separate letter or a co-signed letter) wasn't immediately available on the City's website. A Saturday evening (Sept. 14) email to Garcia's new Chief of Staff Diana Tang requesting a copy of his support letter is pending. [Scroll down for further.] |
On June 19, 2019, veteran Sacramento journalist Dan Walters (formerly SacBee columnist) wrote in a CalMatters) commentary titled "Bill Reduces Ballot Measure Transparency" (at this link: Last week, Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, did a "gut-and-amend" maneuver on one of his bills, Senate Bill 268. The measure, which had dealt with welfare benefits and already had passed the Senate, was stripped of its contents and a new bill was inserted.
Roughly a week later, Senator Wiener distributed a flier on SB 268 describing it as increasing transparency, reducing voter confusion and listing Mayor Garcia as among its supporters. A Sept. 12 state legislative analysis described Senator Wiener's arguments as follows: According to the author, SB 268 fixes a problem with ballot label requirements that were enacted a few years ago, and that fail to take into account the variable rates of local bond measures and the multiple rate categories of local tiered-rate taxes. Under the current law, the ballot label must include the rate, duration, and annual tax revenue. That’s a reasonable requirement if you are enacting a flat-rate tax, such as a sales tax, but local taxation is often more complicated. In the cases of tiered-rate taxes and bonds, there are several unintended consequences that simply must be addressed for local taxation to function properly.
The Sept. 12 state Senate legislative analysis listed SB 268's supporters (as of Sept. 9) as follows: SUPPORT: (Verified 9/9/19)
SB 268 doesn't appear to apply to LB's Mayor/Council-sought permanent extension of LB's Measure A sales tax (a single level tax), but it COULD apply to a still publicly-secretive ballot measure -- for which Councilman Rex Richardson has raised over $200,000 for "affordable housing" (LBRPEORT.com coverage here-- IF he ultimately rolls the measure out as some type of multi-level tax or a debt-bond that would raise property taxes (either one of which a City Council majority could put on the November 2020 ballot.)
SB 268 marks at least the second time LB's current Councilmembers have let Mayor Garcia use his City Hall office to take a policy position on pending Sacramento legislation without public discussion in any Council committee or voted approval by LB's policy-setting City Council. City Clerk records show the Council's "state legislation committee," chaired by Councilman Al Austin, held no meetings in 2019.
As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, the Council let Mayor Garcia tell Sacramento lawmakers in 2017 that LB favored inclusion in a proposed 4 a.m. bar closure bill (also authored by Senator Wiener.) The bar closure bill, supported by downtown LB business interests, was vetoed by Governor Brown (2018), reintroduced by Senator Wiener and recently failed passage (SB 58, pared down to 3 a.m.) in the Assembly. LBREPORT.com coverage here)
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Hardwood Floor Specialists Call (562) 422-2800 or (714) 836-7050 |