June 2, 2022

The Legislature raced to meet last Friday’s House of Origin deadline (May 27), which requires all bills to be passed by the House in which they were introduced. The Senate and Assembly passed more than 500 bills off of both floors. Please find CSAC updates on bills of interest organized by issue area below.

Health and Human Services

Note: For an update on SB 1338 (Umberg) and the Governor’s CARE Court proposal, please see the stand-alone article in this edition. 

AB 988 (Bauer-Kahan) – SUPPORT IF AMENDED. Assembly Bill 988 by Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan would implement a statewide 9-8-8 emergency phone and text system as required by federal law. Assembly member Bauer-Kahan introduced AB 988 in 2021 and AB 1988 this year and continues to work on amendments and strategy with the bill’s sponsors, including the Steinberg Institute. Amendments being discussed include:

1. Appropriating $8 million for year one gap funding for call centers (on top of the $20 million appropriated last fall);
2. Creating a stakeholder planning process led by CalHHS (the California Health and Human Services Agency);
3. Forming a technology advisory board at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES);
4. Reducing the proposed mobile phone fee from $0.80 to $0.30 and creating limits to ensure the revenue funds 988 call centers and mobile crisis teams.

It is likely that these amendments will appear in AB 988 soon. The bill has been referred to the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Commerce Committee. AB 1988 was placed on the Inactive File on May 25.

Counties continue to raise significant concerns about 988 implementation, including how crisis calls will be handled and dispatched, which entity will operate the mobile crisis teams, the need for significant resources to implement mobile crisis teams, and the expected influx of clients into the county specialty mental health system.

AB 1737 (Holden) – OPPOSE. Assembly Bill AB 1737 by Assembly Member Chris Holden seeks to ensure the safety of children at “children’s camps” throughout the state. We are pleased to report that Assembly Member Holden has committed to the following amendments in the Senate to address the most critical county concerns with the bill.

First, rather than placing the enforcement and regulation of children’s camps on local health departments, the bill will task the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) with oversight of children’s camps and require random inspections of the camps to ensure safety. The bill will also be amended to set priorities for a state-led stakeholder task force, which will report to the Governor and Legislature on children’s camp issues. Counties will be part of the task force.

Counties wish to thank Assembly Member Holden for working with us to address our concerns and CSAC anticipates removing our oppose position to the bill once the amendments are in print. CSAC also wishes to thank the County Health Executives Association of California (CHEAC) for their tireless advocacy on behalf of the county coalition to achieve a bill that will improve the safety of children. AB 1737 is pending referral to a committee in the Senate.

AB 2630 (O’Donnell) – Neutral. Assembly Bill 2630 by Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell would require a city, county, and city and county to report on how state homelessness funds were used by July 1, 2023. The report would require specified data to be publicly available.

The bill has gone through several iterations throughout the policy committee process, moving CSAC’s position from concerns to neutral. The bill with current amendments will allow counties to use their local landscape analysis, required under previous legislation for state funds, to fulfill the requirements of this measure.

CSAC will continue to follow the bill through the Senate process for any further concerns.

SB 972 (Gonzalez) – OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED. Senate Bill 972 by Senator Lena Gonzalez would loosen the California Retail Food Code to allow additional flexibility for cottage food operations. However, the measure fails to include proper environmental health protections and oversight despite last week’s amendments.

The California Association of Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA) continues to lead the county coalition and advocate with Senator Gonzalez’s office on needed changes. The May 23 amendments nearly resolved issues related to food safety certification, ware washing, standardized preplan approval and alternative commissaries.

However, counties remain concerned about the following:

• The need for fair but effective local enforcement authority for repeat street vending violations and flagrant and dangerous food safety violations;
• Clarify that the use of in-home restaurants (MEHKOs) or Cottage Food Operations (CFOs) as commissaries for compact mobile food facilities (CMFFs) can be allowed only if it can be done safely and under permit;
• The bill provides for outdoor pop-up restaurants, which are counter to widely accepted public health practices requiring commercial food preparation to take place in a structure designed for such a purpose; and
• Ensuring effective handwashing equipment and practice.

Counties remain committed to ensuring economic opportunities for street vendors, but this must be done with the safety of the public in mind. CSAC remains Oppose Unless Amended on SB 972.

SB 1342 (Bates) – SUPPORT. The Senate passed SB 1342, which would authorize counties to create aging multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to allow for information sharing among entities providing services to older adults. Modeled off of the homelessness MDTs authorized by 2017 legislation, these aging services MDTs would improve service delivery, increase coordination, and support integrated case management. Recent amendments require entities to obtain the consent of an individual prior to their information being shared. SB 1342 is sponsored by Orange County.

