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8A Page 4 Republican Members of the Legislature, requesting that budget bills passed by legislative Democrats in December on a simple-majority basis be returned to the Legislature and made subject to a two-thirds vote. The court said that unless and until the bills were signed, there was no reason to intercede in the legislative process. Budget Uncertainty Hurts Cities - and the State In the absence of a final state budget plan, the biggest impact on cities at this time is the ongoing uncertainty as to how the state will ultimately solve its deficit problems. City officials are already struggling to make the local cuts necessary to live within their own declining revenues. The uncertainty as to whether the state will cut or borrow local funds to balance the state budget is an added burden. Finally, the state's shaky credit worthiness has a spillover effect on cities. who find that their own ability to sell locally-approved bonds may be impacted by the concern of bond houses as to the state's credit-worthiness. Governor's Budget Proposal: Summary of Items of Interest or Concern to Cities The following is a summary of budget actions of interest to cities that were included in the Administration's 18-month budget proposal, released on December 31,2008. City officials have seen most of these concepts in prior budget-balancing proposals released over the past few months. . No Borrowing Local Funds. The Governor does not propose to borrow local property taxes or Proposition 42 (sales tax on gas) revenues. . Redevelopment Funds. No additional take of redevelopment revenue is proposed. . Prop. 1 B (Transportation) and Prop. 1C (Housing) Allocation. The proposal allocates $700 million in remaining Prop.1 B Local Street and Road funds, as well as an additional $487 million in Prop. 1 C housing funds for infill, park and transit-oriented development projects. . Federal Funds. Allocation of $140 million in federal foreclosure assistance funds local agencies by the Department of Housing and Community Development. . Public Safety. Retention of the Governor's previously proposed cuts to local public safety programs, which Include shifting funding for COPS and Booking Fees to Vehicle License Fees, and eliminating funding to several specialized public safety grant programs. . Prison Costs. No changes are made to the Governor's previous proposals designed to save state prison costs which include enhanced sentencing credit programs for state inmates and eliminating state parole supervision for specified offenders with non-violent histories. . State Mandate Reimbursements. $131 million is proposed to be allocated to reimburse current mandate claims, but the Governor proposes to defer for one year a $91 million payment for previously-owed mandate claims. . Transit. $153 million is proposed to be cut from state transit assistance funds in the 2008-09 fiscal year and $306 million in 2009-10. . Property Tax Deferrals. New tax deferrals under the existing Senior Citizens Property Tax Deferral Program are proposed to be suspended on Feb. 1, 2009. . 58 375 Implementation. An additional $682,000 is proposed to be allocated to the Air Resources Board for work in developing travel demand models associated with regional planning activities required by SB 375 (Steinberg). . Waste Tire Recycling Program. An additional $8.6 million is proposed to be allocated for the Waste Tire Recycling Management Program for various loans, local assistance grants and public outreach. . Emergency Response. $17.1 million is proposed to be allocated for state emergency response activities to be funded through a 2.8 percent surcharge on all residential and commercial insurance policies. . Public Safety Interoperability. $4.5 million in federal funds is designated for public safety interoperability grants through the California Emergency Management Agency. 4