The CSAC Officers spent the afternoon with Chief Justice Ronald
George on Monday discussing issues of mutual interest between
courts and counties. Despite more than two decades of reforms
that separate court and county functions, there are ties that
still bind us together at the local level.
Our discussion with the Chief Justice and other court leaders
reminded me how important it is for counties – supervisors and
county executives especially – to actively nurture the
relationship with the local court.
We’re sure you’ve been searching high and low for the details on
last night’s wrap-up of the Eighth Extraordinary session and now
you won’t have to look any further. Check out the Budget
News section of our web site for the latest
CSAC Budget Action Bulletin, hot off the press. Er,
keyboard.
When President Obama signed the landmark health bill in
Washington, D.C. this morning, Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz
Kniss was present at the invitation of the White
House. Supervisor Kniss has been a strong advocate of
health-care reform at both the national and state level.
Governor Schwarzenegger, satisfied with actions by the
Legislature, signed ABX8 6 and ABX8 9, the two-bill package that
will bring significant change to how transportation is
funded. Proposition 42 is no more. The repeal of the
sales tax on gas, and thus Proposition 42, will be replaced by an
equivalent amount of increase in the per gallon gas
tax.
Just before the end of the deadline for action on the two-bill
package, the Legislature responded to the Governor’s
request to address two issues. One was to fix a technical
problem related to railroads and other diesel users to ensure
they w
The Senate heard the Governor’s ill-conceived trigger cut
proposals today in Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee
No. 3. After extensive public testimony, the Subcommittee voted
to reject the Governor’s proposals to completely eliminate
In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), CalWORKs, and Transitional
Housing Program Plus (THP+) for former foster youth.
Before sharing a little data, I must recognize my CSAC colleague,
Lisa Currie, for her effective public testimony about her success
in moving from welfare to work.
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The Legislature adjourned the Eighth Extraordinary Session last
week. The remaining legislation on the Governor’s desk (AB X8 6
and AB X8 9) contains the transportation tax swap package. The
Governor has sent a letter to legislative leaders expressing his
plan to veto the measures as the special session expires this
evening. Could there be a record-breaking ninth extraordinary
session coming our way? Copy of letter below:
March 15, 2010
Dear Senator Steinberg, Senator Hollingsworth, Speaker Pérez
and Mr.
While recent figures released by the State Controller’s Office
show revenues are higher than projected, an alarming report on
unemployment was released earlier this week. The numbers are
startling: The unemployment rate tops more than 20% in
eight California counties.
Take a look at some specific figures: Colusa, 27.4%; Imperial,
27.3%; Trinity, 25.8%. In other words, if you are walking down
the street in Colusa, El Centro or Weaverville, about one in
every four adults you pass is out of work.
Today, Senate and Assembly Democrats announced that they would
pursue the governance reform proposals developed by
California Forward, a list of nearly two dozen reforms
that are currently included in two ballot measures slated for the
November 2010 ballot. Recently, California Forward had
indicated that they would not pursue signature-gathering to place
those measures on the ballot independently, but would rely on the
Legislature to put them before the voters.
Contra Costa Times reporter Lisa Vorderbrueggen has posted a
Yesterday afternoon, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed ABX8 2, a
measure that contained budget year budget changes that
legislative Democrats argued addressed $2.2 billion in budget
year savings. Governor Schwarzenegger agreed with
legislative Republicans, indicating in his
veto message that the bill “does not actually implement
spending reductions.” The problem is that the bill outlines
reductions to a 2010-11 state budget that does not yet exist.
The language of the bill goes something like this:
(Update 11:18 a.m ) The transportation tax swap measures
were passed by the Legislature and will now go to the Governor
for action.
Assembly Member Nielsen opposed the measure on the grounds that
the measure is a raid on local government funding and is in fact
a tax increase without the required 2/3rds vote threshold.
Assembly Member DeVore also in opposition because the
transportation tax swap is another run around Proposition 42.
Assembly Member Eng spoke in support for the proposal.
Governor Schwarzenegger was within his executive authority when
he vetoed millions of dollars from a budget agreement (ABX4 1)
last July, says a state appellate court.
A coalition of social services advocates, unions, and Senate
Speaker pro Tem Darrell Steinberg had sued the Governor over
seven of the surprise vetoes – which included reductions in
funding for Child Welfare Services, the Office of AIDS, and the
Healthy Families Program – totaling $288 million.
The court, in a strongly worded opinion (Read it here:
As CSAC continues to strengthen and broaden its communications
tools, we have begun to branch out into audio. On our Web
site, we are now providing audio-casts by CSAC legislative staff
describing the impact of state budget cuts on California
counties. If you don’t have time to read one of our detailed
Budget Action Bulletins, you can now spend just a few minutes
hearing about these impacts.
It seems like every day we hear another disturbing report
regarding the “perfect storm” facing our members: the recession
has caused the demand for services to skyrocket. At the same
time, revenues to provide these services continue to drop.
The latest news was by New America Media in a piece titled
“Indigent Health Care Program Battered by Recession.”
The article focused on the County Medical Services Program
(CMSP), which provides health care to indigent adults in
California.
The County Voice is a web-log for the California State
Association of Counties.
Readers will get to read, and respond, to CSAC’s take
on legislation, issues and other matters that impact California’s
58 counties.
Primary bloggers are CSAC officials and legislative staff. On
occasion, CSAC members may post a guest commentary.
Questions about The County Voice can be sent to our blog
administrator – David Liebler, CSAC Deputy Director of Public
Affairs & Member Services, at dliebler@counties.org.
