July 30, 2004
| TO: | CLA Members/ Systems/ Network Contacts |
| FROM: | Mike Dillon, Lobbyist Christina Dillon, Lobbyist |
| RE: | NEWS FROM THE CAPITOL |
I. PLF
The amount contained in the Governor's Budget is $14,360,000, down slightly from last year. You will recall that in his May Revision, the Governor stated, "The 2004-05 expenditures reflected the Department's response to the Administration's request for 3% reductions, thus the May Revision proposes to reduce Public Library Foundation grants to local libraries by $1,406,000. This leaves a total of $14,360,000 in remaining Foundation resources.." We do not anticipate any reductions to this funding by the Governor.
II. SPECIAL DISTRICT LIBRARIES SAVED FROM TAX SHIFT
The proposed $350 million property tax shift from special districts for each of the next two years does not include the independent special district libraries or the so-called "orphan" special district libraries. We were successful in getting libraries exempt from this shift. For those of you who are curious or have nothing better to do, the property tax take-away provisions in the local government budget trailer bill, SB 1096, begin on page 58, with the addition of Section 97.72 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. The exemption for libraries is on page 62.
III. CALIFORNIA TELECONNECT FUND
In May, the Senate Budget Subcommittee increased expenditure authority for the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) program to cover projected program costs in the budget year, using revenues from an increase in the CTF surcharge on telephone users. The Assembly took no action in this area. On Tuesday, we reported that the Assembly Republicans had given the Democrats a list of final items in order to garner their votes for the Budget. Zeroing out the Teleconnect Fund was on their list, with Republicans arguing that the telephone surcharge of a few pennies was a "tax" and they were against any new taxes. What occurred in the final hours of negotiations is that the appropriation was zeroed out, but supplemental report language was approved. For those of you interested, the language appears in a large omnibus bill (SB 1102, beginning on page 140), with the addition of a new Section 884.5 being added to the Public Utilities Code. You will note that the teleconnect discount will be applied after applying the E-rate discount. This assumes funding will ultimately be allowed. One approach being contemplated by the "teleconnect lobbyists" is to put language in a bill sometime in August that will allow the PUC to spend money they collect from the surcharge. However, in order for this to happen, legislators, particularly Republican legislators, must hear from those of you who benefit from the CTF. The message is simple, tell them to restore the Teleconnect Fund. Phone calls, faxes, letters, and even emails will work.