The city of Los Angeles always seems to find creative ways to tax that ass, from $234 moving violations to broken-meter parking tickets.

An area state Assemblyman, Mike Gatto, is working to block the city from issuing the latter. Previous state legislation outlawed broken-meter tickets, but it allowed cities to opt out of the rule, and the L.A. City Council did just that. So, yes, you can get a ticket for parking at a broken meter in Los Angeles. Gatto's bill, AB 61, confronts that head-on:

The bill would prohibit cities from enacting their own broken-meter loophole laws, like L.A. did in December.

Gatto's people announced this week that the proposed legislation surpassed a “key hurdle” by being approved 8-0 in the Assembly Committee on Local Government.

Credit: Sterling Davis Photo / LA Weekly Flickr pool

We can't wait for this thing to get through the entire legislature and end up on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. You can't beat City Hall? This is a middle finger aimed right at the blood-sucking City Council.

Gatto:

We pay for street maintenance, meter installation, and meter upkeep. It is the responsibility of local governments to keep parking meters in good working order, not to squeeze a double-penalty out of its citizens.

Amen.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]