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II .A- ic) VLF page 1 . . . .. ... ... ... ... .. . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. . What a Difference a Week Makes Things happened fast this week in Sacra- mento. After a weekend of analyzing the Governor's proposals for both the current and the 2003-04 budget year, the League pushed out a package of information the morning of January 14 identifying the range of budget impacts to cities and materials for cities to use to take action. By the end of that day, however, the focus sharpened. The Speaker of the Assembly, Herb Wesson (Culver City) distributed a press release in which he said he plans next week to introduce and immediately act on legislation that would restore the VLF in order to protect local services. The Speaker also said he would offer $4.4 billion in budget cuts as well. The contents of that budget cut package have not yet been revealed. He said, "We're prepared to clarify the law to operate as intended — and restore the VLF to its normal level." In a conversation with League Executive Director Chris McKenzie, the Speaker specifically asked that cities and counties take action to support this effort. Other Assembly Members made the same request. After conferring by conference call with the League board of directors, and later with the LOCAL steering committee, the League Executive Committee sent a new alert, asking that cities send letters to their legislators urging them to keep the promise legislators made to local government in 1998 and found in current law providing for the restoration of the VLF if the state general fund could no longer afford it. tors.) The LOCAL campaign distributed a similar alert to the coalition partners. Why Act Now? The importance of cities acting swiftly and speaking with one voice with their county col- leagues about the importance of restoring the VLF cannot be overemphasized. The Legislative Analyst came out this week with - wer estimates than the Governor about the size of the budget deficit. While the LAO and the Department of Finance disagreed on estimated revenues and some other aspects of the state's fiscal condition, the LAO pointed out that the situation is deeply serious and requires immediate legislative action. Whether the deficit is $21 billion, $26 billion, or $34 billion, the state has clearly arrived at that time contemplated in the 1998 VLF holiday law that the state general fund has "insufficient monies" to pay for the reduction. Further, only the restoration of the VLF will remove the vulnerability of city and county services, and the uncertainty faced by the city officials tasked with providing public safety and other essential services. The Speaker's leadership in announcing his intention to introduce and call for action on the VLF clarification bill, along with $4.4 billion in budget cuts, provides cities and counties with an early and tangible opportunity to protect vital local services. We urge you to contact your legislators imme- diately to ask for their vote in favor of the partial VLF restoration, and to follow up with a letter and resolution as quickly as possible. The package also requested that city officials act immediately to adopt a resolution urging the legislature to reject the Governor's budget pro- posal to eliminate the VLF backfill, and instead to vote to honor the 1998 commitment to restore the VLF; and that cities transmit that resolution to their legislators. (See "Cities Take Action on VLF" on page 5 for information on contacting your legisla- Other "Plays" Relating to the VLF It's an intense time in the Capitol right now, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that other proposals are surfacing. Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman of the Senate Local Government Com- mittee, may attempt to propose a partial VLF restoration package, holding back a portion of the Continued on Page 5 PAGE 4/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site -- www.cacities.org