RCRC members are encouraged to share letters addressed to state and federal representatives and regulatory bodies with RCRC’s Government Affairs staff. Click “Read More” to access information related to the current status of legislation impacting California’s rural counties.
Senate and Assembly Appropriation Committees to Address Suspense File on May 27th
The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees will each respectively address the Suspense File on Friday, May 27, 2016. All Senate and Assembly bill that have an estimated cost of $50,000 or higher to the State’s General Fund or $150,000 for special funds are placed on the committees suspense file. The Appropriation Committees of each house addresses the Suspense File after much of the year’s tax receipts have come-in, and the Governor has released the May Revise of the proposed State Budget.
AB 1749 (Mathis): CEQA: Exemption: Recycled Water Pipeline. Assembly Bill 1749 would extend the exemption, until January 1, 2019, from CEQA requirements on projects consisting of the construction or expansion of recycled water pipeline and directly related infrastructure within existing rights of way, and directly related groundwater replenishment under specified conditions and undertaken for the purpose of mitigating drought conditions for which a state of emergency was proclaimed by the Governor. Status: Gained passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2406 (Thurmond): Junior Accessory Dwellings. Assembly Bill 2406 would provide local governments the option to adopt an ordinance regarding the development of Junior Accessory Dwelling Units in single family residential zones. Status: Gained passage in the Assembly, awaits committee assignment in the Senate. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2438 (Waldron): CEQA: Exemption: Recycled Water Pipelines. Assembly Bill 2438 would, until January 1, 2020, exempt from CEQA a project for the construction and installation of a new pipeline or the maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation, replacement, removal, or demolition of an existing pipeline, not exceeding 8-miles in length, for the distribution of recycled water within a public street, highway, or right-of-way. Status: Awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2501 (Bloom): Housing: Density Bonus. Assembly Bill 2501 seeks to increase affordable housing through reforms to density law and the review period to process a density bonus application. Status: Awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. RCRC Position: Oppose
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 agreement to follow the same local and state licensure requirements as outlined in the recently-enacted medical marijuana regulatory framework. Status: Awaits final consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Pending
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: Placed on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. 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: Awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2781 (Garcia): Supplemental Environmental Projects. Assembly Bill 2781 would direct 10 percent of all penalties collected by California Environmental Protection Agency boards, departments, and offices to fund environmental projects in disadvantaged communities using Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code for the definition (CalEnviro Screen) of a disadvantaged community. Status: Placed on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended
AB 2783 (E. Garcia): Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities. Assembly Bill 2783 would amend the guidelines and criteria for the Rural Innovation Project Area component of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to provide the opportunity for more rural communities to compete for these critical funds. Status: Gained passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. 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: Awaits consideration on the Senate Floor. RCRC Position: Oppose
SB 957 (Hueso): Health Care Districts: Design-Build. Senate Bill 957 which would authorize all 78 of California’s healthcare districts to utilize the design-build process for the construction of hospitals or health facility buildings. Status: Awaits consideration in the Assembly Local Government Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 995 (Pavley): Well Standards. Senate Bill 995 would require the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to update well standards for certain types of wells based on existing knowledge. SB 995 would also require the DWR to establish an advisory panel to identify critical gaps in existing knowledge about the best practices for well construction, alteration, maintenance, and destruction for these wells. Status: Placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Support if Amended
SB 1069 (Wieckowski): Land Use: Zoning. Senate Bill 1069 seeks to encourage the development of more affordable housing through various reforms to a local government’s planning requirements and zoning regulations. Status: Gained passage in the Senate, awaits committee assignment in the Assembly. RCRC Position: Pending – Seeking Amendments
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. SB 1170 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: Awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Oppose
SB 1188 (McGuire): Wildlife Management Areas: Payment of Taxes and Assessments. Senate Bill 1188 would return the ‘may’ back to ‘shall’ in Fish and Game Code Section 1504 making future PILT payments required rather than permissive. Status: Placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File. 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: Sent to Senate Floor under provisions of SR 28.8. RCRC Position: Oppose