RCRC members are encouraged to share letters addressed to state and federal representatives and regulatory bodies with RCRC’s Government Affairs staff.
AB 896 (Eggman): Wildlife Management Areas/Mosquito Abatement. Assembly Bill 896 would help protect the public’s health from vector borne diseases such as the West Nile Virus through a multipronged approach that requires collaboration among state agencies and the local vector control districts to control mosquito and vector breeding populations in wildlife management areas. Status: Passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1174 (Bocanegra): Dental Professionals. AB 1174 would establish the Virtual Dental Home (VDH) system statewide and extend the scope of practice for registered dental assistants and dental hygienists such that they are able to perform early intervention procedures on patients who traditionally are not able to go to a dental office for treatment. Status: Passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1451 (Holden): Concurrent Enrollment. AB 1451 would help provide rural high school students with access to higher education opportunities. Status: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1739 (Dickinson): Groundwater Management. Assembly Bill 1739 would require comprehensive sustainable groundwater management plans in all groundwater basins the Department of Water Resources determines to be of medium or high priority. Status: Passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended
AB 1826 (Chesbro): Solid Waste: Organic Waste: AB 1826 would address commercial disposal and recycling of organic waste, and various waste management issues of importance to rural counties. Status: AB 1826 gained final passage in both houses of the Legislature and now awaits the Governor’s consideration. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2241 (Eggman): Local Government/Agricultural Land. Assembly Bill 2241 would change the rescission fee charged by a county when land under Williamson Act contract or land designated as a farmland security zone enters into a solar-use easement to 10 percent of the fair market value of the property, and allows for counties that choose to utilize this approach to retain half of the rescission fee until January 1, 2020. Status: Passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2311 (Bradford): General Assistance/Employable Veterans. Current law allows a county to prohibit an employable individual from receiving these benefits for more than 3 months in a 12 month period, provided they have been offered a job training opportunity. AB 2311 would exclude employable veterans who were honorably discharged from the armed forces from this prohibition and impose a statewide mandate for a specific population. Status: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose
AB 2363 (Dahle): Electricity Procurement. Assembly Bill 2363 would require the development of integration adders so that the Commission may accurately consider the full costs and benefits of the various technologies in its renewable portfolio standard decision-making. Status: Passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2413 (Perez): Office of Farm to Fork. AB 2413 would create the Office of Farm to Fork under the direction of the Department of Food and Agriculture and would require the office to identify communities in both rural and urban areas that lack access to healthy food. Status: Passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2703 (Quirk-Silva): County Veterans Service Officers. AB 2703 would allocate $6,000,000 from the General Fund to counties for the purpose of funding various CVSO activities, and would create a formula through which those funds would be allocated. Status: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1137 (Torres): School Transportation Apportionments. SB 1137 would reimburse school districts for 50 percent of approved transportation costs. Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1168 (Pavley): Groundwater Management. Senate Bill 1168 would require comprehensive sustainable groundwater management plans in all groundwater basins the Department of Water Resources determines to be of medium or high priority. Status: Passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended
SB 1219 (Torres): Public Employees' Retirement: Service After Retirement: SB 1219 allows those serving in elected office from mandatory re-instatement into the California Public Employees Retirement System if they are a retired CalPERS annuitant. Status: SB 1219 awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1292 (Hueso): Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Senate Bill 1292 would increase the maximum amount of a construction grant award from $3 million to $5 million for a water system serving severely disadvantaged communities. Status: Passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1341 (Mitchell): Medi-Cal/Statewide Automated Welfare System. SB 1341 would require SAWS to be the system of record for Medi-Cal, and contain all Medi-Cal eligibility rules and case management functionality. Status: Passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support