10:00am | On Monday, January 24, Councilmembers Patrick O’Donnell, Robert Garcia and James Johnson will travel to Sacramento to meet with legislators.
Submit a comment at the bottom of this story about what you think should be on their agenda.
“We will spend the day meeting with our legislators, focusing on halting the state’s intended takeaways from local government, as well as preserving our local tax credit,” Councilmember O’Donnell said in a statement. O’Donnell is Chair of the City Council’s State Legislation Committee – Garcia and Johnson are the other two members of the committee. “We are also looking forward to sharing the City’s State Legislative agenda, which is also strongly focused on preserving funding for Long Beach and its residents.”
Councilmember Johnson told the Long Beach Post this morning: “I look forward on Monday to discussing how we will protect key financial resources for Long Beach residents, such as redevelopment funds, as the legislature prepares a difficult budget. I am also interested in discussing the city’s stance against retroactive pension spiking, since statewide pension reform is necessary to stabilize government finances and keep workers on the job providing key services.”
Councilmember Garcia told the Long Beach Post this morning: “I look forward to discussing and advocating for statewide public pension reform. We have an unsustainable pension system that needs legislative action. I also plan to advocate on behalf of our local Redevelopment Agency.”
On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously last night on a series of motions to obligate over $1.2 billion in redevelopment funding in an effort to prevent the state from abolishing redevelopment agencies and taking the funds. This recent City Council action will be a hot topic of discussion with legislators in Sacramento.
What do you think O’Donnell, Garcia and Johnson should discuss?
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