SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed 65 bills into law but made more noise about the ones he vetoed, including efforts to replace redevelopment agencies and prevent BART from disrupting cellphone service.
On Sunday, Brown will have to decide what to do with the final 108 bills that passed the Legislature in August, capping his busiest month of the year. In September, the governor has already signed 575 bills, most of which take effect Jan. 1, and vetoed 84 others.
The most controversial bills left would provide driver's licenses to thousands of young undocumented immigrants and put restrictions on jails to prevent them from holding illegal immigrants for deportation unless they are serious criminals.
Of the 23 bills Brown vetoed Saturday, six would have given local governments other economic development powers to replace now-defunct redevelopment agencies in hundreds of cities, including San Jose.
The governor and Legislature had acted to close redevelopment agencies and have them begin to unwind their finances to increase money available for the state's general fund.
Among the bills rejected were measures by Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. Pérez's AB 2144 would have allowed local communities to create "infrastructure and revitalization financing districts" if approved by 55 percent of voters.
Pérez wanted to expand
"Expanding the scope of infrastructure financing districts is premature," Brown wrote in his veto message. "This measure would likely cause cities to focus their efforts on using new tools provided by the measure instead of winding down redevelopment. This would prevent the state from achieving the General Fund savings assumed in this year's budget."
The veto message was similar for Steinberg's measure, which would have allowed cities to set up "sustainable communities investment authorities" to help the development of neighborhoods near transit hubs with housing and factories that provide equipment for the clean energy industry. That bill is SB 1156.
Brown liked the idea but wrote in his veto message: "I prefer to take a constructive look at implementing this type of program once the winding down of redevelopment is complete and General Fund savings achieved."
Among the other bills Brown signed or vetoed Saturday:
Staff writers Mike Rosenberg and Matt O'Brien, The Associated Press and The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report. Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at Twitter.com/rosenberg17.


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