Last Friday, May 27 marked the final day for the Legislature to
pass bills introduced in their house of origin. As policy
committees pick back up and the June 15 budget deadline
approaches, the CSAC Government Finance and Administration team
would like to provide you with an update on some of the key
pieces of legislation that moved last week.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury released new information on
how counties can access their second tranche of the over $65
billion directed to counties through the American Rescue Plan Act
of 2021 (ARPA). ARPA required payments to counties to be divided
into two tranches, allocating 50 percent last year and the
remaining 50 percent no earlier than 12 months after a county
certifies its first tranche.
April is always a busy month in the Legislature, and this year is
no different. Tomorrow, April 29, marks the deadline for policy
committees to hear and report all fiscal bills introduced in
their house of origin. As the vast majority of bills are keyed
fiscal, policy committees have heard thousands of bills over the
last few months. Below you will find an update on key bills the
CSAC Government Finance and Administration team are currently
tracking.
CSAC will be
co-hosting a webinar with the California Emerging Technology
Foundation (CETF) this Friday, April 29 at 9:00 a.m. focused on
how counties can increase enrollment in the federal Affordable
Connectivity Program (ACP).
The state is nearing a final decision for how to distribute $2
billion of last-mile broadband infrastructure funds. A
preliminary decision adopted earlier this month addressed
questions like how much will go to projects in each county, what
types of organizations are eligible, and what kinds of
affordability requirements the state will attach to the funded
projects.
SB 1100 by Senator Dave Cortese passed out of Senate Governance
and Finance Committee today with a 4-1 vote. The bill, which is
co-sponsored by the CSAC and the Urban Counties of
California, seeks to give local boards tools to curb the
increase in disruptive and threatening behavior seen in many
local public meetings across the state.
Update #2:On April 19, CalPERS began the
process of adopting the temporary duration regulations for
retired annuitants.
As amended, the regulations would allow employers who are
unable to fill positions to extend appointments for retired
annuitants, as described in
the staff analysis.
At its meeting last Thursday, the CSAC Board of Directors voted
overwhelmingly to oppose a proposed initiative designed to make
it harder for the state, counties, and other local agencies to
approve or collect taxes and other revenues. The measure has not
collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but its
proponents are attempting to qualify it for the November ballot.
Consistent with recent years in the California Legislature, an
array of Workers’ Compensation bills have been introduced that
aim to further expand presumptions, create additional time
constraints for reviews, and increase financial costs and
penalties to employers – all with little to no data to support
what effectively erodes the workers’ compensation no-fault system
in California. CSAC will continue to advocate on behalf of
counties to mitigate detrimental administrative and financial
impacts while endeavoring to find a balance between workers and
employers that is data-driven.
Amidst Russia’s violent and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,
California leaders are calling on state pension systems to cut
financial ties to Russia. According to a
letter sent to CalPERS, CalSTRS, and University of California
Retirement Plan chairs on Monday, California holds over $1.5
billion in investments in relation to Russia’s financial markets.
Several newly introduced bills would change the requirements for
local Brown Act meetings and state Bagley-Keene meetings. The
bills follow two years of changes to public meetings caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing hostility and incivility
exhibited in many communities.
Foretold in the 2022 Proposed Governor’s Budget, the Legislature
released their current plan for an Early Budget Action Item
related to COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave on
Wednesday.
This week, the Senate approved
SB 213 (Cortese) to move off the Senate floor and over to the
Assembly with a final vote of 21 senators, narrowly allowing its
move into the Assembly. At its core, this bill will impose
significant financial burdens on employers in the health care
industry who are already struggling under the effects of labor
shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic. For California
Counties, this means costs to taxpayers.
The Government Finance & Administration (GFA) Policy
Committee will meet next week
on Wednesday, January 26, from 1:00 - 2:00
p.m. to discuss a proposed ballot initiative
proponents have labeled “The Taxpayer Protection and Government
Accountability Act.” The initiative would amend
the California Constitution to restrict the ability of the
state, counties, other local agencies, and the electorate to
approve or collect taxes, fees, and other revenues. This
will be a virtual only meeting, and the meeting materi
Following the release
last week of their final rule for use of ARPA’s local
recovery funds, the U.S. Department of the Treasury held a
webinar on multiple dates to provide an overview of the rule’s
provisions. The hour-long webinar recording is now
available online on YouTube, along with the
PDF of the slide presentation.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) will host broadband grant program public virtual listening
sessions in connection with the five new broadband grant programs
authorized and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act: The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program;
the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program; and
the Digital Equity Act Programs, which include the State Digital
Equity Planning Grant Program, the State Digital Equity Capacity
Grant Program, and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant
Program. These publi
The 2021 CSAC Annual Meeting was held in Monterey County
from November 29 through December 3. More than 600 registrants
attended the conference, engaging with County Supervisors,
policy stakeholders, and CSAC staff. All of CSAC’s policy
committees met in person to hear from key policy makers and
influencers and update priorities for the
2022 legislative session. Please find a brief recap of
each policy committee meeting below.
Demonstrating the urgency and collaboration appropriate to the
task, the state has announced the first 18 sections for the
statewide open-access middle-mile network just a few short months
after the network was authorized by SB 156.
Middle-mile infrastructure will not provide broadband service
directly to consumers, but it will make it faster and cheaper for
all internet service providers to provide last-mile service to
both unserved and underserved households, as well as those who
currently live in a broadband monopoly.
