Information related to the current status of legislation impacting California’s rural counties.
AB 6 (Friedman) Transportation planning: regional transportation plans: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This bill would have amended reporting and transportation project review requirements, under SB 375 (2008), for the state’s 18 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), for project information pertaining to climate and greenhouse gas emissions impacts. The bill would have required MPOs to send technical methodologies to CA Air Resources Board for review before project selection and approval can commence. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was TRANS. on 5/30/2024) Position: Oppose Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 7 (Friedman) Transportation: planning: project selection processes. This bill would have required all transportation projects funded, at least in part, through major state or federal funding programs to incorporate several, specified principles that include improving road safety, conformity with federal streamlined project principles, ADA compliance, water and air quality impacts, climate impacts, and access to disadvantaged communities, among others. Location: Senate 2 year Status: 9/14/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(14). (Last location was INACTIVE FILE on 9/11/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024) Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 62 (Mathis) Statewide water storage: expansion. Would have established a statewide goal to increase above- and below-ground water storage capacity by a total of 3,700,000 acre-feet by the year 2030 and a total of 4,000,000 acre-feet by the year 2040. The bill would have required the Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the state board, to take reasonable actions to promote or assist efforts to achieve the statewide goal, as provided. The bill would require the department, beginning July 1, 2027, and on or before July 1 every 2 years thereafter until January 1, 2043, in consultation with the state board, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the progress made to achieve the statewide goal. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 2/1/2024-From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 66 (Mathis) Natural Resources Agency: water storage projects: permit approval. Would have required CA Natural Resources Agency, or the relevant state agency, to approve the necessary permits for specified storage projects within 180 days from receiving a permit application, and would deem those permits approved if approval does not occur within this time period. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 2/1/2024-From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 68 (Ward) Land use: streamlined housing approvals: density, subdivision, and utility approvals. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 2/1/2024-From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. Position: No Position Staff: Tracy (1)
AB 422 (Alanis) Natural Resources Agency: statewide water storage: tracking. Would have required CA Natural Resources Agency, on or before June 1, 2024, to post on its publicly available internet website information tracking the progress to increase statewide water storage, and to keep that information updated. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 2/1/2024-From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 429 (Bennett) Groundwater wells: permits. If 1% of domestic wells were to go dry in a critically overdrafted basin, this bill would prohibit a county, city, or any other water well permitting agency from approving a permit for a new groundwater well or for an alteration to an existing well in a basin subject to the act and classified as a critically overdrafted basin unless the city county or well permitting agency obtains written verification from a groundwater sustainability agency that the proposed well would not be inconsistent with any sustainable groundwater management program AND the proposed well would not decrease the likelihood of achieving a sustainability goal for the basin covered by the plan. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 2/1/2024-From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. Position: Oppose Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 460 (Bauer-Kahan) State Water Resources Control Board: water rights and usage: civil penalties. This bill would authorize CA State Water Board to issue, on its own motion or upon the petition of an interested party, an interim relief order in appropriate circumstances to implement or enforce these and related provisions of law. The bill would provide that a person or entity that violates any interim relief order issued by the board would be liable to the board for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed the sum of $10,000 for each day in which a violation occurs and $5,000 for each acre-foot of water diverted in violation of the interim relief order. Location: Senate Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (August 15). Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 491 (Wallis) Local government: fines and penalties. would provide effectual tools for addressing illicit land use activities, including unlicensed cannabis operations by (1) streamlined judicial reviewed for minor administrative penalties (under $25,000) imposed for unpermitted cannabis activities; (2) efficient collection of final penalty order (i.e. after administrative/judicial review is complete), in the same manner presently used for pesticide enforcement fines; (3) clarifies that priority of real property liens used to collect administrative penalties for these violations, by providing that such liens have the same priority as a judgement lien. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was JUD. on 5/29/2024) Position: Sponsor Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 817 (Pacheco) Open meetings: teleconferencing: subsidiary body. AB 817 would provide a narrow exemption under the Ralph M.Brown Act for non-decision-making legislative bodies currently governed by Act, such as advisory bodies and commissions, to participate in two-way virtual teleconferencing without posting physical location of members. In addition, AB 817 would remove barriers to entry for appointed and elected office by allowing non-decision-making legislative bodies to participate virtually as long as they do not have the ability to take final action on legislation, regulations, contracts, licenses, permits, or other entitlements. