2014 Legislative Session Wrap-up from Cathy Christian, Nielsen Merksamer:
The 2014 Budget signed by the Governor and approved by the Legislature was arrived at in a much more streamlined and less dramatic process than years past, particularly because Proposition 30 revenue paved the road for eased financial decision-making across the board. When Governor Brown released his budget proposal in January, the spending plan was generally deemed prudent and cautious, but a few proposals stirred controversy and were not resolved until the budget was adopted in June.
One example was the Governor’s proposal to spend 33% of cap-and-trade money on the California High Speed Rail project, which both the LAO and some stakeholder groups felt was excessive. Ultimately, the Legislature and the Governor reached a compromise, settling on spending 29% of cap-and-trade money on the High Speed Rail project in the budget year and 25% in future years. The remaining funds are dedicated to programs related to sustainable communities (including housing projects), clean transportation, energy efficiency, natural resources, and waste diversion, with a particular emphasis on programs in disadvantaged communities.
The budget trailer bill SB 862 outlines the key details of interest to counties: 35% of future cap and trade proceeds are allocated to transit, housing and other sustainable communities programs and projects, including (1) 10% for a transit and intercity rail capital program overseen by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and Caltrans; (2) 5% for transit operations administered by Caltrans and the Air Resources Board; and (3) 20% for housing and sustainable communities (including planning, active transportation, transit and other supportive infrastructure, with not less than half for housing) managed by the Strategic Growth Council and Air Resources Board.
Another area of contention, which might have implications for other public employers, was the Governor’s proposed teacher pension fund solvency plan. Governor Brown’s proposal called for increased contributions from local school districts, but school districts argued that the increased financial obligation would wipe out any benefit to education programs resulting from increased state funding. Ultimately, the budget provided for raising the contribution level from 8.25% to 8.8% which was lower than Governor Brown’s proposal of 9.5%.
The Governor continues to advocate for the water conveyance system proposed in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan – the so-called “twin tunnels” – in order to divert water from the Sacramento River commencing at an intake location in the North Delta, near the City of Sacramento. State agencies continue to work with the water contractors to refine the environmental studies associated with that proposal. The five Delta Counties, including Contra Costa County, are monitoring that process closely. The Delta Counties also worked extensively on the water bond placed on the ballot by the Legislature, which was approved by the voters on November 4 (Proposition 1)."
For more information on the bills the County actively advocated for or against, see Attachment A.
2015 Legislative Session: A Preview
On December 1, the California Senate and Assembly convened their organizing sessions for the 2015 Legislative year. The desks remain open for both houses, allowing new bills to be introduced, but the full Senate and Assembly will not reconvene until January 5.
This week a batch of new bills for the 2015 legislative session were introduced after the swearing-in of State Legislators for the biennial session. The following is a small sample of the natural resources/environmental, medical marijuana, and health and human services bills that were recently introduced and will continue to be monitored by staff as the session gets under way next year. Many more bills will be introduced up until the Legislature’s bill introduction deadline of Friday, February 27.
Water
AB 1 (Brown) -- Pending
AB 1, by Assembly Member Cheryl Brown, is similar to legislation that was introduced last year and failed. This bill would prohibit cities and counties from imposing a fine under any local maintenance ordinance or other relevant ordinance for a failure to water a lawn or having a brown lawn during a period for which the Governor has issued a proclamation of a state of emergency based on drought conditions.
SB 13 (Pavley) – Pending
SB 13, by Senator Fran Pavley, appears to be a legislative vehicle for clean-up amendments to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act which was signed into law in September.
SB 20 (Pavley) – Pending
SB 20, by Senator Fran Pavley, would address the availability of reports regarding the digging or drilling of specified types of wells to the public.
Medical Marijuana
AB 26 (Jones-Sawyer) – Pending
AB 26, by Assembly Member Reginald Jones-Sawyer, would enact the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Control Act within a new division of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. It would establish a framework to regulate and control the mandatory registration of all entities involved in the commercial cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing, transportation, distribution, provision, donation, and sale of medical marijuana in the state.
AB 34 (Bonta) – Pending
AB 34, by Assembly Member Rob Bonta, is a spot bill that expresses legislative intent to establish a comprehensive and uniform state regulatory structure to govern the cultivation, processing, testing, and distribution of medical cannabis.
Solid Waste
AB 45 (Mullin) – Pending
AB 45, by Assembly Member Kevin Mullin, is a spot bill that states the Legislature’s intent to enact legislation that would establish curbside household hazardous waste collection programs, door-to-door household hazardous waste collection programs. Mr. Mullin carried a bill on the same subject last year, AB 2371, which would have required cities and counties to review the effectiveness of its household hazardous waste (HHW) plans and to identify ways to improve the convenient recycling and disposal of HHW. CSAC has concerns with the curbside approach as this circumvents existing local household hazardous waste programs.
Climate Change
Several bills were introduced this week dealing with California’s Cap and Trade program and Climate Change laws. While all bills are still in spot form, they fall under a few specific categories. The Republicans in both houses have introduced measures – AB 23 (Patterson), SB 1 (Gaines) and SB 5 (Vidak) – that would exempt transportation fuels from the state’s Cap and Trade Program. The Democrats have also introduced measures related to Cap and Trade requesting additional information and requiring interim targets. AB 21, by Assembly Member Perea deals more specifically with the State’s Scoping Plan and would require GHG reduction targets beyond AB 32, requiring statewide emissions reductions for 2030 to be include in the state’s GHG planning document. Finally, AB 33, by Assembly Member Quick, would require the California Air Resources Board to submit a report to the Legislature with updated information on the implementation of AB 32.
Health and Human Services
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Assembly Bill 11 , by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, to add in-home support services worker to the definition of employee under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 beginning July 1, 2016, thereby entitling IHSS workers to accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
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Senate Bill 4 , by Senator Ricardo Lara, to declare it the Legislature’s intent that all Californians, regardless of immigration status, have access to affordable health coverage and care.
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Senate Bill 11 , by Senator Jim Beall, to express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to increase the minimum mental health training standard for California Peace Officers.
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Senate Bill 23 , by Senator Holly Mitchell, to allow the birth of a new child to a family that has received aid under the CalWORKs program continuously for the prior 10 months, to be considered for purposes of determining a family’s maximum aid payment.
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Senate Bill 36 , by Senator Ed Hernandez, to require the Department of Health Care Services to submit an application to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a waiver to implement a successor 1115 Medicaid Waiver demonstration project.
Staff will monitor these and any other bills of interest to Contra Costa County in 2015. The Legislation Committee may provide direction to staff, as needed. |