Editor’s Note: The Governor signed AB 1054 on Friday, July
12.
After an intense week of advocacy, AB 1054
(Holden) passed through the Legislature and now heads to
Governor Newsom for signature. The bill is a comprehensive
package of policies that protects the rights of fire victims,
creates additional safety and oversight measures for utilities
and ensures utilities are held accountable for the safety of
their systems.
CSAC strongly supported AB 1054 and started this week off with a
press conference on the steps of the State Capitol with Up
From the Ashes, County Supervisors and wildfire survivors in
support of the bill. Additionally, CSAC advocates met with dozens
of legislators and staff over the course of the week to advocate
for its passage.
More than 4 million residents call the eight counties and
62 cities of California’s Central Valley home. While recognized
as an important center of agriculture and one of the state’s
fastest growing regions, Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera,
Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties face significant
employment, environmental and housing challenges.
“Economic development has been a long-standing priority for
Fresno County and the region,” said Buddy Mendes, Fresno County
Supervisor. “We have to belong to the Get-Something-Done Party if
we want to make improvements through local government.”
The Employee Relations policy area falls under the jurisdiction
of the Government Finance and Operations (GFO) Policy Committee
and is responsible for all issues related to public employment
and retirement. Specific issues areas are pension benefits and
pension system administration; labor relations; issues regarding
county negotiations with employees; workers’ compensation; and
other risk management issues facing public employers.
Alameda County resident Shanika Pate and her 14-year-old daughter
would drive to a new townhouse development every day and pray
outside that their application would be accepted. And when
they received the green light to move, their lives started on a
new path.
That 20-unit development, Everett Commons, is just one of results
that have come out of Alameda County’s $580-million general
obligation bond to combat the local affordable-housing crisis to
date. In 2016, that bond – Measure A1 — was approved by 73
percent of the county’s voters. And now that funding is being
turned into affordable housing and being used for other programs
to assist county residents with their housing needs.
“If this program was not here, I would be miserable – mentally,
emotionally and physically,” says Pate, who was previously
living in a neighborhood plagued by violence. “I would be in a
cycle of just going down, down, down.”