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was L. GOV. on 5/1/2024) Position: Sponsor Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 1168 (Bennett) Emergency medical services (EMS): prehospital EMS. Would overturn an extensive statutory and case law record that has repeatedly affirmed county responsibility for the administration of emergency medical services and with that, the flexibility to design systems to equitably serve residents throughout their jurisdiction. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 8/13/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 1272 (Wood) State Water Resources Control Board: drought planning. This bill would have required State Water Board to establish a program, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to adopt principles and guidelines for diversion and use of water in coastal watersheds, as specified, during times of water shortage for drought preparedness and climate resiliency. The bill would have required that the principles and guidelines provide for the development of watershed-level plans to support public trust uses, public health and safety, and the human right to water in times of water shortage, among other things. Location: Assembly Vetoed Status: 7/18/2024-Vetoed by the Governor Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 1337 (Wicks) State Water Resources Control Board: water diversion curtailment. This bill would have expanded the instances when the diversion or use of water is considered a trespass, and would have directed State Water Board to adopt regulations for various water conservation purposes, including, but not limited to, to prevent the waste, unreasonable use, unreasonable method of use, or unreasonable method of diversion of water, and to implement these regulations through orders curtailing the diversion or use of water under any claim of right. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was N.R. & W. on 6/7/2023) Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 1563 (Bennett) Groundwater sustainability agency: groundwater extraction permit: verification. This bill would have required a county, city, or any other water well permitting agency to obtain a written verification from the groundwater sustainability agency that manages the basin or area of the basin where the well is proposed to be located determining that, among other things, the extraction by the proposed well is consistent with any sustainable groundwater management program. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was L. GOV. on 5/22/2024) Position: Oppose Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 1616 (Lackey) California Cannabis Tax Fund: Board of State and Community Corrections grants. AB 1616 would require the Board of State and Community Corrections to prioritize local governments whose programs seek to address the unlawful cultivation and sale of cannabis when disbursing grants from California Cannabis Tax Fund. The bill would also authorize the board to make grants to local governments that ban both indoor and outdoor commercial cannabis cultivation or ban retail sale of cannabis or cannabis products. Location: Senate Public Safety Status: 6/26/2023-From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB S. (Ayes 9. Noes 2.) (June 26). Re-referred to Com. on PUB S. Position: Support Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 1785 (Pacheco) California Public Records Act. Would prohibit local agencies from posting an assessor’s parcel number associated with an elected or appointed official on the internet without their written permission. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 6/27/2024-From Consent Calendar. Ordered to third reading. Position: Concerns Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 1957 (Wilson) Public contracts: best value construction contracting for counties. would authorize any county in the state to utilize the best-value contracting model and eliminates the statutory sunset on such authority. Location: Assembly Chaptered Status: 7/2/2024-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 58, Statutes of 2024 Position: Support Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2037 (Papan) Weights and measures: electric vehicle chargers. Current law regulates advertising that indicates the price of motor vehicle fuel, including electricity sold as a motor vehicle fuel. Current law requires a county sealer to enforce the advertising requirements. Current law defines “correct,” for purposes of testing and verifying the accuracy of a weighing or measuring device, as a weight or measure or a weighing, measuring, or counting instrument that meets certain tolerance and specification requirements. This bill would authorize a county sealer to test and verify as correct any electric vehicle charger operated by a public agency, as defined, that is located in the county in which the sealer has jurisdiction. The bill would require a county sealer to condemn and seize, or cause to be marked with a tag or other device with the words “out of order,” an incorrect, as defined, electronic vehicle charger operated by a public agency, as specified. The bill would authorize a county board of supervisors to charge an annual registration fee for the cost of inspecting and testing an electric vehicle charger operated by a public agency, as specified. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 8/6/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 2079 (Bennett) Groundwater extraction: large-diameter, high-capacity water wells: permits. