The Barbed Wire - January 12, 2018

January 12, 2018
RCRC’s Rural Rundown of the Governor’s 2018-19 Proposed Budget
RCRC Co-Hosts California Rural Economic Development Summit
Groundwater Agency Formation Update
National Political Outlook
Trump Promotes Rural Broadband During Farm Bureau Speech
Federal Budget
Federal Disaster Aid
Federal Wildfire Funding
KEEPING UP
BULLETIN BOARD
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

RCRC’s Rural Rundown of the Governor’s 2018-19 Proposed Budget

On Wednesday, the Brown Administration released details of the Governor’s 2018-19 proposed Budget.  RCRC’s governmental affairs team reviewed the proposal, and developed The Rural Rundown, an in-depth look at the Governor’s 2018-19 proposed Budget, its implications for member counties, details of RCRC’s advocacy efforts on specific issue items and an insider perspective into the reasoning and rationale behind elements of the proposal. 

Key Issues/Changes for RCRC Member Counties:

  • Continues to provide $644,000 for the State’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program for 2018-19;
  • Provides $134 million in State support for funding a program to modernize county voting systems;
  • Includes new funding and creates programs to address a broad spectrum of wildfire response and recovery issues in light of the devastating 2017 wildfire season, including backfill of property tax revenue losses for counties, cities and special districts resulting from the fires; and,
  • Maintains the existing funding agreement for IHSS that was created in the 2017-18 State Budget; however, a small increase is being provided by the state to address paid sick leave for IHSS providers.

The Rural Rundown can be accessed here.

RCRC Co-Hosts California Rural Economic Development Summit

On Wednesday, RCRC and the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) co-hosted the California Rural Economic Development Summit (Summit) in Sacramento.  More than 60 rural economic development professionals attended the Summit, where discussions focused on rural communities’ access to capital, infrastructure financing, housing, broadband and workforce development.  

RCRC President and CEO Greg Norton provided opening remarks and introduced the Summit’s first speaker, Kim Dolbow Vann, California State Director of USDA Rural Development.  The full Summit agenda can be accessed here.

Groundwater Agency Formation Update

At last week’s meeting of the California Water Commission, Mark Norberg of the Department of Water Resources, provided an update of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).  Overall, local agencies did a great job of meeting the deadline to form a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) with 99.9 percent of the basins subject to SGMA covered by a GSA.  

Of the area not covered, it was described as either a “fringe area” not covered by a local agency, or were not part of an adjudicated basin.  Under SGMA, counties were given the authority to cover these unmanaged areas and, for the most part, counties stepped into this role.

In summary:

  • 265 GSA notifications were received by DWR reflecting a wide range of organizational structures and size.
  • 141 basins have GSAs.  Of these, 108 are subject to SGMA.  The remaining 33 were low or very low priority.
  • 22 basins submitted alternative plans with 11 having GSA coverage and 9 without a GSA.

It was also noted that DWR continues to provide financial assistance.  Proposition 1 provided $101 million for competitive grants to develop implementation plans.  In 2015, $6.7 million was awarded to counties with stressed groundwater basins.

Last Fall, a grant proposal was announced making $86.3 million available – of that, $10 million was dedicated to those communities that are severely disadvantaged.  Applications were due at the end of 2017, and 78 applications were received for a total of $86.4 million.  Of that, $69.6 million was received from GSAs for GSP development, and $16.8 million was requested by those communities/areas that met the definition of severely disadvantaged.  DWR is currently reviewing the grant applications and, according to DWR staff, expect most funding requests to be successful.

National Political Outlook

California Representatives Darrell Issa (R-San Diego) and Ed Royce (R-Orange) announced they will not seek re-election in 2018, adding to a long list of Republican retirements.  Both congressional districts voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and according to The Cook Political Report, Royce and Issa’s retirements moved the 2018 election prospects of their districts to “Lean Democratic” suggesting Republicans could lose both seats. 

At minimum, 31 House Republican seats will be open in 2018, a record number of vacancies from recent election years.  Despite the GOP exodus and Democratic sentiment, the Republican majority benefits from a 24 seat advantage.   

Trump Promotes Rural Broadband During Farm Bureau Speech

On Monday, President Trump delivered a speech at the 99th Annual Farm Bureau Convention where he signed two executive orders to expand broadband deployment in rural areas.  

The first order, “Streamlining and Expediting Requests to Locate Broadband Facilities in Rural America,” will accelerate the deployment of broadband in rural areas by ordering executive departments and agencies to reduce barriers to capital investment in broadband services.  More specifically, the order will streamline the application process for broadband deployment on federal property.  The second order is a Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior that will support broadband tower facilities on federal property managed by the Department of the Interior (DOI).  The order states “Lowering the costs of broadband deployment to rural areas can strengthen the business case for broadband facilities deployment and therefore amplify investments in broadband infrastructure.  To that end, the executive branch will seek to make Federal assets more available for rural broadband deployment.”  The order directs Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to identify assets managed by the DOI that may be used to support rural broadband deployment and adoption.

President Trump signed the executive orders the same day he received an official report from the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (Task Force) that prioritized expanding broadband deployment in underserved rural areas.  The Task Force was formed by President Trump to make recommendations to promote economic development and improve the quality of life in rural America.  On Monday, the Task Force reported to the President that his Administration should focus on the five following priorities in rural America:

  • Enhancing broadband access and commercial connections in the country's rural areas;
  • Improving quality of life, including addressing opioids, education and recreation;
  • Generating a reliable workforce;
  • Advancing technological innovations; and,
  • Economic development.

