The Department of Housing and Community Development released
draft guidelines for SB 2 planning grants for cities and
counties. The grants are funded with half of the revenue
generated in the first calendar year of SB 2 (Atkins, 2017)
document recording tax. The other half of year-one funding will
be allocated to homelessness programs.
The Institute for Local Government honors three counties — Santa
Cruz, Alameda and San Luis Obispo — through the Beacon Program
this year for their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
save energy and implement sustainability best practices.
Santa Cruz County is the first county to receive
a Gold Level Beacon Award and only the third county.
Initiatives including adopting a Zero Waste Plan, implementing
the county’s Climate Action Strategy and promoting alternative
commuting options helped the county achieve:
Governor Brown gave his final signatures and vetoes this past
weekend, ending his four terms as California’s governor. This
year alone, he weighed in on 1,217 pieces of legislation, signing
1,016 into law and vetoing 201. In the end, the Governor’s
decisions brought mostly good news for counties, approving the
most helpful measures and halting some of the most harmful.
The City and County Pavement Improvement Center (CCPIC), a joint
venture between CSAC, the League of California Cities (League),
the University of California and the California State University
systems, held the inaugural meeting of the Governing Board to
set-priorities for the coming year.
The purpose of CCPIC is to promote and leverage the most
advanced, cost-effective and sustainable pavement practices,
science, tools, and resources to California’s cities and
counties, which will help local agencies maximize the value of
their local streets and roads.
While this week’s headlines were dominated by the Senate
Judiciary Committee’s hearing in which Dr. Christine Blasey Ford
testified that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court
nominee Brett Kavanaugh, House and Senate lawmakers were able to
make some degree of progress in the legislative arena.
CSAC is developing a slate of workshops for our upcoming Annual
Meeting that focus on key issues of importance to
California Counties. So please plan on joining us in San
Diego County the week of November 26 for these informational
workshops, dynamic general sessions, substantive policy
meetings and more.
Counties are invited to join a Health Homes Program (HHP)
Stakeholder Webinar on September 26, from 9:00 –
10:00AM. The webinar, hosted by the
Department of Health Care Services, will provide an HHP update.
Senate Holds Brief Legislative Session; House Members Hit
the Campaign Trail
With the pivotal midterm elections looming on the not-too-distant
horizon, House lawmakers spent the week of September 17
campaigning in their home districts. For their part, Senate
leaders convened a truncated session, holding a handful of votes
before adjourning for the week on Tuesday, September 18.
The California Constitution states that “all political power is
inherent in the people” and people eager to exercise that power
will have plenty of opportunity this fall. From tax breaks in
Proposition 5 and Proposition 6 that would cost counties billions
of dollars to four major bond measures to rules about
private-sector ambulance worker rest breaks, the 11 measures
on November’s statewide ballot have the potential to remake
California governance, again.
The CSAC Board of Directors has completed its review of the 2018
statewide ballot initiatives, wrapping up action at its September
6 meeting. In total, the Board took positions on five of the
eleven propositions on the November ballot, all five of which
directly impact county operations for better or for worse.
Starting at the top of the ballot, the Board voted to
support Propositions 1, 2, and 3, and to oppose Propositions 5
and 6, both of which would create a highly concerning
drain on local resources.
Early-bird registration rates for the upcoming Annual Meeting end
on October 12. Don’t miss this opportunity to save $50.00 off
advance registration rates. After Friday, October 12, you can
still register online through November 13 at our advance
registration rates.
Have you ever wondered how many seniors live in your community?
Or how your poverty rate compares to your neighboring counties?
Or how many multi-family housing units or building permits or
registered motorcycles or square miles your county has?
CSAC’s DataPile has all of
that–along with information about county revenues, expenditures,
and over one hundred other data sets–in one handy document.
CSAC’s data and research staff updated the data last week, so it
now reflects the most recent data available.
Members of the House returned to the nation’s capital this week
following their annual month-long summer recess. They were
joined by their colleagues in the upper chamber who had a more
truncated August break. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-KY) kept the Senate in session for much of the month to
advance a slew of presidential nominations and to make progress
on the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills.
CSAC Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources staff took
active positions on the following enrolled bills. These bills are
currently being reviewed by the Governor for signature or veto.
If you have any questions please contact Nick Cronenwett at
Ncronenwett@counties.org or
916-224-9133 or Cara Martinson at cmartinson@counties.org or
916-327-7500, ext. 504.
Housing California and the Corporation for Supportive
Housing have invited county officials to join a webinar on new
homelessness funding on Tuesday, September 11 from 2 to
3:30 PM.
After a busy year including consideration of hundreds of bills
impacting county services and governance, the Legislature
adjourned late in the evening on Friday, August 31. CSAC
staff advocated on behalf of counties up until the end on
critical issues pertaining to wildfires, cannabis permitting, and
the local emergency medical services system.
