THEY’RE BACK: 2008 LEGISLATIVE YEAR OFFICIALLY STARTS

Both houses of the legislature kicked-off the second half of the biennial 2007-2008 Legislative Session with quick Floor Sessions and several committee hearings. A lot of legislative activity will occur over the next few weeks including new bill introductions and heavy amendments of bills left over from last year in an attempt to meet the “first house” deadline at the end of January. This is one of the times when bills get gut-and-amended in order to keep them alive so we will be watching all activity very carefully. CBPA reads every bill on behalf of BOMA California Members and will alert and engage you on those issues impacting the industry. Please let us know if you hear about any measures that concern you by emailing Matthew Hargrove.

IT’S BACK…UGLY BUDGET DEFICIT LOOMS

The morning after his fifth State of the Union Address, Schwarzenegger released his spending plan for 2008-2009 which contains many cuts in state spending to try to deal with the estimated $14 billion dollar budget deficit. In a normal year, this is just the first of many moves in the stylized budget ritual – the plan would now stew for a few months prior to committee discussions where legislative leaders would a make a case for their own priorities. However, the Governor has declared a “fiscal emergency” in the state calling for immediate action, and no one knows exactly how this will impact the process. Advocacy groups, however, are already lining-up to protect their piece of the budget pie, and many legislators are calling for tax increases to soften the need for spending reductions. See below…

IT’S BACK... SPLIT ROLL TAX PUSHED AGAIN

Just in case any of you missed this opinion piece yesterday in the Los Angeles Times below is a link to the piece which calls for a split roll tax in California. The argument is that the state is $14 billion short on revenue; that Proposition 13 is broken; and that the residential part can’t be fixed so let’s go after commercial properties. Might not be that scary if it weren’t for the fact that influential legislators are making noise about split roll too, so we may be preparing for another battle on this front this year. Here is the LA Times article, “We Can’t Afford Proposition 13 Anymore”

ASSOCIATIONS MIXED ON ADVOCACY TACTICS

The fine folks at the California Real Estate Journal look at how political advocacy tactics may change in the coming year. Rex Hime, Trent Wylde, and Clay Dunning all contributed to the story. http://www.carealestatejournal.com/newswire/index.cfm?sid=&tkn=&eid=890892&evid=1

HELP GRAD STUDENT WITH ADA RESEARCH PROJECT

A grad student at the University of San Francisco has asked our Association for help with a project she is doing as part of an independent research project regarding title III of the American's with Disabilities Act and how it affects business owners and managers in California. She has designed a simple survey and hopes that you might take some time to provide information to assure her results are as robust as possible. If you are willing to help out a young researcher, you can find the survey here: http://IndividualADA.BusinessSurvey.sgizmo.com

CBPA WELCOMES ONE TO THE TEAM

CBPA is proud to welcome Yana Smolin to the Association. Filling an existing position vacated early in 2007, she brings enthusiasm to serve the members of CBPA. When you call our office please remember to say “Welcome Yana.”

BOMA CALENDAR 2008

January 15 – BOMA Cal Board Meeting
Los Angeles
In conjunction with IREM/BOMA GLA Forecast Breakfast

March/April (date TBD) – BOMA Cal Board Meeting
Location TBD

June 10-11 – CA Commercial Real Estate Summit – BOMA Cal Board Meeting
Sacramento (Hyatt Regency)

October/November (date TBD) - BOMA Cal Annual Meeting/20th Anniversary Event
Location TBD