The City Council's three members of its State Legislation Committee will head to Sacramento Monday for an annual trip to meet with member's of Long Beach's state delegation. Those going are Councilman Patrick O'Donnell, who is the chairman of the committee, and council members Robert Garcia and James Johnson.
"We will spend the day meeting with our legislators, focusing on halting the state's intended takeaways from local government, as well as preserving our local tax credit," O'Donnell said in a press release. "We are also looking forward to sharing the City's State Legislative agenda, which is also strongly focused on preserving funding for Long Beach and its residents."
One of the top issues is likely to be Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies throughout the state. The council and the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency Board this week approved measures to keep $1.2 billion out of state heads by dedicating a decade's worth of property tax revenues to redevelopment area projects.
One would think that they would get a friendly reception from at least a few of our area legislators. Two of them -- state Sen. Alan Lowenthal and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal -- are former Long Beach council members. Of course, as sympathetic as they may be to Long Beach's cause, they now have a new role, and the most pressing issue at the state level is how to eliminate California's $28 billion budget deficit.
The committee members will give the rest of the council and the public an update on their lobbying efforts afterward, O'Donnell said.
"Our goal is to give Long Beach a voice in Sacramento," O'Donnell said.
"We will spend the day meeting with our legislators, focusing on halting the state's intended takeaways from local government, as well as preserving our local tax credit," O'Donnell said in a press release. "We are also looking forward to sharing the City's State Legislative agenda, which is also strongly focused on preserving funding for Long Beach and its residents."
One of the top issues is likely to be Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies throughout the state. The council and the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency Board this week approved measures to keep $1.2 billion out of state heads by dedicating a decade's worth of property tax revenues to redevelopment area projects.
One would think that they would get a friendly reception from at least a few of our area legislators. Two of them -- state Sen. Alan Lowenthal and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal -- are former Long Beach council members. Of course, as sympathetic as they may be to Long Beach's cause, they now have a new role, and the most pressing issue at the state level is how to eliminate California's $28 billion budget deficit.
The committee members will give the rest of the council and the public an update on their lobbying efforts afterward, O'Donnell said.
"Our goal is to give Long Beach a voice in Sacramento," O'Donnell said.
Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
politics. A newcomer to the Press-
Kris Hanson reports on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,
covering environmental issues, economic triumphs and
pitfalls and trade trends of America’s largest port.
He also writes a weekly column “On The Waterfront”,
appearing Tuesdays, and also produces an occassional video
and column titled “On The Job,” which follows the hard-working
men and women who keep Southern California’s economy humming.
Karen Robes Meeks came to work for the Press-
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