Hello- Assemblyman Leno's bill (AB 799) to allow San Francisco voters to restore our local Vehicle License Fee (VLF) to 2% of vehicle value has been reintroduced this year. Reinstating our local VLF to 2% would generate approximately $61 million for San Francisco's General Fund and help avoid future cuts to General Fund funding for local programs and services (including sustainable transportation and environmental programs). Please join Transportation for a Livable City in supporting this important legislation by taking the following three actions: 1) Write an organizational letter of support. A generic support letter that you can modify is attached. TLC's letter of support from last year is also attached. 2) Ask your members to send an e-mail, fax, or letter of support. Sample language on the "Background" and "Benefits" of this bill is below for you to cut-and-paste into e-mail, web, and newsletter communications with your members. E-mails should be sent to mailto:robert.tashima@asm.ca.gov. Faxes should be sent to (916) 319-2113. Hard copies should be sent to Rob Tashima, Legislative Aide, Assemblyman Mark Leno, State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0013. 3) Attend an upcoming hearing in Sacramento. The first committee hearing on this issue has been scheduled for April 6th, at 1:30pm. Please have someone on your staff or Board save the date and plan on attending the hearing. TLC will be taking the Capitol Corridor to Sacramento to testify on the bill and invite you to join us on the train. Let me know if you have any questions or would like more info. -Jeremy ============================ BACKGROUND ON AB 799 Assemblyman Leno's bill (AB 799) to allow San Francisco voters to restore our local Vehicle License Fee (VLF) to 2% of vehicle value has been reintroduced this year. The VLF had been set at 2% for the past 50 years prior to being rolled back to 0.66% at the State level. Reinstating our local VLF to 2% would generate approximately $61 million for San Francisco's General Fund. (Approximately two-thirds of San Francisco's $90 million budget deficit last year could have been avoided if the VLF had not been slashed to 0.66%). This bill was introduced by Assemblyman Leno last year but failed by one vote in committee. Please support this important bill to help San Francisco avoid additional cuts to General Fund funding for local programs and services! BENEFITS OF AB 799 1) Local Control: Letting San Franciscans decide for ourselves whether we want to tax our own vehicles to pay for local programs and services is appropriate, especially at a time when State and Federal funding to San Francisco has been significantly reduced. We should have the option to vote to restore the VLF in order to preserve critical services and programs that help us maintain our social safety net and our quality of life. 2) Good Fiscal Policy: Many of the financial costs associated with operation of vehicles in urban areas (including street maintenance, law enforcement, and public health impacts) fall on local governments to pay for out of general funds. Its good fiscal policy to ask drivers to pay for services and programs that mitigate the impacts caused by excessive vehicle travel. 3) Good Transportation Policy: While the VLF revenue isn't dedicated to transportation purposes, the revenue would benefit the Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni and DPT) indirectly since the MTA gets a fixed percentage of San Francisco's General Fund base. In addition, many of the traffic calming, ped & bike safety, and streetscape improvement programs are fully or partially funded out of the General Fund. ============================ Jeremy Nelson Policy Director Transportation for a Livable City (TLC) NOTE NEW ADDRESS & OFFICE PHONE: 995 Market St., Suite 1550 San Francisco, CA 94103 office: 415.344.0489 cell: 415.425.9848 fax: 775.540.9813 e-mail: jeremy@livablecity.org web: www.livablecity.org