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Legislative Accomplishments

Legislation

• SB 827 (Wright)

Subject

• South Coast Air Quality Management District: CEQA: Permits

Summary

• Authorizes the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), notwithstanding a superior court decision, to issue emission reduction credits to "essential public services" and exempt facilities or equipment, consistent with SCAQMD rules; adds an urgency clause, and, sunsets the bill on May 1, 2012.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 886 (McLeod & Lieu)

Subject

• Management districts: district board

Summary

• This bill adds an additional seat on the board directors of the South Coast Air Quality Management District for the City of Los Angeles, makes clarifying provisions regarding which cities are represented by which geographical city selection committee, and deletes prohibitions on a member serving more than two consecutive terms as chair on specified air quality management districts.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 1646 (Padilla)

Subject

• Air Pollution Fee

Summary

• Deletes the 2010 sunset date on the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) authority to impose an additional $1 fee on motor vehicles that are registered within its district boundaries to fund programs to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles. Increases, from 2.5% to 5%, the amount that SCAQMD may spend on its administrative costs.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SBX3 8 (Ducheny)

Subject

• State and Local Government

Summary

• Authorizes the continuation of the allocation of tax increment revenues to the Glendora Community Redevelopment agency from its Project Area 3. Currently, the amount of tax increment revenue is limited by a cap adopted by the agency in 1976. This measure provides for annual allocation of the greater of either $2.6 million or the gross tax increment received in 2007-08 by the agency, commencing in 2008-09 through life of the project.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SBX2 16 (Ashburn)

Subject

• Horse Racing Licensing Fees

Summary

• Shifts the horse racing industry's $40 million annual obligation to fund the networks of California Fairs from license fees imposed on horse racing wagers to the General Fund. Provides various measures of economic stimulus for the horse racing industry.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 27 (Hancock)

Subject

• Local agencies sales and use tax reallocation

Summary

• Prohibits a local agency from entering into any form of agreement with a retailer that would involve the shifting of any amount of Bradley-Burns local tax proceeds if the agreement results in a reduction in the amount of revenue that is received by another local agency from the same retailer if it is located within that other local agency, and continues to maintain a physical presence and location there.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 178 (Aanestad)

Subject

• State property: Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Summary

• The bill authorizes the Director of the Department of General Service to sell, lease or exchange approximately three acres of state-owned real property located at 875 Cypress Avenue, in the City of Redding, that is specifically not declared surplus to the State's needs and is currently used by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as its Shasta-Trinity Unit Headquarters, for the purpose of consolidating operations on or near the Redding Airport.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 906 (Hill & Smyth)

Subject

• Conflict of interest: remote interest in a contract

Summary

• Revises the definition of "remote interest" in the existing conflict of interest statute pertaining to government officials in order to allow a government entity to enter into a contract with an investor-owned utility (IOU), if the purpose of the contact is to provide energy efficiency.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 155 (Mendoza)

Subject

• Local Government Bankruptcy

Summary

• Prohibits a local public entity, as defined, from exercising its rights under applicable federal bankruptcy law unless granted approval by the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC), under CDIAC's terms and conditions.
  – Defeated Legislation

Legislation

• AB 680 (Steinberg)

Subject

• Land use: Sales and use tax and property tax

Summary

• Sales Tax Sharing – Proposed to shift local government Bradley-Burns sales and use tax revenue from situs to population.
  – Defeated Legislation

Legislation

• AB 1221 (Steinberg)

Subject

• Sales Tax Sharing

Summary

• Proposed to exchanges a portion of a city's or county's locally levied sales tax revenue for an equivalent amount of property tax revenue from the state.
  – Defeated Legislation

Legislation

• SCA 4 (Torlakson)

Subject

• Prop 1A ndash; Local Geovernment

Summary

• As the chief negotiator for the Assembly Republican Caucus, Assemblymember Keene has repeatedly said "Proposition 1A would not have happened without the Gonsalves firm". Our firm is recognized as the leasing contract lobbying firm responsible for brokering the compromise that ensured local governments Bradley-Burns sales tax revenue was Constitutionally protected. Proposition 1A was passed by the California Assembly by a vote of 64-13. It was approved by the California State Senate by a vote of 34-5.
  – Prop 1A passed with

Legislation

• SB 709 (Lockyer)

Subject

• No & Low Tax City Legislation

Summary

• Guaranteed a minimum share of property taxes to 100+ Cities that did not levy a property tax rate (or levied only a very low rate) prior to proposition 13.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 1197 (Brown)

Subject

• No & Low Tax City Legislation

Summary

• Allocated an additional 1 cent per year up to 7 cents of the Property Tax to all No & Low Tax Cities.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 1981 (Huff)

