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9A Page 5 POLICY COMM. from page 4 f1 . . .. . . . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. G . . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. . . . '" . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. Whitnell updated the committee on Big Horn v. Verjil. The case deals with changes in water rates subject to Proposition 218 voter approval. The League's City's Attorneys' Department has a task force examining the issue, which may result in legislation later this year. A budget update was given by O'Malley, who detailed the major issues LAO is looking at with respect to the Governor's proposed FY2007-08 budget. Those issues include state mandates funding, the Governor's health care proposal, education funding, and transportation issues, specifically the proposed usage of the Public Transportation Account (PTA) spillover revenues to backfill some General Fund obligations. LAO released its preliminary budget review on Friday, January 12, and anticipates completing a thorough analysis of the proposed budget in February. Assemblymember Roger Niello visited with the committee, expressing his sensitivity to the Legislature's "mandates" on local governments and then not providing adequate funding to cover the cost of those mandates. Niello also showed concern over the recently-passed infrastructure bonds, wanting to make sure that the funds are distributed fairly. In addition, Niello detailed the Republican Caucus positions with respect to the state budget. Those positions are: · The structural deficit must be closed · Taxes must not be raised · The state must maintain a prudent budget reserve at the end of the year · The caucus supports the prepayment of debt State Controller John Chiang also spoke at the meeting. Newly-elected to his post, Chiang updated the committee on the California economy and noted that the stock market is doing relatively well. Chiang stressed that he wanted to enhance the partnership between state and local govern- ments and his numerous proposals that he wants to work on during his term. Those proposals included: · The reinstitution of a Local Government Division in the Controller's office · Sponsoring enhanced financial seminars that include free income tax services, non-profit seminars, women's financial seminars, and local allocation seminars for cities A citizen's oversight committee for trans- parency in how bond money is being spent The Revenue & Taxation Policy Committee's next scheduled meeting is for Thursday, March 29, at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario. Administrative Services The first meeting of the League's Administra- tive Services Policy Committee took place at the League's headquarters in Sacramento, on Friday, January 12. Along with setting its 2007 Work Program, the committee was also visited by various guest speakers, including Assemblymember Curren Price, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, League Legislative Director Dan Carrigg, and League Legislative Representa- tive P. Anthony Thomas. For its 2007 Work Program, the committee will be focusing on the following areas: · Election law - working with the City Clerks Association of California regarding bills of interest to city clerks on elections, such as revising the definition of an elections official and options for all mail ballots. Voter education - working with the city clerks on voter education on the process of elections. Areas to look at include recruitment of poll workers, voters intimidated by voting technol- ogy and absentee voters not trusting the postal service. Continued on Page 6 Visit the League's OfficIal Website..www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS. PAGE 5 January 19, 2007 . Issue #3