RCRC members are encouraged to share letters addressed to state and federal representatives and regulatory bodies with RCRC’s Government Affairs staff.
AB 1035 (Perez): Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Public Safety Personnel: AB 1035 extends the timeline for firefighters and peace officers to file certain death claims under the workers’ compensation system. Status: AB 1035 passed both houses of the Legislature and was signed into law by the Governor earlier this week. RCRC Position: Oppose
AB 1451 (Holden): Concurrent Enrollment. AB 1451 would help provide rural high school students with access to higher education opportunities. Status: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1661 (Bonta): Healthy Options for Everyone Act of 2014. AB 1661 would create a standard definition for “food desert” within statute and would allow local governments to create Healthy Options for Everyone (HOPE) incentives zones, whereby fresh food vendors could operate within specified food desert areas. Status: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1739 (Dickinson): Groundwater Management. AB 1739 would require a sustainable groundwater management plan to be adopted, except as provided, for each high or medium priority groundwater basin by any groundwater management agency as defined. Status: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Pending; Amendments Requested
AB 1894 (Ammiano): Medical Marijuana Regulatory Framework. AB 1894 would establish a state-run statewide regulatory framework for licensing medical marijuana dispensing facilities and cultivation sites. Status:AB 1894 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Concerns; Amendments Requested
SB 1292 (Hueso): Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. SB 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: Held on the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Support
AB 1799 (Gordon): Land Use: Mitigation Lands. AB 1799 would exempt a governmental entity or special district from the requirement to provide an endowment for long-term stewardship of mitigation lands if the entity provides evidence that it possesses an investment-grade credit rating and provide a resolution or contractual agreement to enforce the mitigation requirements. Status: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. 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 Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
AB 2514 (Pan): Physician Corps Program. AB 2514 would allow a tax credit for health care professionals who reside and practice medicine in a designated rural health care professional shortage area. Status: Passed out of the Assembly Revenue & Taxation 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 on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File. RCRC Position: Support