On Monday, the January Budget Proposal for 2022-23 was released
and Governor Newsom provided an overview of how the $286 billion
Budget would be spent during a three-hour press conference.
The January Budget Proposal was broken down into five key areas -
the pandemic, climate change, homelessness, cost of living and
public safety. Many hours were put into the building and creation
of this Budget and Counties thank Governor Newsom for continuing
and augmenting many of CSAC’s top priorities. This includes
wildfire prevention, drought, homelessness, behavioral health,
ongoing commitments toward public health infrastructure, and the
SB 1 transportation backfill.
There are many promising opportunities on these and other
priorities as we continue to navigate the pandemic and look
towards community recovery. CSAC remains steadfast in advocating
for county priorities and hearing from you as we embark through
the budget and legislative process.
Through the leadership of your CSAC Officers, we are ready and
eager to partner with the Administration and Legislature on how
to best support community recovery and to ensure the necessary
tools and resources are given to counties as you are the boots on
the ground leading in your community.
I do want to highlight that the January Budget Proposal contains
various new state initiatives that provide direct funding to
community providers for local services. Deploying community based
organizations to deliver services outside of the state-county
service system is troubling, and could jeopardize the
effectiveness of meeting community priorities. Effective service
delivery requires state and local accountability and that’s
exactly what’s in place with the state-county policy, program,
and fiscal relationship. Another policy to watch is
Incompetent to Stand Trial, which has a growth cap that includes
a county cost sharing methodology if the cap is exceeded. CSAC
will continue to engage with the Administration on this and other
policies.
Beyond the Budget, we are focused on civility and Brown Act
reform to protect democracy, public servants, and safe community
participation. This follows an erosion in civility and
safety for many county leaders here in California and across the
country. Outdated tools, flexibility, and authority has
remained largely the same since the Brown Act was enacted in
1954.
For all of these issues, it’s your collective voice that gives us
our greatest strength, that provides a reality check and local
context for fed state policy makers, and that shapes priorities
and actions to improve your community.
