One of the stranger aspects of California’s political system is the degree to which local governments and the employees of various governments lobby other governments. For instance, the League of California Cities, an advocacy group that represents 476 cities, spent $2.13 million to lobby state lawmakers.
Rarely do taxpayers have a similar seat at the table, so we were pleased to see that Newport Beach decided recently to push back on this process. The City Council voted 5 to 2 to exit the cities’ league, with the council citing the group’s support for Proposition 1.
That measure, which appears headed for a slim victory, spends $6.4 billion on homeless and mental-health services. It does so by transferring more power to the state – and critics fear it will inundate cities with treatment homes. Such facilities are necessary and we generally oppose Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) efforts, but Newport Beach is right to question the league’s priorities.
Government advocacy groups lobby for – no surprises here – higher taxes and more spending. Beyond Proposition 1, the league has supported Assembly Constitutional Amendment 13. It is the Legislature’s attempt to undermine a business-backed ballot measure, called the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, to restrict the ability of tax-happy cities to raise taxes early and often.
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The league says the taxpayer protection measure “would significantly restrict the ability of cities to raise taxes and fees,” which is accurate but a troubling position to take.
Cities’ taxpayer-funded contribution is relatively small and the group’s direct political work via its PAC is not funded with taxpayer dollars, but why should conservative cities fund a group that backs progressive efforts to raise taxes?
Years of its advocacy shows the league to be on the wrong side of most issues. It was, for instance, an advocate for those property-rights-eroding redevelopment agencies that Gov. Jerry Brown mercifully shuttered a dozen years ago.
And there’s an alternative group that Newport Beach and others can join, the Association of California Cities-Orange County. Newport Beach was spot on – and other cities ought to follow.