After weeks of counting provisional and mail-in ballots, the last remaining State Senate race in question has been decided for Democrat Josh Newman, who defeated Assembly Member Ling Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar) for the vacant 29th Senate District that includes the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino. California Senate Democrats now have 27 seats in the forty-member chamber, providing them with a 2/3rds majority in both houses of the Legislature.
There are several legislative issues that are likely to be addressed in the 2017 Legislative Session – which convenes on Monday December 5th – that were unresolved from the previous Session and require a 2/3rds vote for passage. These include, among others, an extension of the State’s Cap-and-Trade program beyond the current 2020 sunset, a transportation revenue and reform package, and a dedicated funding source for affordable housing.
Cap-and-Trade
The supermajority will likely ease Governor Brown's quest to extend the State's Cap-and-Trade program beyond its 2020 sunset date. Assembly Bill 32 (de Leon), also known as the 2006 California Global Warming Solutions Act, allowed for the establishment of the program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial polluters such as powerplants and oil refineries by the year 2020. Governor Brown sought to extend the program indefinitely during the 2016 legislative session without success.
Transportation
The Legislature considered several proposals over the last legislative session to enact new transportation revenues coupled with reforms, but was unable to reach an agreement in the final days of the session or under the Special Session on Transportation that concluded earlier this week. We anticipate that the Legislature will once again consider how to fund the state and local transportation infrastructure. Since Democrats will have control of both chambers, it remains to be seen what elements (i.e. Republican transportation reform proposals) would be included any a final transportation package.
Affordable Housing
Several attempts have been made over the years to increase development of affordable housing through proposals that ranged from establishing a dedicated and reliable funding source tied to real estate transactions to others that would streamline and reform the local government permitting process. While the majority of these efforts failed to gain the support necessary to advance through the legislative process, the Legislature will likely continue to focus on how to address the issue of affordable housing.