Administration of Justice

AB 1608 (Gipson) – OPPOSE. Assembly Bill 1608 by Assembly Member Gipson would create unavoidable, significant costs to counties, while removing the existing authority of our 58 elected county boards of supervisors. CSAC is opposed to the measure, which passed off the Assembly Floor and has been referred to the Senate Governance and Finance and Senate Public Safety Committees. CSAC will continue engaging with county partners, the Legislature and stakeholders as the measure continues to move through the legislative process and share further information as it is available.

AB 1744 (Levine) – SUPPORT. Assembly Bill 1744 by Assembly Member Levine would extend the sunset of the use of flash incarceration until January 1, 2028. CSAC supports this measure which would maintain current requirements in statute to allow an individual to decline flash incarceration and request a court revocation hearing, as well as includes notification to the court and public defender upon imposition of flash incarceration. Absent flash incarceration as an intermediate response to violations, the existing mechanism to address violations of probation is to initiate formal revocation court proceedings.  This is a much lengthier process and can result in up to 180 days in which an individual may be in custody. AB 1744 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee and is headed to the Senate Floor.

AB 2321 (Jones-Sawyer) – WATCH. Assembly Bill 2321 by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer redefines the exception to room confinement in juvenile facilities for brief periods to a brief period lasting no more than two hours when necessary for institutional operations and ensures that minors and wards confined at juvenile facilities are provided reasonable access to toilets at all hours, including during normal sleeping hours. AB 2321 passed off the Assembly Floor and is headed to the Senate. At this time, CSAC has not taken a position on this measure.

AB 2417 (Ting) – WATCH. Assembly Bill 2417 by Assembly Member Ting would expand the current rights applicable to youth confined at Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) justice facilities to youth confined in local juvenile detention facilities. This measure would, in addition to the current Youth Bill of Rights for DJJ youth, give youth in local juvenile detention facilities additional rights to include, among others, extending the anti-discrimination provisions to also prohibit discrimination on the basis of a youth’s ethnicity, gender, gender expression, and immigration status; specified adding family and reproductive rights; and adding the right of youth to receive a rigorous education, including access to postsecondary education. AB 2417 passed off the Assembly Floor and is headed to the Senate. At this time, CSAC has not taken a position on this measure.

AB 1630 (Weber) – WATCH. Assembly Bill 1630 by Assembly Member Weber would, shift the burden of proof to the prosecution to prove a finding of competence to stand trial when a court-appointed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist indicates that the defendant is incompetent.  The measure would also require the clerk of the court to notify the Department of Justice (DOJ) when a person has either been deemed incompetent to stand trial (IST) or has had their competency restored so that the information may be included in the person’s state summary criminal history information. AB 1630 passed off of the Assembly Floor and is headed to the Senate. At this time, CSAC has not taken a position on this measure.

AB 2632 (Holden) – WATCH. Assembly Bill 2632 by Assembly Member Holden would limit the use of segregated confinement and requires specified facilities in the State in which individuals are subject to confinement or involuntary detention to follow specified procedures related to segregated confinement. AB 2632 passed off the Assembly Floor and is headed to the Senate. At this time, CSAC has not taken a position on this measure.

ACA 3 (Kamlager) – WATCH. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 3 by Senator Kamlager would remove language in the state Constitution that allows involuntary servitude as punishment to a crime. ACA 3 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee and is headed to the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee. At this time, CSAC has not taken a position on this measure.

Government Finance and Administration  

AB 1951 (Grayson) – OPPOSE. This bill would expand, for five years, the current partial sales and use tax (SUT) exemption for manufacturing and research and development equipment to include local SUT, including Bradley-Burns, Prop. 172, both realignments, transportation, and local add-ons. Current law applies this exemption only to the statewide 3.9375% SUT rate. AB 1951 passed out of the Assembly last week and is now pending committee referral in the Senate. CSAC opposes AB 1951 due to the substantial impact it will have on county revenue.
 

AB 1944 (Lee) — SUPPORT. This bill would authorize members of legislative bodies to teleconference from a remote location without making the address of that location public, so long as the legislative body provides a video stream for members of the public and allows the public to provide public comment via telephone or videoconference. Prior to its narrow passage off the Assembly Floor last week, AB 1944 was amended to additionally require for those meetings at least a quorum of the legislative body to participate from a single, public location. CSAC supports AB 1944.

AB 2449 (Rubio) – SUPPORT. This bill also authorizes members of legislative bodies to teleconference from a remote location without making the address of that location without making the address of that location public, but with different requirements to do so. In addition to requiring a quorum of members participating in person and open to the public, the original version of the bill also required members to participate in both audio and video formats and provide members of the public with the ability to participate remotely. Prior to its approval by the Assembly last week, AB 2449 was amended to require a brief description of the reasoning for a members remote participation on the meeting agenda, limits member teleconferencing to no more than three consecutive months, and sunsets at the beginning of 2028.