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans, except as specified. Current law authorizes any local agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin to decide to become a groundwater sustainability agency for that basin and imposes specified duties upon that agency or combination of agencies, as provided. Current law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt a model water well, cathodic protection well, and monitoring well drilling and abandonment ordinance implementing certain standards for water well construction, maintenance, and abandonment and requires each county, city, or water agency, where appropriate, not later than January 15, 1990, to adopt a water well, cathodic protection well, and monitoring well drilling and abandonment ordinance that meets or exceeds certain standards. Under current law, if a county, city, or water agency, where appropriate, fails to adopt an ordinance establishing water well, cathodic protection well, and monitoring well drilling and abandonment standards, the model ordinance adopted by the state board is required to take effect on February 15, 1990, and is required to be enforced by the county or city and have the same force and effect as if adopted as a county or city ordinance. This bill would require a local enforcement agency, as defined, to perform specified activities at least 30 days before determining whether to approve a permit for a new large-diameter, high-capacity well, as defined. By imposing additional requirements on a local enforcement agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was N.R. & W. on 5/29/2024) Position: Oppose Unless Amended Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 2104 (Soria) Community colleges: Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2149 (Connolly) Gates: standards: inspection. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-In committee: Held under submission. Position: Oppose Unless Amended Staff: Tracy (1)
AB 2199 (Berman) California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: residential or mixed-use housing projects. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 8/6/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
AB 2266 (Petrie-Norris) California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project: vehicle eligibility. Requires the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to authorize a voucher for a public or private fleet issued under the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project program to be used for the acquisition of a zero-emission vehicle with a gross vehicle weight greater than 8,500 pounds. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 4/25/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(5). (Last location was TRANS. on 2/26/2024) Position: Support Staff: Leigh (1)
AB 2276 (Wood) Forestry: timber harvesting plans: exemptions. AB 2276 extends the sunset date to January 1, 2031 for three important exemptions from timber harvest plan requirements necessary for small land owners to perform fuels treatment and vegetation maintenance on their properties for the purpose of wildfire mitigation. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 6/27/2024-From Consent Calendar. Ordered to third reading. Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
AB 2302 (Addis) Open meetings: local agencies: teleconferences. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 6/6/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Position: Pending Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2330 (Holden) Endangered species: incidental take: wildfire preparedness activities. AB 2330 would streamline the process for fuels treatment projects for local governments that require an incidental take of a candidate species. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
AB 2344 (Petrie-Norris) Fire prevention: grant programs: reporting. AB 2344 would require the Governor's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to publicly post information regarding the allocation of funds from grant programs to provide better information regarding how the state's resources are being utilized for forest resilience projects. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 5/16/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(8). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 4/10/2024) Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
AB 2346 (Lee) Organic waste reduction regulations: procurement of recovered organic waste products. Location: Senate Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 15). Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
AB 2421 (Low) Employer-employee relations: confidential communications. This bill would restrict an employer’s ability to conduct internal investigations to the detriment of employees and the public’s safety and well-being, adding new costs and liability for public employers. AB 2421 creates an employee-union representative privilege in the context of California public employment which could compromise the ability of employers to conduct investigations into workplace safety, harassment and other allegations. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-In committee: Held under submission. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2469 (Committee on Emergency Management) Emergency Management Assistance Compact: California Wildfire Mitigation Financial Assistance Program. AB 2469 extends the sunset of the California Wildfire Mitigation Program from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2030. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
AB 2528 (Arambula) Williamson Act contracts: cancellation: energy projects. The California Land Conservation Act of 1965, otherwise known as the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to enter into contracts with owners of agricultural land to preserve the land to agricultural use, as specified. Current law authorizes the cancellation of a contract under certain circumstances. Current law requires the city or county to execute and record a certificate of cancellation of contract if the city and county approves a cancellation of a contract. Current law authorizes the city or county to charge a cancellation fee in an amount equal to 12.5% of the cancellation valuation of the property. This bill would instead require that the cancellation fees be transmitted by the county treasurer to the Controller within 45 days of the execution of a certification of cancellation of contract. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 5/16/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(8). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 5/15/2024) Position: Oppose Staff: Sidd (1)
