The most talked about piece of legislation this week in California is a state bill that would have made technical changes to facilitate the Port of San Francisco’s plans to create infrastructure financing districts.
The talk, however, has nothing to do with the port, infrastructure finance, or any bonds that might have been issued to finance the infrastructure.
It’s all about the form of the message Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — or his staff — wrote to announce that he had vetoed it.
The veto was issued a few days after the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, responded to the Republican governor’s surprise appearance at a San Francisco Democratic Party banquet by reportedly yelling at him “You lie!” and “Kiss my gay ass!”
The veto happened more than two weeks ago, but it hit the news hard this week following a report by the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper.
For what it’s worth, the bill made technical changes to 2005 legislation designed to facilitate the Port of San Francisco’s ability to create infrastructure financing districts to help rehabilitate deteriorated and obsolete waterfront facilities, in particular its Pier 70.
Though state law permits the creation of IFDs — which can issue bonds backed by property tax increment — because of the “cumbersome” process only one such district has ever been created, according to a legislative staff report on the bill.
The bill as passed prohibited the formation of a Pier 70 IFD until 2013. It passed both houses unanimously.
