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� 1 ' ■ ■ 9 ■ ■ �� q•A-13 Legislative Bill Action � ............................................................... The following are summaries of just a few of the legislative bills that are currently being acted upon by the League of Califomia rities. For more information abou: these and other bilis, please visit the League website's new `Issues and Advocacy" page (w vw.caeities.ora/ issuesandadvocacvl — a one-stop location to access informatic,n about legislation, policy issues and related developments. You can track information on bilis (www.cacities.org/legtracking), locate legislators and legislative committees, send letters to legislators or the media through the online Advocacy Center, research League policy posRions, access useful related links, and much more. REVENUE AND TAXATION what types of communications may be undertaken behveen a member of the Coastai Commission and the public. With a few exceptions, all so- AB 1916 (Maddox). Occupancy taxes: called "ex parte° communications are prohibited exemptions and delinquencies. Last year, city unless they are fully disclosed. AB 2725 would and county officials attempted to work with repre- prohibit communication between a Coastal Com- sentatives from the hotel industry and the author's missioner and an interested party an oral or offices to address some perceived problems with written communication about a matter that is the administration and coilection of transient subject to an enforcement action involving a occupancy taxes. The hotel industry decided to cease and desist order or restoration order, or a proceed with legislative solutions to their issues. matter that is the subject of litigation in which the AB 1916 would create new administrative and Coastal Commission is a party. collection burdens on those cities that impose "- transient occupancy taxes (TOT). If a city ex- Interested city officials from coastal cities empts any government employees, the city would should reviewAB 2725 with their city attomeys be required to develop a standardized exemption and send their comments to the author and the form that must be signed by the person requesting League's Sacramento o�ce. The League has not exemption under penalty of perjury— no other adopted a position at this time on AB 2725. Staff: proof for exemption would be allowed. In addition, Yvonne Hunter; Status: AsApps; Position: cities would be required to establish an "occu- Review and Comment. pancy tax clearance certificate." This certificate must be issued to a hotel operator within 90 days AB 2006 (Nunez). Reliable Eleatric Ser- of request and would relieve the property from any vice Act of 2004. Over the last few weeks, the past due taxes. Therefore, cities would have to League has received inquiries from cities about conduct an audit within that period to determine'rf AB 2006 and the League's position. Thus, we a previous owner of the property had no delinquent provide this short update. taxes. The bill would prohibit the use of contin- gency auditors and require notice of delinquent AB 2006, sponsored by Southem Califomia taxes within three years. Staff: Dwight Edison, would establish the "Reliable Electric Stenbakken, Status: AsmRevTax, hrg-4/19, Service Act of 2004". It would ut in lace a num- Position:0 ose. P P PP ber of procedures that would facilitate and encour- age investment in California's energy infrastruc- ENVIRONMENTAL ture — including generation and transmission facilities — in order to promote stable and reliable electric service in the future. The bill also would AB 2725 (Laird). Coastal Commission. Ex establish a procedure for very large electricity Parte Communication. Existing law restricts users to purchase power from a third party W Continued on Page 8 Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS/PAGE 5