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q.A-Z CALIFORNIA CITIES TO RECEIVE FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY SUBSIDIES The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that approximately $100 million dollars of its FY 2003 Budget would be dedicated to preparing large U.S. cities for potential terrorist threats. Of the seven cities named, Los Angeles and San Francisco will receive nearly a quarter of the allocated funds. The decision tomes as the House and Senate weigh the possibilities of the $2.2 billion set aside for Homeland Security as part of President Bush's $74.7 billion wartime budget. The State of California has already received $45 million as part of a $566 million grant by the Office of Domestic Preparedness last month. STATE COMMISSION TO EXAMINE REMOTE SALES TAX ISSUES Alex Padilla, President of the Los Angeles City Council and a member of the League Board of Directors, and League Legislative Representative Dan Carrigg, are among those scheduled to testify April 14 at a public outreach meeting to be conducted by the California Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy in Los Angeles. The commission was established by legislation enacted in 2000, and charged with examining the impact of the new economy on various types of taxes and tax policy. It aims to provide "an open, public, fair, and balanced participatory forum" for the development of a long -tern strategy for revising state and local tax structure for California. One topic to be covered at this meeting is regional economies and concerns about the "fiscalization" of land use. The cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, which will receive $12.42 and $10.74 million respectively, were identified by the Office of Domestic Preparedness as possessing infrastructure of national importance in addition to high population and vulnerability. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in an article dated March 29 that a survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that San Francisco and Los Angeles have spent more per week on homeland security than any other U.S. city apart from New York. San Francisco has reported $2.5 million Collars in weekly expenditures. This figure includes the added costs of controlling vehement anti -war demonstrations, which Mayor Willie Brown said cost the city $900,000 a day at the onset of the war in Iraq. It is hoped that the federal appropriations currently under discussion in Congress will also provide relief for other overburdened California cities, who have thus far bome the added costs of Homeland Security without federal assistance. The separate plans by the House and Senate call for between $600 and $700 million to be distributed by the State, with no less than 80 % of these funds allocated directly to local government. Our Mission Restore and protect local control for cities through education and advocacy to enhance the quality of life for all Californians. A number of other individuals knowledgeable about state and local government finance are slated to testify, including Sunne Wright McPeak, an ex- officio member of the California Economic Strategy Panel; economist Arthur Laffer; former Assembly Speakers Antonio Villaraigosa and Bob Hertzberg; and Los Angeles Supervisor Zev Yaroslovsky. The commission is required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on its findings. a a a a a a s a s a a a. a a a a a DISAPPOINTING NEWS FROM SUPREME COURT ON PUBLIC AGENCY LIABILITY ISSUES Despite public agencies' arguments to the contrary, the California Supreme court ruled that public agency's liability for personal injuries caused by a third party on Property adjacent to public property. A motorist struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk as she was heading to a bus stop across the street. Although the transit authority did not have any ownership or control over the street, the pedestrian sued the transit authority in her lawsuit because of its relationship to the bus stop. The pedes- trian argued the bus stop was a dangerous condition of public property. See Cal. Gov't Code § 830. The court of appeal upheld a $1 million verdict against the transit authority and the supreme court affirmed. The League thanks David Baer and Kurt Franklin of the San Francisco firm of Hanson Bridgett Marcus Vlahos Rudy for writing the friend -of- the -court brief on behalf of some 200 public agencies. The case name is Bonanno v. Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, _ Cal. 0 _ (April 7, 2003). rAbt Z /PKIUKITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site-- www.cacities.org