AB 2557 (Ortega) Local agencies: contracts for special services and temporary help: performance reports. AB 2557 places new contracting and posting requirements for local agencies that are overly burdensome, exceptionally costly, and inappropriately inflexible, likely resulting in worse outcomes for vulnerable communities and diminished local services for our residents and students. With the proposed requirements of AB 2557 for local agencies with represented workforces and for their contractors, we anticipate (1) fewer non-profit providers, community-based organizations, and other private service providers willing to engage with local agencies, (2) exacerbated already-demanding caseloads and workloads for our existing staff, and (3) increased costs for local agencies. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-In committee: Held under submission. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2561 (McKinnor) Local public employees: vacant positions. This measure requires local agencies with vacancy rates exceeding 15% for permanent full-time positions for more than 180 days (approximately 6 months) within a bargaining unit to, at the request of the bargaining unit, meet with the bargaining unit within 21 days and hold a public hearing within 90 days to discuss, among other specified items, the public agency’s strategy to fill the vacancies. If the true intent of AB 2561 is to provide a path for public agencies to reduce staff vacancies, diverting staff away from core service delivery and mandating they spend time preparing for additional meet and confer requirements and public hearings on their vacancy rates will not achieve that goal. Adding another unfunded mandate on public agencies will not solve the problem this bill has identified. It is just as likely to create even more burn-out from employees tasked with producing the very report the bill mandates. Location: Senate Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 15). Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2787 (Patterson, Joe) Energy: building standards: photovoltaic requirements. Location: Senate Third Reading Status: 6/18/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
AB 2797 (McKinnor) Telephone corporations: carriers of last resort: tariffs. This bill would commence a process, with no oversight, to no longer require any telephone corporation to be a Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) in a specified manner, and discontinue legacy voice service. A telecommunications service provider designated as a COLR has an obligation to provide basic telephone service, commonly landline plain old telephone service (POTS), to any customer in its service territory to ensure universal access to safe, reliable, and affordable telephone service. AB 2797 requires telephone corporations to identify, as part of the relief notice, (1) a census block of the telephone corporation’s service territory where there is no population or where the company has no basic exchange telephone service customers, or (2) a census block designated as urban where 2 or more different service providers offer alternative voice services, as defined, to customers, or both. Alternative technologies have no equivalent consumer protections, such as minimum service quality standards or reliable access to 9-1-1. Location: Senate Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was E. U., & C. on 6/12/2024) Position: Oppose Staff: Tracy (1)
AB 2882 (McCarty) California Community Corrections Performance Incentives. AB 2882 seeks reprioritization of an existing Proposition 30-protected community corrections revenue stream to address the behavioral health treatment needs of those in county jail settings. The measure expands local requirements – by amending Penal Code section 1230.1 – the elements of the local community corrections plan by requiring new comprehensive and in-depth analyses and recommendations about how criminal justice funds might be used as matching funds for other sources; quantifiable goals for improving the community corrections systems; and specific targets for each goal. These new duties represent a higher level of service in the context of a realigned program and duplicative of reporting mandates recently enacted by proposition 1. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-In committee: Held under submission. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
AB 2902 (Wood) Organic waste: reduction regulations: exemptions. Location: Senate Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (August 15). Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. Position: Sponsor Staff: John (1)
AB 3150 (Quirk-Silva) Fire safety: fire hazard severity zones: defensible space: State Fire Marshal. AB 3150 would allow for members of the public to petition the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to review the Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for potential reclassifications based on new data, and would shift certain responsibilities regarding the maps from the Board of Forestry to the OSFM. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-In committee: Held under submission. Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
AB 3238 (Garcia) California Environmental Quality Act: electrical infrastructure projects. Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-In committee: Held under submission. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 23 (Caballero) Water supply and flood risk reduction projects: expedited permitting. This bill would have authorized a state agency, defined to mean any agency, board, or commission, including the state board or the regional boards, with the power to issue a permit that would authorize a water supply project or authorize a flood risk reduction project, to take specified actions in order to complete permit review and approval in an expeditious manner. The bill would have made findings and declarations related to the need to expedite water supply projects and flood risk reduction projects to better address climate change impacts while protecting the environment. Location: Senate Dead Status: 2/1/2024-Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. Staff: Sidd (1)
