In This Issue:

• ASSEMBLY GOP PICKS NEW LEADER

• SF SEEKS TO IMPROVE RECYCLING AT OFFICES

• CALIFORNIA RECOVERY PORTAL

• CALIFORNIA’S CASH FLOW CRISIS

• STATE SYSTEM TO HANDLE FEDERAL STIMULUS IS RISKY

• NO MORE CALIFORNIA DREAMING

• DRAFT CONSTRUCTION STORM WATER PERMIT

• STREAMLINED SALES TAX

• CBPA 2009 CALENDAR

ASSEMBLY GOP PICKS NEW LEADER

Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R – San Luis Obispo), a Central Coast Republican in his third term in the Assembly, was chosen as the new GOP leader of the California State Assembly. The move to install a new Leader comes less than two weeks before the May 19 special election in which voters will be asked to approve a controversial mix of taxes and cuts to resolve the state budget problem.

CBPA already has a good working relationship established with Mr. Blakeslee and we look forward to working with him in this new capacity. We also want to acknowledge and applaud Assemblymember Mike Villines (R - Fresno) on his way out. He has done a good job in a tough position and has always taken our members’ cares and concerns to heart.
 

SF SEEKS TO IMPROVE RECYCLING AT OFFICES

About 20 years ago, city planners thought we could never recycle more than 15 to 20 percent of our trash. But now, California's recycling rate is more than 50 percent. That's when we're home, but at work -- not so much. See a TV story about it here.

And after you see how difficult reaching the current goals are, know that Senator Chesbro (D-Eureka) wants to increase the waste diversion goal from 50% (which is already breaking the bank for cities and counties) to 60% and then to 75%. AB 479 also gives the Integrated Waste Management Board broad powers to implement extended producer responsibility, and is opposed by a broad-based group of business entities.
 

CALIFORNIA RECOVERY PORTAL

The Governor has launched a new website to provide a “one-stop shop” to track how federal Recovery Act funding is coming into and being used by California. The federal Recovery Act is meant to boost our economy and create jobs by modernizing our nation's infrastructure, enhancing energy independence, expanding educational opportunities, preserving and improving affordable health care, and providing tax relief. Click here to visit the website.
 

CALIFORNIA’S CASH FLOW CRISIS

According to the State’s Legislative Analyst Office, major cash flow difficulties loom for California in the summer and fall of 2009. [We know, we know, you are thinking that you read that sentence last year, and the year before, and the year before and the year before….but it’s true again this year!]. Without significant budget-balancing and cash management actions [cuts or tax increases] by the Legislature or unprecedented borrowing, the state will not be able to pay many of its bills on time for much of 2009-10. If you want to read a sobering report of how bad our budget situation is, click here.
 

STATE SYSTEM TO HANDLE FEDERAL STIMULUS IS RISKY

And just when you thought all that federal money was going to start falling out of the sky and save us, California’s top auditor says the state’s bureaucratic machinery for dealing with billions of dollars in federal stimulus money is at a 'high risk' of error, in part because so much money is coming in so quickly. Only in California can we have problems of having too much money and not having enough money both at the same…. Read the story here.
 

NO MORE CALIFORNIA DREAMING

And talk about kicking a state when they are down, George Will offers this analysis on how bad things have actually become in our state: California's increasingly severe and largely self-inflicted economic crisis will deepen May 19 if, as is probable and desirable, voters reject most of the ballot measures that were drafted as part of a "solution" to the state's budget deficit. They would make matters worse. National economic revival is being impeded because one-eighth of the nation's population lives in a state that is driving itself into permanent stagnation. California's perennial boast -- that it is the incubator of America's future -- now has an increasingly dark urgency. Click here for the full story.
 

DRAFT CONSTRUCTION STORM WATER PERMIT

The State Water Resources Control Board has released the 2009 Draft General Permit for Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activities. For the past two years, we have commented on various preliminary and tentative drafts, conducted several research projects focused on such issues as numeric effluent limits, hydromodification/post-construction BMPs, and the economic costs involved in trying to comply with a stormwater permit that does not provide regulatory certainty for any industry whose members disturb more than one acre of land as part of their development/re-development activities.

Now that the Board has released the 2009 Draft, we will be able to focus on the problematic elements of the permit. After an initial review of the permit, those regulated by the permit will have concerns with several issues including, but not limited to:

* The imposition of a numeric effluent limit for sediment on construction sites identified as Risk Level 3.

* Creating regulatory uncertainty by authorizing regional boards to terminate permit coverage after activities on a construction site have already commenced.

* Post-construction measures requiring a project site to mimic pre-development hydrologic conditions.

The Board has scheduled a public workshop on June 3 and a deadline of June 17 to provide written comments on the 2009 draft. We will be working with our coalition partners to develop comments on the 2009 Draft. We will also be working with the Board staff to ensure that we have a sufficient amount of time to provide testimony at the June 3 workshop.

Click here to view all the relevant materials.

Please send any comments you would like considered for our letter by June 1 to Matthew Hargrove.
 

STREAMLINED SALES TAX

From the heart of Silicon Valley comes this editorial in support of the federal Streamlined Sales Tax measure making its way through Congress: Congress long ago should have found a way to level the playing field between online retailers and local shops when it comes to collecting sales taxes. The law requiring buyers to pay sales tax always has applied to online and catalog sales the same as shopping in stores, but so far the Internet sellers have gotten a pass on collecting the payment. This not only has put local retailers at a competitive disadvantage, but it also has deprived states, counties, cities and other government agencies of revenue to provide essential services, such as public safety. In California, for example, collecting sales tax on online sales could add as much as $1 billion a year in state revenues. Click here to read the full editorial.
 

CBPA 2009 CALENDAR

June 9-10, 2009
CBPA Board Meeting and
California Commercial Real Estate Summit (CCRES)
Sacramento, CA (Hyatt Regency)

November 5-6, 2009
CBPA Board Meeting and
Real Estate Industry Strategic Issues Conference
Napa, CA (Meritage)