AB 1575 (Bonta): Medical Marijuana: Regulatory Structure. Assembly Bill 1575 addresses a number of aspects relating to the enactment of the medical marijuana regulatory framework. The bill serves as an omnibus clean-up; however a number of provisions are controversial and must be addressed. Status: AB 1575 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Neutral – A number of proposed amendments put forth
AB 1734 (Obernolte): Recording of Mining Claims. Assembly Bill 1734 would amend California statute to mirror the federal requirements for recording a mining claim on Bureau of Land Management lands. Status: AB 1734 passed out of the State Assembly and now awaits consideration in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1758 (Stone): Telecommunications: California Advanced Services Fund. Assembly Bill 1758 would establish various reforms to the California Advanced Services Fund, including increased revenues to support rural broadband infrastructure and deployment. Status: AB 1758 failed passage in the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1780 (Medina): Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Sustainable Freight Corridors Program. Assembly Bill 1780 would permanently allocate 25 percent of all annual proceeds from California’s Cap-and-Trade program to the Sustainable Freight Corridors Program, leaving only 15 percent in discretionary funds annually. Status: AB 1780 was held on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File. RCRC Position: Oppose
AB 2024 (Wood): Critical Access Hospitals: Employment. Assembly Bill 2024 would allow critical access hospitals (CAH) to directly employ physicians and bill for their professional services. Status: AB 2024 passed out of the Assembly Health Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2029 (Dahle): Timber Harvest Plans: Exemptions. Assembly Bill 2029 would extend and expand the provisions of the existing Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Program. Status: AB 2024 is awaiting action in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2149 (Bonilla): State Board of Equalization: State Agencies: Collection of Cash Payments: Medical Marijuana-Related Businesses. Assembly Bill 2149 would authorize the Board of Equalization to accept cash transactions on behalf of several state agencies charged with regulatory responsibility of medical marijuana. Status: AB 2149 awaits consideration in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2243 (Wood): Medical Cannabis: Cultivation Taxation. Assembly Bill 2243 would impose state taxes on the cultivation of medical marijuana. Status: AB 2243 failed passage in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. RCRC Position: Support if Amended
AB 2314 (Bigelow): Disaster Relief: County of Calaveras. Assembly Bill 2314 would provide state funding to backfill property tax revenue losses as a result of the Butte Fire in Calaveras County. Status: AB 2314 passed out of Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2332 (Eduardo Garcia): Transportation Funding: Complete Streets. Assembly Bill 2332 would redirect monies from the State Highway Operation and Protection Program to provide a funding source for “complete streets” projects in disadvantaged communities. Status: AB 2332 failed passage in the Assembly Transportation Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended
AB 2396 (McCarty): Solid Waste Reports. Assembly Bill 2396, as initially proposed, would repeal a provision that requires state reimbursement to local agencies if the Commission on State Mandates determines the cost of the counties’ reporting requirements are to be borne by the State. Status: AB 2396 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Neutral – Recent amendments removed our opposition
AB 2507 (Gordon): Access to Telehealth. Assembly Bill 2507 would require health care service plans (health plans) and health insurers to reimburse telehealth services to the same extent as services provided through in person. Status: AB 2507 passed out of Assembly Health Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2545 (Bonta): Medical Marijuana: Tribal Activities. Assembly Bill 2545 would authorize the State of California to enter into agreements with Native American tribes that seek to engage in commercial cannabis activities. Recent amendments would require those agreements to follow the same local and state licensure requirements as outlined in the recently-enacted medical marijuana regulatory framework. Status: AB 2545 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Pending
AB 2574 (Chavez): Veteran Farmers and Ranchers. Assembly Bill 2574 would develop a New Veteran Farmer and Rancher Outreach and Assistance Plan to circulate information regarding veteran and agricultural education, training, and other assistance programs. Status: AB 2574 was held on the Assembly consent calendar. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2678 (Gray): State-designated fairs: funding. Assembly Bill 2678 would dedicate the State portion of the sales and use tax collected from transactions at fairgrounds except for Los Angeles to support small - and medium-sized fairs. Status: Gained passage in the Assembly Agriculture Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2686 (Mullin): Special Elections. Assembly Bill 2686 would provide counties the option of conducting special elections, under certain circumstances, to fill the vacancy of a State Senate, State Assembly, of Congressional district via all-mail balloting. Status: AB 2686 awaits consideration in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 885 (Wolk): Indemnity Agreements. Senate Bill 885 would eliminate the ability of a public agency to impose indemnity clauses in contract with engineers and architects for upfront legal defense costs against claims related to a project’s design work. Status: SB 885 awaits consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose
SB 967 (Vidak): Special Elections Costs. Senate Bill 967 would require the State to pay for the cost of special elections – as proclaimed by the Governor – to fill a vacancy in the office of a member of the State Assembly, State Senate, or the U.S. House of Representatives that occurs after January 1, 2008. Status: SB 967 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 987 (McGuire): Taxation: Medical Marijuana. Senate Bill 987 would impose a statewide excise tax on the sale of medical marijuana. Status: SB 987 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1170 (Wieckowski): Public contracts: water pollution prevention plans: delegation. Senate Bill 1170 would prohibit a public entity, charter city, or charter county from delegating to a contractor the development of a plan, as defined, used to prevent or reduce water pollution or runoff on a public works contract, except as provided. The bill would also prohibit a public entity, charter city, or charter county from requiring a contractor on a public works contract that includes compliance with a plan to assume responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of a plan developed by that entity. Status: Passed out of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose
SB 1212 (Hueso): 211 Information and Referral Network. Senate Bill 1212 would expand the state-wide 2-1-1 network into all 58 of California’s counties. Status: SB 1212 passed out of Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1250 (McGuire): Telecom: Rural Outage Reportings. Senate Bill 1250 would require telecommunications carriers to report rural 911 outages to state and local public safety agencies. Status: SB 1250 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1302 (McGuire): Basic Property Insurance: California FAIR Plan. Senate Bill 1302 addresses a number of aspects to the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan. Status: SB 1302 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1317 (Wolk): Conditional use permit: groundwater extraction facility. Senate Bill 1317 would require a city or county overlying a basin designated as a high or medium priority basin to establish a process for the issuance of conditional use permits for the development of a groundwater extraction facility in order to prevent that facility from contributing to or creating an undesirable result. Status: SB 1317 passed out of the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose
SB 1347 (Nielsen): Fire Prevention Fee: Administration. Senate Bill 1347 would extend the sunset on the requirement to submit an annual report on SRA fire fee expenditures until January 2022. Status: SB 1347 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1380 (Mitchell): Homelessness Coordinating and Financing Council. Senate Bill 1380 would establish the California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC). Status: SB 1347 passed out of Senate Transportation and Housing Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1463 (Moorlach): Electrical Lines: Mitigation of Wildfire Risks. Senate Bill 1463 would require the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to prioritize communities that are at high risk from the consequences of wildfires when determining areas in which it will require enhanced mitigation measures for wildfire hazards posed by overhead electrical lines and equipment. Status: SB 1463 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support