State Legislation Would Ease Cost of Back-to-School Clothing
Politics
by Howard Fine
State Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Arcadia and son of former state legislator Richard Mountjoy, has proposed suspending the state sales tax for clothing purchased during those late August “back-to-school” specials.
Mountjoy’s bill, AB 1185, would eliminate state sales taxes on clothing items under $200 purchased during the last week of August.
“A one-week tax holiday the week before school begins helps parents purchase back-to-school clothing for their children,” Mountjoy said. “It’s about time we gave something back to the people.”
Not surprisingly, the bill has considerable support among merchants and other business groups, who see it as a way to spur sales in the midst of a traditionally slow retail period. But it faces long odds in this year of the $12.5 billion budget deficit when the state is desperately looking for every cent in revenue it can get.
Weiss vs. Billboards
L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss received considerable applause before a Westwood-area homeowners group for his stance against the proliferation of billboards. Weiss co-sponsored an ordinance to force billboard companies to number their billboards and submit information on every billboard to the city. The legislation also would empower the city to seek the removal of any billboard that’s not permitted or numbered.
“My voice is hoarse after all those hours debating the issue with (Councilman) Nate Holden,” Weiss told the crowd.
But there’s a cautionary tale for the freshman councilman. His predecessor in the 5th District, Mike Feuer, also led the charge to restrict billboard advertising in L.A. As a result, when he put his hat in the ring for City Attorney, the billboard companies spent more than $400,000 on advertising much of it on billboards for his opponent, Rocky Delgadillo.
Downtown Endorsement
The Central City Association has endorsed former labor leader Fabian Nunez for state Assembly.
Nunez, former political director for the County Federation of Labor, is government affairs director for the L.A. Unified School District. He’s running against Pedro Carrillo, an aide to U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Los Angeles, for the downtown seat now held by Gil Cedillo, who in turn is running for state Senate. Cedillo has endorsed Nunez.
CCA president and chief executive Carol Schatz said the organization’s board voted to endorse Nunez because he promised to push for legislation that aids downtown redevelopment.
Riordan Hires Cheney PR Person
After unsuccessfully trying to persuade his former press aide Noelia Rodriguez to drop her job as spokeswoman for Laura Bush and join his campaign, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan is settling for the next best thing. The Riordan campaign recently hired as its director of communications Marguita Thompson, who most recently was spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at
[email protected].