SB 42 (Umberg) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program: notice to original petitioner. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Pending Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 399 (Wahab) Employer communications: intimidation. SB 399 would prohibit an employer from subjecting, or threatening to subject, an employee to any adverse action because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or affirmatively declines to participate in, receive, or listen to any communications with the employer, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters. The uncertainty created because of the vague and overly broad provisions of this bill in the context of public employers would make it incredibly difficult to comply with and would certainly be litigated. SB 399 would also create a private right of action in court for damages caused by adverse actions on account of the employee’s refusal to attend an employer sponsored meeting. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 10. Noes 3.) (August 15). Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 418 (Padilla) California Prison Redevelopment Commission. Would establish the California Prison Redevelopment Commission and articulate its responsibilities including its composition, with a focus on developing recommendations for repurposing closed state prison facilities. Location: Assembly 2 year Status: 9/1/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 8/16/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024) Position: Support Staff: Mary-Ann (1)
SB 584 (Limón) Laborforce housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law. Location: Assembly Housing and Community Development Status: 6/29/2023-June 28 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 624 (Alvarado-Gil) Horse racing: state-designated fairs: allocation of revenues: gross receipts for sales and use tax. Location: Assembly Revenue and Taxation Suspense File Status: 7/10/2023-July 10 set for first hearing. Placed on REV. & TAX. suspense file. July 10 hearing. Held in committee and under submission. Position: Support Staff: Mary-Ann (1)
SB 707 (Newman) Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024. Creates a Responsible Textile Recovery Act to require producers to establish a stewardship program for collection and recycling of apparel and textiles that are unsuitable for reuse by a consumer. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 820 (Alvarado-Gil) Cannabis: enforcement: seizure of property. Adapts the same seizure of property provisions currently applicable to unlicensed manufacturing of alcoholic beverages (i.e., moonshining), to cover unlicensed commercial cannabis activities. In addition, SB 820 would invest enforcement proceeds in the Cannabis Control Fund to support equity business. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Sponsor Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 945 (Alvarado-Gil) The Wildfire Smoke and Health Outcomes Data Act. SB 945, the Wildfire Smoke and Health Outcomes Data Act, would require the State Department of Public Health, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, and the State Air Resources Board to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated wildfire smoke and health data platform that, among other things, would integrate wildfire smoke and health data from multiple databases. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
SB 946 (McGuire) Personal Income Tax Law: Corporation Tax Law: exclusions: wildfire mitigation payments. SB 946 would exclude payments from the California Wildfire Mitigation Program, the state's pilot grant program to aid low income homeowners with home hardening retrofits, from eligibility for state income taxes. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
SB 960 (Wiener) Transportation: planning: complete streets facilities: transit priority facilities. Would require all transportation projects funded or overseen by the Department of Transportation to provide comfortable, convenient, and connected complete streets facilities unless an exemption is documented and approved, as specified. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (August 15). Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
SB 961 (Wiener) Vehicles: safety equipment. The Department of the California Highway Patrol regulates the safe operation of specified vehicles, including motortrucks of 3 or more axles that are more than 10,000 pounds, truck tractors, trailers, semitrailers, and buses. Current federal law regulates required safety equipment on vehicles, including rear impact guards on certain large trucks to prevent rear underrides in collisions with passenger vehicles. This bill would require certain trucks and trailers to also be equipped with side guards, as specified. Location: Assembly Third Reading Status: 8/15/2024-Read third time and amended. Ordered to third reading. Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
SB 972 (Min) Methane emissions: organic waste: landfills. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 973 (Grove) Williamson Act: cancellation: solar energy projects. The Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to contract with a landowner to limit the use of agricultural land located in an agricultural preserve designated by the city or county to preserve the land, subject to conditions of the contract, that may include an agreement to a specified valuation of the land for purposes of property taxation. The act authorizes a landowner to petition the city council or board of supervisors, as applicable, for cancellation of the contract under specified circumstances and imposes a cancellation fee equal to 12.5% of the fair market value of the land without the restriction of the contract. This bill would authorize a board or council to grant a petition for cancellation where the land subject to the contract is located in a basin under the jurisdiction of an adjudicated watermaster or the groundwater sustainability agency. The bill would require the landowner to commit to limiting the amount of water rights to a specific solar energy project, as defined, that uses less water than the agricultural use. The bill would also require the board or council to make specified findings, including that the solar energy project use is being permitted that will use less water than the agricultural use. Location: Senate Dead Status: 5/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(6). (Last location was L. GOV. on 2/21/2024) Position: Watch Staff: Sidd (1)
