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8A Page 8 'Budget Subcommittees' Continued from Page 1... Senate Subcommittee #4 The Senate Subcommittee #4 focused primarily on LAO's proposal to "reafign" responsibility for supervising 71,000 parolees with current convictions for non-serious, non-violent drug and property crimes to Iocat probation depart! r leI Its who atready supervise similar offenders. Past realignment proposals of other programs (mental health} have worked with some success. This LAO proposal however, is victim to the tendency in that office to take money from cities to pay the costs of some other program. In particular, the LAO proposal shifts $178 of Proposition 172 sales tax revenue that now goes to cities to help pay for the program. The proposal would also shift $188 million from water and waste district property taxes to the program along with $130 million in revenue that now goes to the Department of Motor Vehicles to administer vehicle license fee collections. Senat~ Mike Machado ~D-linden}, subcommittee chair, pressed the Department of Finance representative about the quality of the Governor's proposal to release 20,000 inmates with non- serious, nonviolent drug and property crimes from state prisons. The LAO realignment proposal is intended to provide probation services to assist the transition ofthese 20,000 inmates into local communities. The League testified that the LAO proposal has a policy disconnect because it would take money from cities currently dedicated to front-line raw enforcement and public safety programs and give it to counties for probation services. It is highly likely that if 20,000 prisoners are released into local communities, there witt be a significant and direct impact on local law enforcement. The League- suggested that other revenue sources should be explored instead Witnesses from special districts that provide water and sewer services also voiced their strong opposition to taking property taxes from their jurisdictions and using it to pay for probation services. Assembly Subcommittee #4 The Assembly Budget Subcommittee #4 hearing examined the aspects of the LAO proposal aimed at cutting state subventions for rocallaw enforcement programs, including the realtgnment proposal. The additional programs targeted for cuts by LAO include the Community Oriented Policing Services. (COPS} program that sends $119 million to cities and counties for front-line law enforcement personnel, the juvenile justice program for counties ($119 million) and the booking fee reimbursement for cities to pay county jail booking fees ($38 million). LAO's proposals to cut city money for all of these programs met heavy opposition from local government. including the local government raw enforcement community. It was also clear that city officiats had done a good job of contacting members of the subcommittee about the proposals. Most members of the subcommittee expressed serious objections to the funding proposals recommended by the LAO. 'Infrastructure' Continued from Page 1... David Crane, special advisor to the Governor on jobs and the economy and Dale Bonner, secretary of Business. Transportation and Housing facilitated the meeting with the Governor. With an opportunity to present its priorities to the Governor, the League made the forrowing recommendations: j:xpedite Proposition 1 B Money and Authorize Round II of Funding for Cities and Counties. The initial allocation of Prop. 1 B money is just starting to flow to cities, -but future appropriations 2