Legislative Update: Outcomes of the Appropriations Suspense Hearings
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All statuses listed below reflect the time of publishing.
As we reported earlier this month, Friday, May 23 was the deadline for the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Assembly Appropriations Committee (collectively referred to as “the fiscal committees”) to hear and report bills with fiscal impacts to the floor of that house (Senate or Assembly) for a vote of the full house.
Due to cost concerns, particularly during deficit years, many bills are held in fiscal committees by being set aside in the “suspense file.” Alternatively, fiscal bills may be significantly amended by a fiscal committee to reduce cost impacts without the consent of the bill’s author.
Last Friday, both fiscal committees convened vote-only “suspense hearings” to hear the bills on the suspense file and pass bills out of the committee and onto the floor. While the “suspense file” hearing process is designed to comprehensively consider the costs of all bills that meet a certain threshold of fiscal impact to the state, it’s also widely viewed as a tool for the Legislature to prioritize its proposals and winnow the long list of bills each house must consider on the floor prior to the house of origin deadline on June 6. Collectively, the fiscal committees considered 1,098 bills referred to the suspense file and held about one third of those bills. A summary of the results of the suspense hearings are posted on the respective Committee’s websites: Senate Appropriations Committee and Assembly Appropriations Committee.
In advance of these hearings, CSAC engaged in conversations with committee staff and members and submitted letters urging the committees to consider every bill through the lens of its unique impacts on California’s local governments.
CSAC’s new website includes a Member Legislative Resources page with links to bill tracking lists by policy area. Members may be prompted to log into the CSAC Member Portal to view the page. In addition to the information included below about the status of key legislation following the Appropriations Committees’ suspense hearings, members can contact the CSAC legislative affairs team with questions about specific policy areas or legislation.
Administration of Justice
AB 690 (Schultz) Criminal procedure: indigent defense compensation
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Do pass with author’s technical and cost-saving amendments
CSAC is opposing this measure alongside the Urban Counties of California (UCC) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) due to the creation of additional mandates for the provision of indigent defense services, most notably prohibiting the use of flat fee compensation models, which will result in added barriers and significant cost pressures to counties.
SB 319 (Ashby) Criminal justice statistics: reporting
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Held in Committee
CSAC opposed this measure alongside the Urban Counties of California (UCC) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) due to the significant and unfunded mandates it would place on counties.
While the author’s stated intent of SB 319 is to centralize and standardize data collection for the implementation of Proposition 36 (2024), its provisions extend far beyond Prop 36. This bill would have required counties to gather and report expansive funding and expenditure data across sheriff and probation departments, encompassing entire department budgets.
SB 28 (Umberg) Treatment court program standards
Status: Do pass as amended
Related to the implementation of Proposition 36 (2024), SB 28 (Umberg) seeks to clarify and strengthen treatment court standards, including the addition of a drug addiction expert to conduct a substance use and mental health evaluation of the defendant and the submission to all parties of an accompanying report of the evaluation, as well as requiring that a treatment court that complies with these standards be made available for defendants eligible for treatment under the treatment-mandated felony (Health and Safety Code § 11395, subds. (b) & (c) of the proposition.
SB 38 (Umberg) Second Chance Program
Status: Held in Committee under submission
This measure would have required the existing Second Chance [grant] Program to authorize proposal eligibility for mental health or behavioral health services, including under the Treatment-Mandated Felony Act established by Proposition 36.
SB 824 (Menjivar) Secure youth treatment facilities
Status: Held in Committee under submission
This measure would have required the individual rehabilitation plans for youth committed to a secure youth treatment facility (SYTF) to include how SYTF programming would facilitate the youth’s transition to a less restrictive program (LRP). If passed, the court would have been required to review the plan and had the authority to modify the plan or order the transfer to an LRP.
AB 802 (Sharp-Collins) Juvenile justice commission: hunger survey
Status: Held in Committee
This measure would have required local juvenile justice commissions to conduct a chronic hunger survey every two years for incarcerated youth ages 26 and under. If necessary, a county would be required to describe corrective actions to address the survey results.
