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8A Page 5 Rebuilding California Social Media Social media will be a major component of the summit and participants will be able to "tweet" questions to moderators using the Summit's Twitter page. Just sign up for a Twitter account at www.twitter.com.requesttofollowRebuildingCA(htto:/ltwitter.com/RebuildinaCA) and your request will be approved by a moderator. City, county and school board officials who are unable to attend can still follow the proceedings by following the same steps. Rebuilding California also has a Facebook page. City officials are encouraged to become a fan of this page by searching for RebulldingCA in the search function on Facebook. 'AB15S' Continued from Page 1... AS 155 would require local agencies contemplating bankruptcy to first obtain approval from the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) prior to filing for bankruptcy. The bill would also authorize CDIAC to charge local governments a fee to cover the costs associated with rendering a decision as to whether a municipality would be granted the ability to file for bankruptcy. On Tuesday, Dan Walters, in his Sacramento Bee column, called the bill yet another not-so- transparent attempt "to expand public employee union power." Labor groups have made AB 155 one of their priorities this year, and the League has made defeating this bill one of its major priorities. Although not mentioned by Assembly Member Mendoza, the bill was not taken up for a vote was because there were insufficient votes in the committee to pass it. Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) and Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) both stated they would have voted "no" on the bill if it had been taken up for a vote. Senators Wolk and Cox deserve a big word of "thanks" from California city officials. Most of the public employee organizations in Sacramento testified in favor of the bill while a long line of public sector representatives urged the committee to defeat the legislation including Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis and Marc Levinson, Vallejo's bankruptcy attorney in the case. Mayor Davis discussed the process in Vallejo that led to the city filing for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code. He emphasized to the committee that in spite of making the difficult and unpopular choice to finally go into bankruptcy, the process between the city and employee unions has been one of continued negotiation and joint problem solving to address Vallejo's underlying financial problems. In response to questions from committee members, Levinson, pointed out that bankruptcy judges are independent, not subject to political pressures, are uniquely knowledgeable about financial issues and are in the best position to independently determine the financial viability of a municipality. He also pointed out the rigorous fiscal analysis done in any bankruptcy proceeding is something that simply couldn't be accomplished by a state commission assigned this new responsibility. Sen. Cox commented that the bill would only create an impediment to bankruptcy proceedings and that we [the legislature] "ought not to put it into place." Sen. Cox also stated that he believed the current federal bankruptcy process was working well. The League opposes AS 155 because the bill is an unnecessary intrusion into what is fundamentally a local government's fiscal decision. Cities don't take bankruptcy lightly; in fact it's often a decision of last resort. As with any action of the legislature, the events of Wednesday can be undone by simply amending AB 155 Into another vehicle through a process known as "gutting and amending." The League will certainly be on the lookout for an action of that nature between now and the end of the session. 3