BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Government relations staff will continue to review, monitor, and update the list of bills introduced by the Legislature and will develop master and priority lists of tracked legislation. Staff will develop and advance the advocacy positions articulated by City departments on specific bills within the lists. The City's master and priority lists will continue to be refined as the legislative session moves through the legislative calendar and deadlines.
Staff continues to focus on identifying bills that would impact local control, would have implications to both land use and housing, and that would require the City to provide a service or benefit without appropriate and full funding. Unfunded mandates negatively impact City revenues including the General Fund, enterprise funds, and sales or property taxes.
The following bills represent introduced this year represent the kinds of issues of specific concern to various City departments:
Housing
• SB 4 (McGuire) – Housing (Watch) - This bill would authorize a development proponent of a neighborhood multifamily project or eligible transit-oriented development (TOD) project located on an eligible parcel to submit an application for a streamlined, ministerial approval process that is not subject to a conditional use permit.
Staff Comments: The City is watching this bill for the potential impacts it would have on local control and how neighborhood multifamily projects are processed for approval. The bill would require a city or county to notify a project developer in writing if the local government determines that the development conflicts with any of the requirements provided for streamlined ministerial approval; otherwise, the development is deemed to comply with those requirements. The bill would limit the authority of a local agency to impose parking standards or requirements on a streamlined development approved pursuant to the provisions defined by the bill.
• AB 11 (Chiu) Community Redevelopment Law (Watch) – The Community Redevelopment Law of 2019, would authorize a city or county, or two or more cities acting jointly, to propose the formation of an affordable housing and infrastructure agency by adoption of a resolution of intention that meets specified requirements, including that the resolution of intention include a pass-through provision and an override pass-through provision, as defined.
Staff Comments: The City is watching this bill for the potential new resources, tools and programs that may become available to local governments for the purposes of building affordable housing, constructing infrastructure programs, and building transit-oriented housing development projects. This bill could provide opportunities to introduce a redevelopment type program for the first time since redevelopment was eliminated in the state nearly 10 years ago. This bill has similar elements as SB 5 (Beall), which the City is also tracking closely.
• S 923 (Feinstein) Homeless Housing Programs and Services (Support) –This bill would fight homelessness in the United States by authorizing a grant program within the Health Resources and Services Administration for housing programs that offer comprehensive services and intensive case management for homeless individuals and families.
Staff Comments: The City is supporting this bill because it would establish a grant program to award competitive grants to eligible entities for the planning and implementation of programs to address homelessness. Under current HUD definition, some children do not qualify for federal housing aid, unless they are living in a shelter or on the street. This bill would expand the housing definition of homelessness, so that families and children who have short-term stays in motels, with family members or live in their cars, would not be disqualified from federal assistance. In addition, the bill provides new grant funding for planning and implementation of homeless programs and services.
Sales Tax and Revenues
• AB 485 (Medina) Local Government: Economic Development Subsidies (Watch) - This bill would require each local agency to provide specified information to the public before approving an economic development subsidy for a warehouse distribution center, as defined, and to, among things, hold hearings and report on those subsidies, as provided. The bill would require local agencies to submit a report to the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development providing specified information and the office to make those reports available to the public through its internet website. The bill would require a warehouse distribution center to provide a local agency any information necessary to comply with these provisions.
Staff Comment: The City is watching this bill to understand how it would attempt to modernize and restructure the state’s tax system and realign the state’s current tax code with the State’s 21st century economy. Staff is very concerned that the items discussed within this bill could have dramatic implications for local governments and how tax revenues are allocated.
• AB 1296 (Gonzalez) Tax Recovery in the Underground Economy (Watch) - This bill would establish the Tax Recovery in the Underground Economy Criminal Enforcement Program in the Department of Justice to combat underground economic activities through a multiagency collaboration to, among other things, pool resources, collaborate and share data, prosecute violations, and recover state revenue lost to the underground economy.
Staff Comment: The City is watching this bill to understand how this new enforcement program would function, how local governments would interact with the process and the overall benefits that could be realized from the program.