Questions? Contact:
Ryan Morimune, Senior Legislative Advocate, at rmorimune@counties.org
Michaela Stone, Legislative Analyst, at mstone@counties.org
Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources
SB 72 (Caballero) The California Water Plan: long-term supply targets.
CSAC Position: CO-SPONSOR & SUPPORT
Status: Passed to the Senate Floor
Co-sponsored by CSAC, this bill would revise contents of the California Water Plan, which is updated every five years by the Department of Water Resources (DWR), and requires DWR to coordinate with other local, state, and federal entities, and the stakeholder advisory committee to develop the Water Plan. The bill would require DWR to develop a long-term water supply planning target for 2050 and establishes an interim target to develop an additional 9 million acre-feet (AF) of water, water conservation, or water storage capacity by 2040. The bill would require the target to consider the identified and future water needs for all beneficial uses, including, but not limited to, urban uses, agricultural uses, tribal uses, and the environment, and ensure safe drinking water for all Californians. The bill would require the Water Plan to include a discussion of the estimated costs, benefits, and impacts of any project type or action that is recommended by DWR within the plan.
SB 254 (Becker) Policy-Oriented and Wildfire Electric Reimbursement (POWER) Program
CSAC Position: OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED
Status: Passes as amended to the Senate Floor
This bill includes several provisions to address energy affordability and permitting challenges. However, it also extends the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) AB 205 opt-in permitting program sunset from 2029 to 2034, continuing the usurpation of local permitting authority. The bill also creates a rebuttable presumption that construction or operation of a facility will have an overall net positive economic benefit to the host local government if the project is located adjacent to a utility substation or natural gas powerplant.
SB 283 (Laird) Energy storage systems
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Awaiting Assembly referral
This bill would require the California Fire Marshal to review and consider incorporating into the next update of the California Building Standards Code the most recently published edition of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 855 standards regarding battery energy storage systems (BESS). The bill would also require a BESS developer to certify that the system was designed in accordance with the most recently published edition of NFPA 855 or the California Building Standards Code, and requires the BESS developer to meet and confer with the local fire department responsible for fire suppression before applying for that project.
SB 463 (Alvarado-Gil) Drought planning: resiliency measures
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Two-year Bill
This bill would exempt a small water supplier or non-transient noncommunity water system from these metering and monitoring requirements if it (1) is in the process of applying for state funding, has been determined to be ineligible for state funding, or is not able to obtain state funding because there is no funding available in applicable state programs, and (2) has made a finding that increasing its rates to raise revenue locally is not a feasible option. SB 463 was held under submission and is now a two-year bill.
SB 501 (Allen) Household Hazardous Waste Producer Responsibility Act
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Two-year Bill
This bill would create a producer responsibility program for products containing household hazardous waste and would require a producer responsibility organization (PRO) to ensure the safe and convenient collection and management of covered products at no cost to consumers or local governments. The bill would define “covered product” to mean a consumer product that is ignitable, toxic, corrosive, or reactive, or that meets other specified criteria. SB 501 was held under submission and is now a two-year bill.
AB 514 (Petrie-Norris) Water: emergency water supplies
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Two-year Bill
This bill would declare that it is the established policy of the state to encourage, but not mandate, the development of emergency water supplies by both local and regional water suppliers, and to support their use during times of drought or unplanned service or supply disruption. AB 514 was held under submission and is now a two-year bill.
Questions? Contact:
Catherine Freeman, Senior Legislative Advocate, at cfreeman@counties.org
Jordan Wells, Legislative Advocate, at jwells@counties.org
Caitlin Loventhal, Legislative Analyst, at cloventhal@counties.org
Government Finance and Administration
AB 339 (Ortega) Local public employee organizations: notice requirements
CSAC Position:OPPOSE
Status: Do pass as amended
This bill would require counties and other local governments to give recognized employee organizations no less than 120 days’ written notice before issuing a request for proposals, request for quotes, or renewing or extending an existing contract to perform services that are within the scope of work of the job classifications represented by the recognized employee organization. Upon receipt of the notice, the bill would allow the employee organization to request a meet-and-confer at any time (previously required within 30 days) and allow them to reopen an existing memorandum of understanding.