The Administration will have opportunities to address many of these recommendations in 2018 through the infrastructure package and the rural development title of the 2018 Farm Bill (a high priority for RCRC's advocacy team).  In addition, the President pledged that his Administration will invest in infrastructure and continue to eliminate/reduce Obama-era regulations that hamstring rural economies.  President Trump specifically praised his own order to repeal the Waters of the United States rule and pledged to cut regulations for logging and timber industries.  The President also pledged that the 2018 Farm Bill will be done “on time” and offered his endorsement of the federal crop insurance program.

Federal Budget

Congress is inching closer to a two-year budget agreement on discretionary spending caps but House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Kern) said another short-term continuing resolution is likely.  The current stopgap measure expires on January 19, 2018 and after a budget agreement is reached, lawmakers will still need to negotiate how to appropriate funds for Fiscal Year 2018.  

Negotiations on the spending limits have been held up for weeks by partisan fights over military and non-defense spending.  Democrats are demanding a “spirit of parity” within the budget which would require increases in military spending be met with an equal increase in non-defense spending. In response, Republicans are expected to raise military spending levels well beyond what was requested by the Pentagon which would allow them to increase non-defense spending programs to appease Democrats without giving them parity.

Federal Disaster Aid

The third disaster supplemental package that passed the House of Representatives before the holidays has stalled in the Senate over a lack of funding for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  Unanimous consent is required to fast-track the emergency legislation, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) says the bill has been wrapped into larger spending negotiations.  

GOP leaders criticize Senator Schumer for holding up the bill, but Democrats argue they were left out of the negotiating table and that the current proposal is “shameful” in its treatment of U.S. territories.  If the latest $81 billion package is enacted, it would bring the total amount spent on helping people affected by natural disasters to more than $130 billion.

Federal Wildfire Funding

Advocates for wildfire funding reform are hoping a funding fix will be included in either the upcoming budget deal, omnibus, or disaster relief package.  $28.6 billion of the latest package will go to the Department of Homeland Security which will reimburse 90 percent of state wildfire costs but additional funding is only a temporary solution to the perennial budget problems plaguing the U.S. Forest Service.  

Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats have stalled over funding levels and controversial management reforms.  Republicans argue management reforms and the funding fix should be addressed together while Democrats prefer to handle the issues in separate legislation.  If Congress cannot reach a deal on a funding fix in time for the disaster supplemental or omnibus, it significantly diminishes the opportunity to address “fire-borrowing” until the 2018 Farm Bill. 

KEEPING UP

Todd Leopold Appointed Placer County CEO

Click here

Karla Nemeth, 47, of Sacramento, has been appointed director of the California Department of Water Resources. Nemeth has served as Governor Brown’s deputy secretary and senior advisor for water policy at the California Natural Resources Agency since 2014, where she was Bay Delta Conservation Plan project manager from 2009 to 2014. Nemeth was environmental and public affairs director at the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District from 2005 to 2009 and community affairs manager at Jones and Stokes from 2003 to 2005. She earned a Master of Public Administration degree in public administration from the University of Washington. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $194,600. Nemeth is a Democrat.

BULLETIN BOARD

Cal OES Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Assembly Bill 148 (Mathis): California Physician Corps Program: Practice Setting.  Assembly Bill 148 would revise the definition of “practice setting” for the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program to include rural area clinics that have 30 percent of patients from medically underserved populations. Status: AB 148 awaits final consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support

Assembly Bill 196 (Bigelow): Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Water Supply. Assembly Bill 196 would authorize the use of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds for water and wastewater systems if the investment furthers the regulatory purposes of the act and is consistent with law. With this bill, water supply investments, including repairs, pump and motor efficiency improvements, drinking water transmission and distribution system water loss, and wastewater systems, would be specifically eligible for funding.  Status: AB 196 awaits final consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

Assembly Bill 577 (Caballero): Disadvantaged Communities. Assembly Bill 577 would define a disadvantaged community as a community with annual per capita income that is 80% of the statewide annual per capita income. Status: Assembly Member Caballero has pulled AB 577 from consideration in the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. RCRC Position: Support

Assembly Bill 975 (Friedman): Natural Resources: Wild and Scenic Rivers. Assembly Bill 975 would expand the area protected in the state’s Wild and Scenic Rivers System from immediately adjacent to the affected river segment to one-quarter of a mile, including both public and private lands. Status: AB 975 was placed on the Assembly Inactive File.  RCRC Position:  Oppose

Assembly Bill 1250 (Jones-Sawyer): Counties and Cities: Personal Contract Services.  Assembly Bill 1250 would establish specific standards for the use of personal services contracts by counties.  Status: AB 1250 awaits consideration in the Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose

Senate Bill 577 (Dodd): Public Postsecondary Education: Community College.  Senate Bill 577 would allow community college districts to offer a teacher credentialing program. Status: SB 577 is now a “two-year” bill and awaits consideration in the Assembly Higher Education Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

Senate Bill 623 (Monning): Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.  Senate Bill 623 would establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.  SB 623 would provide grants, loans, or services to assist those without access to safe and affordable drinking water. Status: SB 623 awaits consideration in the Assembly Rules Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

Senate Bill 824 (Lara): Insurance: Nonrenewal.  Senate Bill 824 would express the intent of the Legislature to clarify that the provisions described concerning cancellation of structural insurance policies is applicable to all insured properties located within a county for which a state of emergency has been declared. SB 824 prohibits nonrenewal of the policies under specified circumstances. Status: SB 824 awaits action on the Senate Floor.  RCRC Position: Support