• SB 43 (Allen) Carbon Tax (Watch) - This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, to submit a report to the Legislature on the results of a study, which would determine the feasibility and practicality of taxing products based on their carbon intensity and to encourage the use of less carbon-intensive products.
Staff Comment: The City is watching this bill to further understand the full purpose of the bill and what recommendations the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the State's Department of Tax and Fee Administration will make to the Legislature regarding how California can replace the current Sales and Use tax with a revenue- neutral tax based on carbon intensity to help California meet its climate goals. A carbon pricing approach is designed to further improve the State's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while allowing consumers to make informed choices. However, there are many critical concerns whether this is a feasible and practical direction to take.
Other Areas
• AB 516 (Chiu) Authority to Remove Vehicles (Oppose) – This bill would delete the authority of a peace officer or public employee to remove or immobilize a vehicle under certain circumstances. The bill would also delete the authority to remove a vehicle parked or left standing for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance, or a vehicle with a registration expiration date in excess of 6 months found or operated on the highway or on public lands or in an off-street parking facility.
Staff Comments: The City is opposing this bill for the loss of local control and the impacts this bill would have on a local government’s ability to take actions on vehicles that are problematic or are a nuisance to city streets.
• AB 956 (Diep) Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices (Support) - Existing law provides that the use of automatic dialing-announcing devices by law enforcement agencies, fire protection agencies, public health agencies, public environmental health agencies, city or county emergency services planning agencies, or any private for-profit agency operating under contract with, and at the direction of, one or more of these agencies, for specified purposes relating to public safety and emergencies is not prohibited. This bill would expressly provide that the use of automatic dialing-announcing devices by those entities to test the enhanced 911 emergency telephone system for data accuracy and emergency alert notification system capabilities is also not prohibited.
Staff Comments: The City supports this bill as it would help to ensure that the emergency notification system is working effectively and would provide the community with the most important information necessary in the case of an emergency. Testing of the notification system is critical to ensure that the system is working well in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.
• SB 389 (Hertzberg) Mental Health Services Act (Support) – This bill would amend the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) to authorize the counties to use MHSA moneys to provide services to persons who are participating in a pre-sentencing or post-sentencing diversion program or who are on parole, probation, post-release community supervision, or mandatory supervision.
Staff Comments: The City supports this bill for the expansion of how Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds can be used. Under current law MHSA funds cannot be used for services to persons who are participating in a pre-sentencing or post-sentencing diversion program or who are on parole, probation, post-release community supervision, or mandatory supervision. However, a recent report noted that approximately 49,542 individuals are on parole, of which 47,654 are on community supervision, who could be an eligible population to receive services funded through MHSA. The implications of providing services to this population could have a significant impact on individuals not being re-incarcerated.
• AB 1413 (Gloria) Transportation: Local Transportation Authorities (Support) - This bill would authorize a local transportation authority to impose a tax applicable to only a portion of its county if 2/3 of the voters voting on the measure within the portion of the county to which the tax would apply vote to approve the tax, as specified, and other requirements are met, including that the revenues derived from the tax be spent within, or for the benefit of, the portion of the county to which the tax would apply.
Staff Comments: The City is supporting this bill as it would provide the opportunity for local transportation authorities, such as the Placer County Transportation Authority, to define areas within their county for a transportation tax measure. Changes to the levels of funding provided to local governments by the state and federal governments continues to fluctuate. The structure for developing defined areas within a county transportation, as outlined in this bill, would provide transportation authorities with a defined source of revenue that could be used for transportation specific projects. The proposed tax measure would be required to be approved by 2/3 of the voters in the area where the tax would apply. The bill recently moved out of committee on a 5-1 vote.
Conclusion
Government relations staff will continue to refine the active list of priority bills from the bills introduced this year. The priority list of bills establishes the City’s legislative advocacy efforts and staff will continue to update the L&R Committee each month on the most critical bills on the list. Staff will also remain actively engaged in informing the City’s state and federal representatives regarding the City’s positions as the bills move through the legislative process.