AB 964 (Hadwick) Commission on State Mandates: state mandates
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Held in Committee under submission
This bill would have required the State Controller to allow local agencies or school districts to either: (1) offset any reduced reimbursement resulting from an audit or review of any unpaid state mandate reimbursement claims, whether appropriated or not, to the extent sufficient unpaid claims are available; or (2) remint the funds to the State Controller’s Office. This bill would have changed the timeline for the State Controller to notify a claimant of any adjustment resulting from an audit or review to within 30 days of the adjustment itself, rather than 30 days after the issuance of a remittance.
AB 1331 (Elhawary) Workplace surveillance
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Do pass as amended
This bill would limit the use of workplace surveillance tools, as defined, by employers, including by prohibiting an employer from monitoring or surveilling workers in off-duty areas, as specified. The bill would provide workers with the right to disable or leave behind workplace surveillance tools that are on their person or in their possession during off-duty hours, as specified.
AB 1337 (Ward) Information Practices Act of 1977
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Do pass as amended
This bill would make several changes to the Information Practices Act of 1977, which prescribes a set of requirements, prohibitions, and remedies applicable to agencies regarding their collection, storage, and disclosure of personal information and impose the law on counties and other local agencies.
AB 1383 (McKinnor) Public employees’ retirement benefits
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Two-year Bill
This bill would make several changes to the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA), including:
- Reducing the retirement age for public safety members from 57 to 55 prospectively;
- Adding an additional tier for safety members that is 3% at 55 that would be subject to bargaining;
- Allow local jurisdictions to bargain for adjustments their formula prospectively;
- Allow for bargaining over the share of the normal cost for PEPRA members; and
- Increase the total pension compensation limit by tying it to Section 415(b)(1)(A) of the U.S. Code.
SB 86 (McNerney) California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act: sales and use tax exclusion.
CSAC Position: OPPOSE, UNLESS AMENDED
Status: Do pass as amended
The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act authorizes sales and use tax exclusions for qualifying clean energy and advanced transportation projects not exceeding $100 million annually until January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the sunset to January 1, 2031, increase the maximum cumulative amount of the sales and use tax exclusions authorized to $200 million annually, and add electrical generation facilities using nuclear fusion technology to the types of projects qualifying for this sales and use tax exclusion.
Questions? Contact:
Eric Lawyer, Legislative Advocate, at elawyer@counties.org
Emma Jungwirth, Senior Legislative Advocate, at ejungwirth@counties.org
Julissa Ceja Cardenas, Legislative Analyst, at jcejacardenas@counties.org
Health and Human Services
SB 367 (Allen) Mental health
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Held under submission
This measure would have made substantial changes to the process for Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act conservatorships, including: changed the 5150 assessment criteria; expanded the reasons an individual may be recommended for conservatorship; broadened the referral sources for conservatorship; and restricted the ability of counties to lift conservatorships in certain circumstances. Importantly, SB 367 did not include any funding or resources to accompany the expanded activities and impacted caseload.
CSAC, along with a coalition including the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California (CBHDA), California State Association of Public Administrators, Public Guardians, Public Conservators (CAPAPGPC), Urban Counties of California (UCC) and Rural Counties Representatives of California (RCRC) opposed SB 367. SB 367 was held under submission in Senate Appropriations Committee, meaning the bill will not advance forward.
AB 283 (Haney) In-Home Supportive Services Employer-Employee Relations Act
CSAC Position: PENDING POSITION
Status: Passed to the Assembly Floor
This measure, which is sponsored by the IHSS provider unions (SEIU and UDW), would transition In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) collective bargaining from counties to the state. CSAC, the California Association of Public Authorities for IHSS (CAPA), and the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) have a pending position on this legislation and are seeking amendments that reflect the fiscal and programmatic issues that counties raised through the CDSS collective bargaining workgroup process.
