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. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1934 (Santiago): Density Bonus. Assembly Bill 1934 would provide a commercial developer a density bonus for partnering with an affordable housing developer on a mixed-use project who also receives a density bonus. Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate. RCRC Position: Concerns – Seeking Amendments
AB 2149 (Bonilla): Collection of Cash Payments for 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: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2243 (Wood): Medical Cannabis: Cultivation Taxation. Assembly Bill 2243 would impose state taxes on the cultivation of medical marijuana. Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2319 (Gordon): Infrastructure Bank. Assembly Bill 2319 seeks to increase development of affordable housing by making these projects eligible for California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank funding. Status: Failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 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: Gained passage in the Assembly. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2475 (Gordon): Loan Program: Infrastructure Bank. Assembly Bill 2475 would encourage local agencies to expand development of affordable homes by establishing a forgivable loan program within the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. Status: Failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 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: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate. RCRC Position: Oppose
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: 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 (DAC). Status: Gained passage in the Assembly. RCRC Position: Oppose
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 and awaits consideration in the Senate Transportation, Housing 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: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly. 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: Failed passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
SB 987 (McGuire): Taxation of Medical Marijuana. Senate Bill 987 would impose a statewide excise fee on the sale of medical marijuana. Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly. RCRC Position: Support
SB 1000 (Leyva): General Plans: Environmental Justice. Senate Bill 1000 would require and Environmental Justice element be added to a county General Plan. Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly. RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended
SB 1029 (Hertzberg): Debt Issuance. Senate Bill 1029 would require local governments to submit various reporting elements to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Committee for all bond debt that has not been fully repaid or redeemed. Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly. RCRC Position: Pending - Seeking Amendments
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: Awaits consideration in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee. 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. 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: Gained passage in the Senate. 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: Gained passage in the Senate. 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: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly. 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: Gained passage in the Senate. RCRC Position: Oppose
SB 1396 (Wolk): Inner Coast Range Conservancy. Senate Bill 1396 would establish the Inner Coast Range Program within the Wildlife Conservation Board. The Inner Coast Range region as defined in the legislation includes all or part of the following counties: Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Tehama, Trinity and Yolo. Status: Gained passage in the Senate. RCRC Position: Oppose