In this Issue
Top Headlines
Budget Hearings Give Insight in to Legislature’s Priorities
Two-year Bills Must Clear Early Session Deadlines
Lawmakers Turn Attention to Public Safety Power Shutdown in the Legislative Session
CSAC News
Planning, Collaboration and County Ingenuity Combine In Riverside County
Tulare County Joins CSAC Support Hub
CalPERS Forum Mixes Board, Executives, and Members
Policy Reports
FEMA Grants $20 Million to California to Increase Earthquake Protection
CPUC Wildfire Safety Division Announces Workshops for Wildfire Mitigation Plans
Disaster Response and Housing: CEQA Streamlining
California Earned Income Tax Credit Webinar
Meetings, Webinars, Training etc.
Do You Know? Tehema County
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Budget Hearings Give Insight in to Legislature’s Priorities
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This week the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees held their first hearings to discuss the Governor’s proposed budget for 2020-21. These are just the first round of hearings. Between now and May, when the Governor will release a revised budget proposal, the Budget Committees will hold a number of oversight hearings on specific topics within the budget.
The focus of these hearings consistently came back to housing and homelessness. Assembly Member Phil Ting, the Chair of the Budget Committee, applauded funding to expand affordable housing, while also addressing the current homeless crisis. The Governor’s proposal includes a new Access to Housing and Services Fund, with an initial state investment of $750 million. The fund will pay rent for individuals facing homelessness, support new dwelling units, and help stabilize board and care facilities and homes. Republicans drilled the Administration’s witnesses on fiscal responsibility and what they see as increased bureaucracy.
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Two-year Bills Must Clear Early Session Deadlines
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The deadline for two-year bills is looming next week, and the Legislature has a number of measures it has to consider by January 31st.
Bills introduced last year, but did not pass out of its house of origin must be considered and moved to the second house by the end of the month. This puts the pressure on lawmakers whose bills stalled out last year to move them through committees and off the floor in a short timeframe. A number of outstanding bills remain. Here is a list of the bills that CSAC is tracking through these January deadlines. Click "Read more" for more information on the bill and CSAC's position.
AB 31 (C. Garcia)
AB 66 (Gonzalez)
AB 141 (Cooper)
AB 516 (Chiu)
AB 818 (Cooley)
AB 890 (Wood)
AB 964 (Medina)
AB 1525 (Jones-Sawyer)
AB 1568 (McCarty)
SB 45 (Allen)
SB 50 (Wiener)
SB 144 (Mitchell)
SB 207 (Hurtado)
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Lawmakers Turn Attention to Public Safety Power Shutdown in the Legislative Session
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Given the massive disruption to local communities caused by Public Safety Power Shutdowns (PSPS) during the past fire season, many Legislators have introduced new bills aimed at improving the current PSPS process. In addition to tracking these newly introduced bills, CSAC is actively engaged in multiple rulemakings at the CPUC, has successfully advocated for more funding to deal with community impacts of PSPS, and has convened meetings with key PSPS stakeholders from across the state. CSAC will continue to monitor this legislation as it moves through the Legislative process.
AB 1915 (Chu)
AB 1916 (Chu)
AB 1936 (Rodriguez)
SB 753 (Stern)
SB 801 (Glazer)
SB 802 (Glazer)
SB 858 (Beall)
SB 862 (Dodd)
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Planning, Collaboration and County Ingenuity Combine In Riverside County’s Department of Waste Resources
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Riverside County’s Department of Waste Resources combined early regulatory-agency collaboration and sound engineering methods to protect residents and an endangered species from possible landfill exposure and stormwater. Even better, their efforts saved the county millions of dollars in mitigation fees.
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After the Corona Landfill closed in 1986, the southeast channel located adjacent to the landfill became an integral link in the city of Corona’s drainage plan to convey storm water from about a third of the city’s watershed. Over time, a new residential development grew up to the channel’s southern bank while increased storm events and flooding eroded the armor of the slope. As the channel took on more and more water, Riverside County’s Department of Waste Resources (RCDWR) had to return to the site every couple of years to repair the channel from storm water damage to prevent landfill material from being exposed to the environment.
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Tulare County Joins CSAC Support Hub
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Last week, Tulare County became the 11th county to be added to the network of counties in the CSAC Support Hub- a capacity-building initiative designed to assist counties in increasing their use of data and evidence to make informed decisions about criminal justice programs and their benefits.
Los Angeles, Contra Costa, and Stanislaus counties will also be launching projects with the CSAC Support Hub over the next month. These four counties will join Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Nevada, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Ventura, and Yolo counties as part of a statewide network of counties working to incorporate data-driven and evidence-based practices into their criminal justice programs.
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CalPERS Forum Mixes Board, Executives, and Members
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Counties, other local employers, public employees, and retirees had a rare opportunity to meet with and ask questions of the CalPERS board members and executive team this week at what was billed as the first CalPERS Stakeholder Forum. Among the more intriguing topics: forecasting lower returns over the next decade, possible small changes to the discount rate, and a continued focus on enforcing rules related to temporary employees and pensionable compensation, all of which will be of interest to the many counties that provide retirement and health benefits through CalPERS.
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FEMA Grants $20 Million to California to Increase Earthquake Protection
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has granted $20 million to the State of California for its Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) program. The grant will subsidize the work of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) for earthquake retrofits on more than 6,300 at-risk structures likely to shake from their foundations in the event of an earthquake.
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CPUC Wildfire Safety Division Announces Workshops for Wildfire Mitigation Plans
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The CPUC has announced upcoming workshops for evaluations of 2020 Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMPs). 2020 WMPs are due to the Department by February 7. The CPUC has announced the following tentative dates and will provide more details soon. Workshop #1: February 18 and possibly February 19, Workshop #2: February 24 and February 25.
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Disaster Response and Housing: CEQA Streamlining
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The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) has updated technical advisories on disaster response and housing to include references to recently enacted legislation. These technical advisories are intended to provide guidance on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provisions that may streamline disaster recovery response and housing construction.
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California Earned Income Tax Credit Webinar
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More than 600,000 young adults in California, including current and former foster youth, are expected to qualify for the CalEITC this tax season. John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY), will host a webinar, CalEITC 101: Expanded State Tax Credit Puts Cash into the Pockets of California’s Most Vulnerable Transition-Age Youth, on Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
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Do You Know? Tehema County
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Named for the city, there are several theories as to the origin of Tehema County's name. Possible roots include the Arabic word tehama (“hot low-lands”), the Mexican word tejamanil (shingle), or “high water” in the dialect of local Native Americans. Famous early Tehema County residents include Kit Carson, who took part in a fight that gave name to Bloody Island and Battle Creek, Jedediah Smith, John C. Fremont, and William B. Ide, the first and only president of the California Republic.
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