Subject

• Surplus Property: Chino Valley Unified School District

Summary

• Authorized the Chino Valley Unified School District to transfer specified surplus property previously acquired from the state, to the City of Chino Hills, in the County of San Bernardino, Subject to certain conditions for development of a park.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB811 (Levine)

Subject

• Contractual assessments: energy efficiency improvements

Summary

• Authorized all cities and counties in California to designate areas which city officials and willing property owners may enter into contractual assessments to finance the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 1932 (Smyth)

Subject

• Simi Valler: Public cemeteries

Summary

• Allows the city of Simi Valley to survey, lay out, own and operate for burial, five or more acres of public land for burial purposes.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 1646 (Padilla)

Subject

• South Coast Air Quality Management District: air pollution fee

Summary

• Deletes the 2010 sunset date on the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) authority to impose an additional $1 fee on motor vehicles that are registered within its district boundaries to fund programs to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles. Increases, from 2.5% to 5%, the amount that SCAQMD may spend on its administrative costs.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 1124 (Local Government Committee)

Subject

• Local Government Omnibus Act of 2008

Summary

• Specifically defined Access Services (ASI), the transit agency which provides transportation for people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for Los Angeles COunty as a public agency under state law.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 1308 (Cox)

Subject

• Disaster ASsistance

Summary

• Added the Angora Fire, which occurred in the Lake Tahoe Basin in June of 2007, to the list of disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local agency costs under the California Disaster Assistance (CDAA).
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 1602 (Laird)

Subject

• Local Government Finance

Summary

• Reinstated the VLF bump for newly incorporated Cities after Proposition 1A.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 117 (Cohn)

Subject

• Tax Equity Allocation formula: County of Santa Clara

Summary

• Repeals the 55% cap in Santa Clara County on tax equity allocation (TEA) funding for the county's four no/low-property-tax cities starting in the 2006-07 fiscal year (FY).
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 1342 (Napolitano)

Subject

• Redevelopment Plans

Summary

• Allows the Cerritos redevelopment agency to extend the time limits on their plans without making findings of blight.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SCR 96 (Karnette)

Subject

• Intermodel Freight Access

Summary

• This measure would request that Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, the Trade and Commerce Agency, the California Transportation Commission, and other appropriate parties, to prepare a proposal for a "Global Gateways Development Program" to enhance intermodel freight access.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 602 (Wright)

Subject

• Local Use Tax Leased Vehicles

Summary

• Requires that for purposes of reporting and transmitting any use tax, with respect to the lease of a motor vehicle, the place of use shall be the city and/or county in which the lessor's place of business is located if the lessor is a new motor vehicle dealer.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 609 (Margett)

Subject

• Recycled Water

Summary

• This bill provided recycled water producers, retail water suppliers, and entities responsible for groundwater replenishment, the ability to cooperate in joint studies to determine the feasibility of providing recycled water service and recycled water for groundwater replenishment, as specified.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 2023 (Gallegos)

Subject

• Flood Control and Water Conservation Liability

Summary

• This bill provided that, until January 1, 2002, neither a public agency that operates flood control and water conservation activities, not its employees, shall be liable for injury caused by the condition or use of unlined flood control channels or adjacent groundwater recharge spreading grounds.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 419 (Speier)

Subject

• Dairy Products

Summary

• This bill, until January 1, 2002, required the State Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), over the next two years, to conduct statewide monthly retail milk price surveys and a public information program that provides the survey's findings, and to report back to the legislature.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 471 (Hertzberg)

Subject

• Horse Racing

Summary

• Establishes a racetrack backstretch employee labor relations process; requires the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to adopt housing standards for employee housing at racetracks; and, authorizes CHRB to permit racing associations to accept "advanced deposit wagers," as defined.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• SB 142 (Boatwright)

Subject

• Sellers of Travel

Summary

• This bill would require an educational travel organization, that arranges educational travel programs, to enter into a contract with an educational institution containing a specified itemized statement of services prior to arranging an educational travel program.
  – Signed by Governor

Legislation

• AB 80 (Havice)

Subject

• Aggregation: Magnolia Power Project

Summary

• Authorized the cities participating in the Magnolia Power Project to aggregate their electricity loads and provide direct electricity access to their residents on an opt-in basis.
  – Signed by Governor

About Us

Our firm operates on a very personal and professional level, always working hard to accomplish our clients' goals which is reflected in my father's lead words in an LA Times article regarding lobbyists; "Lobbyists are like parachutes. You don't need them very often, but when you need them, they'd better work."

Legislative Updates

Read about the status of bills here.

News

Read about what is happening in the legislative world.

History

Joe A. Gonsalves School was built on a 10-acre site in the northeast section of Cerritos, CA. and was formally dedicated on May 23, 1973. The school was constructed in an open-face design to permit maximum flexibility and team teaching. The school underwent extensive modernization during the summer of 2001.