Hello, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you from
California’s Great Central Valley. There is a lot about this time of
year to like. Most of us are anticipating holiday celebrations with
friends and family, good food to share and hopefully, at least a little
bit of the “Peace on Earth” we all hope for. As your new CSAC
President, I am especially happy and humbled this holiday season that my
colleagues in California’s 58 counties have chosen me to lead them
through this year.
I walk in the footsteps of people who wore some pretty large shoes
before me in this position. I have my work cut out for me just to live
up to the legacy of CSAC’s Past Presidents.
The House approved a sweeping $1.1 trillion omnibus
appropriations measure late Thursday night after a tense debate over
several controversial add-ons to the legislation (HR 83). With Democrats
lining up to blast several aspects of the package – and with a number
of Republicans opposing the measure for various reasons – final passage
of the bill appeared to be in doubt. In the end, 60 Democrats joined a
majority of GOP members to put the legislation over the top in a narrow
219-206 vote.
Counties’ and cities’ monthly allocations from the
Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA) were supplemented this week though the
early repayment of a $100 million state loan. HUTA is funded through the
state gas excise tax, which is currently set at 36 cents per gallon.
These dollars are an essential part of county transportation budgets and
are used for road maintenance and rehabilitation projects, as well as
local matching funds to draw down additional transportation funding.
As we look back on 2014, the CSAC Finance Corporation
is pleased to reflect on continued success. We have not only
experienced growth in our existing programs, we were able to launch and
see our first successes with our two newest program partners; Medcor and
Towers Watson. We wish to thank all 58 California counties for your
participation in our programs. As a result of your support, the CSAC
Finance Corporation was again able to provide CSAC with a $3.3 million
contribution this year to support CSAC’s advocacy on behalf of
California’s counties.
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