AgdaPkt 2002-11-18 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

ELECTON OVERVIEW from page I ...................................... This means that next year six or possibly seven Republican votes will be needed to achieve the 54 votes required to pass a state budget. It was not easy to secure the four Republican votes needed for passage this year. It may be a long budget debate next year. In the state Senate, the Democrats held on to the 26 votes they had before the election, with the Republicans retaining 14. However, one of the Senate seats may also be decided later with an absentee ballot count. If the Democrats loose that seat, they will hold only 25 seats. A total of 27 votes are needed for passage of a budget in that house. Gray Davis won reelection, bu~ by a much smaller margin than expected. Voter dissatisfacUon with both candidates apparently drove many voters away from the polls. We will have to wait for the final election analysis to understand more about voter behavior in the November 2002 election. Filling ou~ the list of constitutional officers are: Cruz Bustamante, Lt. Governor, reelected; Secreta~ of State, Kevin Shelley, newly elected; State Treasurer, Phil Angelides, reelected; State Controller Steve ~Vestly, newly elected; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell, newly elected; State Insur- ance, John Garamendi, elected for a second term, after a break of several years' service. The California Congressional delegation remains relatively the same, with the Democrats picking up the new seat given to California after the new census. Democrats control now control 33 House seats and the Republicans retain 20 seats. CITIES' UTILITY USER TAXES: ELECTION UPDATE Utility User Taxes (UUT) propositions were on the ballot in a number of California cities during last Tuesday's elections. Some of the measures involved increases in the UUT, but a significant number of the ballot measures were designed to repeal or reduce the amount of revenue a city could collect through this funding tool. The League's political action arm, Action for Better Cities (ABC), sponsored two workshops in recent months, during which city officials were provided with information on how to educate the public about the need to retain a UUT to support critical services. With some exceptions, it appears that these public education efforts were successful: voters in most cities supported retaining their city's UUT. The League is aware of the following outcomes (possibly not a comprehensive list). City officials interested in further details about these ~rope ~ ~,ay wi~~ Lo directly contact the cities involved. For information on public education approaches, c:,::tact A ' CE£ e Made: ~t 916.658.8272. Riverside Adopt 4% UUT fo~ 4 years No East Paid Alto San Mated Continue UUT for 4 years Yes Eureka Humboldt Continue 3% UUT Yes Greenfield Monterey Reduce UUT from 6% to 3~ Yes Kin~] City Kin,qs Repeal 2% UUT No Moreno Valley Riverside Repeal UUT No Oakland Alameda Temporary Y~% increase in UUT No Pacific Grove Monterey, Reduce UUT from 5% to 3% No Palm Springs Riverside Repeal 5% UUT No Pico Rivera Los Angeles Continue UUT Yes Sacramento Sacramento Reduce UUT from 7.5% to 25 % No Salinas ~ontere), 3-¥r, Phase out of 6% UUT No Santa Cruz )anta Cruz Repeal UUT No Scotts Valley ;anta Cruz Continue 4% UUT No Seaside Vbnterey ~easure S: Reduce UUT from 6% to 3% No ~leasure T: Dedicate existing 6% UUT to public safety Yes Stockton ;an Joaquin ~educe UUT from 8% to 2% No Tulare [ulare qncrease UUT maximum contribution under existing 7% UUT rate No Whittier .os Angeles Increase UUT from 5% to 7,5% for specified purposes No PAGE 2/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--w~qN.cacities.org