SB 1004 (Wilk) Income taxes: exclusions: wildfires. SB 1004, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, would provide an exclusion from gross income for any qualified taxpayer, as defined, for amounts received for costs and losses associated with wildfires. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
SB 1045 (Blakespear) Composting facilities: zoning. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1046 (Laird) Organic waste reduction: program environmental impact report: small and medium compostable material handling facilities or operations. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1057 (Menjivar) Juvenile justice coordinating council. This measure would dramatically recast the composition of multiagency juvenile justice coordinating councils (JJCC), which are designed to develop and implement a continuum of county-based responses to addressing the needs of justice system-involved youth. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 1060 (Becker) Property insurance underwriting: risk models. SB 1060 would encourage companies offering property insurance in California and utilizing risk assessment models in their underwriting to account for home hardening, defensible space, and community wildfire risk mitigation measures in their models. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was INS. on 6/3/2024) Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
SB 1064 (Laird) Cannabis: operator and separate premises license types: excessive concentration of licenses. This bill seeks to reduce unnecessary complexity and duplication within the cannabis regulatory environment which is impeding government’s ability to license businesses in a reasonable timeframe and complicating efforts to enforce the law. By doing so, it seeks to reduce challenges and barriers to basic compliance for businesses. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Sponsor Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 1066 (Blakespear) Hazardous waste: marine flares: producer responsibility. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1101 (Limón) Fire prevention: prescribed fire: state contracts: maps. SB 1101 streamlines the process for CAL FIRE to enter into contracts for prescribed fire operations for the purpose of fuels treatment projects. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: Staci (1)
SB 1116 (Portantino) Unemployment insurance: trade disputes: eligibility for benefits. Location: Assembly Dead Status: 7/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(13). (Last location was INS. on 6/3/2024) Position: Oppose Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 1143 (Allen) Household hazardous waste: producer responsibility. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1156 (Hurtado) Groundwater sustainability agencies: conflicts of interest: financial interest disclosures. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans, except as specified. Existing law requires a groundwater sustainability plan to be developed and implemented for each medium- or high-priority basin by a groundwater sustainability agency. Current law authorizes any local agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin to decide to become a groundwater sustainability agency for that basin, as provided. Current provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibit a public official from making, participating in making, or attempting to use their official position to influence a governmental decision in which they know or have reason to know that they have a financial interest, as defined. However, current law permits a public official to make or participate in the making of a governmental decision, even if the public official knows or has reason to know that the official has a financial interest, if the official’s participation is legally required for the action or decision to be made. Current law makes a knowing or willful violation of the act a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would require members of the executive team, board of directors, and other groundwater management decision makers of groundwater sustainability agencies to annually disclose any economic or financial interests pursuant to the Political Reform Act of 1974 that may reasonably be considered to affect their decision-making related to groundwater management, as provided. Location: Senate Concurrence Status: 8/15/2024-Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending. Position: No Position Staff: Sidd (1)
SB 1159 (Dodd) California Environmental Quality Act: roadside wildfire risk reduction projects. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1175 (Ochoa Bogh) Organic waste: reduction goals: local jurisdictions: waivers. Would require the State Air Resources Board to consider alternatives to census tracts, as provided, when deciding the boundaries of a low-population or elevation waiver and would require low-population waivers to be valid for a period of 10 years. Location: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File Status: 8/15/2024-August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1193 (Menjivar) Airports: leaded aviation gasoline. Location: Assembly Third Reading Status: 8/8/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Position: Oppose Unless Amended Staff: Sidd (1)
SB 1269 (Padilla) Safety net hospitals. Location: Senate Dead Status: 5/2/2024-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(b)(6). (Last location was HEALTH on 2/29/2024) Position: Support Staff: Sarah (1)
SB 1280 (Laird) Waste management: propane cylinders: reusable or refillable. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1361 (Blakespear) California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: local agencies: contract for providing services for people experiencing homelessness. Location: Senate Enrolled Status: 8/13/2024-Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. Position: Support Staff: John (1)
SB 1420 (Caballero) Hydrogen production facilities: certification and environmental review. Location: Assembly Second Reading Status: 8/15/2024-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (August 15). Position: Support Staff: John (1)