AB 2677 (Gabriel) – OPPOSE. As discussed in a recent bulletin article, CSAC strongly opposed the original version of AB 2677, which would have applied the state statutes that govern the information practices of state agencies to local agencies beginning January 1, 2024. However, amendments taken in Assembly Appropriations Committee removed the bills applicability to local agencies and inserted language stating the intent of the legislature to address local information practices in the future. CSAC therefore removed its opposition to AB 2677, which was approved by the Legislature last week, and is committed to working with the Legislature to design an incentive-based system with adequate resources.

AB 2748 (Holden) – SUPPORT. This bill would significantly strengthen DIVCA, the state law that replaced local franchises with a state franchise system for digital video services. The companies that provide digital video services also provide broadband in those same service areas. Previously, counties and cities could negotiate franchises locally with cable and telecom companies to ensure they could not cherry-pick which neighborhoods they wanted to serve. CSAC supports AB 2748, which was approved by the Assembly last week.

SB 1173 (Gonzalez) – OPPOSE. SB 1173 would prohibit CalPERS and CalSTRS from renewing or making new investments in the top 200 largest fossil fuel companies beginning in 2023. The bill would also require the two boards to divest from these fossil fuel companies by July 1, 2030. CSAC joins a coalition of local agencies opposed to SB 1173 due to the financial strain and negative impact the divestment of CalPERS assets would have on California’s largest public retirement funds, both of which also oppose the bill. The bill narrowing passed out of the Senate last week.

SB 1328 (McGuire) – This measure, which was significantly amended as it was passed out of Senate Appropriations Committee, prohibits all public pension systems from investing in companies that are located in Russia or Belarus or complicit in the invasion of Ukraine. Unlike SB 1173, this measure also applies to 37 Act county pension systems. The measure also prohibits state agencies from contracting with Russia and Belarus. The previous version of the bill would have imposed much broader restrictions on pension investments and would have required pension funds to survey portfolio companies for compliance. The bill was approved by the Senate last week.

SB 1127 (Atkins) – OPPOSE. This bill reduces the timeframe for employers to investigate workers compensation claims, increases penalties on employers for “unreasonably” denying claims, and significantly increases the duration of temporary disability for cancer presumption claims. CSAC, along with a large coalition of public and private employers is opposed to SB 1127 due to the financial burden and liability it would place on counties. SB 1127 was approved by the Senate last week.

SB 1313 (Hertzberg) – CONCERNS. This bill would prohibit the County of Los Angeles from providing an employee represented by an employee organization a health benefit plan that provides fewer benefits than health plans offered to employees not represented by an employee organization. CSAC has concerns with the bill, as this intends to supersede the local bargaining process and could set an extremely problematic precedent in all counties. SB 1313 was approved by the Senate last week. 

AB 2421 (Rubio, Blanca) – SUPPORT. AB 2421 would enhance local enforcement authority to prosecute water theft and pollution resulting from illegal cannabis grows. The bill would allow county counsels to civilly prosecute and enjoin water theft and allow for recovery of prosecution costs. CSAC supports AB 2421.

SB 1186 (Weiner) – OPPOSE. SB 1186 was amended with the intent of improving access to medical cannabis, however, CSAC has serious concerns about the preservation of local control. The language would require all jurisdictions to allow for delivery sales of medicinal cannabis and prohibit any regulation that would impose “unreasonable restrictions” on the sale of medicinal cannabis. CSAC opposes SB 1186.

AB 1985 (Rivas) – SUPPORT. AB 1985 will help local governments achieve their procurement targets by creating an online database of organic waste products on the market across the state. As jurisdictions ramp up their organic waste collection programs, many cities and counties have struggled to meet these procurement targets due to a limited amount of organic waste products on the market/ AB 1985 will enable local governments to connect directly with local farmers and community members seeking their products. CSAC supports AB 1985. 

SB 833 (Dodd) – SUPPORT. SB 833 would require the California Energy Commission to develop a grant program to support local governments in the development of community energy resilience plans. The bill would define community energy resilience plans as a planning document prepared by a local government or community choice aggregator that sets forth a strategy for meeting local electrical loads with local clean distributed energy resources. CSAC Supports SB 833.

AB 2550 (Arambula) – OPPOSE. AB 2550 would remove local control from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District by transferring responsibility to regulate stationary pollution sources to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).  CARB already has the authority to oversee local air quality management activities, and works closely in the development of air pollution plans. CSAC opposes AB 2550.