On April 8, Assembly Bill 204, authored by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), passed its first legislative hurdle with unanimous, bipartisan support, according to O’Donnell’s office. The bill, which is sponsored by the City of Long Beach, allows local governments in Los Angeles County to continue to control the wind-down of their redevelopment agencies.
Current law requires, by July 1, 2016, all local oversight boards in Los Angeles County to consolidate into a single entity. Given the large number of local boards in Los Angeles County, this “one-size-fits-all” approach unfairly burdens cities and removes local control, O’Donnell said.
“Requiring a single, distant board to immediately tackle the workload of nearly 100 local entities would cause the county both dollars and delay,” O’Donnell said. “Allowing cities to continue to have local control over their financial operations simply makes sense, and I am glad my colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree.”
Since its introduction, AB 204 has gained widespread support by various cities in Los Angeles County and has received no opposition, according to O’Donnell’s office.
AB 204 will next be heard in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.
“I am happy to go to bat for Long Beach in Sacramento,” O’Donnell said.
Source: O’Donnell’s office