CSAC, CAPA, and CWDA continue to have productive conversations with the sponsors about potential amendments that will ultimately strengthen the IHSS program and ensure the best outcomes for IHSS consumers, providers, counties, and PAs. AB 283 was passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is currently pending a vote on the Assembly Floor.
SB 483 (Stern) Mental health diversion
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Passed as Amended to Senate Floor
Prior to the amendments taken to the measure when it passed out of Senate Appropriations Committee, SB 483 would have required additional court approval for pretrial diversion plans for an individual who is already eligible for diversion under current law. CSAC, along with UCC, RCRC, and CAPAPGPC opposed the previous version of the bill, as it would have complicated the process and placement of individuals seeking treatment by way of diversion. Additionally, SB 483 would have allowed the courts to bypass the clinical judgement of county behavioral health agencies.
SB 483 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee with significant amendments that strike the provisions requiring that the court is satisfied with the recommended treatment plan. Instead, the bill would now require that the defendant agrees that the recommended treatment plan will meet their specialized needs and agrees to comply with the treatment as a condition of diversion.
CSAC is currently evaluating the amendments.
AB 1288 (Addis) Registered environmental health specialists
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Passed to the Assembly Floor.
This measure, which is sponsored by the County Health Executives Association of California (CHEAC), would extend the time in which local health/environmental health departments may train and employ a local Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) trainee from three years to five years. The measure would also strengthen and facilitate the process to become an REHS trainee, allow them to successfully complete their trainee period, and allow more opportunities to take the certification test.
CSAC, along with RCRC and UCC, support AB 1288, which passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is pending a vote on the Assembly Floor.
AB 689 (B. Rubio) Foster youth: disaster aid assistance
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Passed to the Assembly Floor.
This measure would establish a statewide Child Welfare Disaster Response Program to provide funding, upon appropriation of the legislature, to support the immediate needs of foster children and youth and their caregivers in disaster-impacted communities. Importantly, AB 689 authorizes county child welfare departments to apply for these funds to distribute among impacted clients, ensuring aid will quickly be distributed to those in need.
CSAC supports AB 689, which passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is currently pending a vote on the Assembly Floor.
AB 607 (C. Rodriguez) CalWORKs: Home Visiting Program
CSAC Position: SUPPORT
Status: Passed to the Assembly Floor.
This measure would extend the enrollment timeframe for the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP) from a child under 24 months to a child under 36 months and would extend the amount of time that families can participate in the program.
CSAC supports AB 607, which is cosponsored by CWDA and Children Now. AB 607 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is currently pending a vote on the Assembly Floor.
Questions? Contact:
Justin Garrett, Senior Legislative Advocate, at jgarrett@counties.org
Jolie Onodera, Senior Legislative Advocate, at jonodera@counties.org
Danielle Bradley, Legislative Analyst, at dbradley@counties.org.
Housing, Land Use, and Transportation
AB 1198 (Haney) Public works: prevailing wages
CSAC Position: OPPOSE
Status: Held in Committee
This bill would have required applied any changes prevailing wage decisions made by the Department of Industrial Relations applicable to public works projects that were in active construction. Under current law prevailing wage increases are not applicable to public works projects that are in the construction phase as a means to reduce the potential for unanticipated cost increases. This bill would have created additional cost pressures that could impact the ability of a county to move forward with a variety of public works projects.
SB 496 (Hurtado) Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation
CSAC Position: SPONSOR
Status: Held in Committee under submission
CSAC, in coalition with local government partners, sponsored this bill, which would have provided more flexibility for local agencies implementing the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) mandate by providing some much needed and common-sense reforms to the regulations. The ACF mandates a transition to Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) and requires adequate utility infrastructure for alternative fueling. However, the current ACF lacks clarity on exemption request evaluations and administrative reviews. SB 496 would have established an Appeals Advisory Committee by which local agencies may request a review of exemption request denials. A formal appeals process would ensure transparency while protecting due process for those seeking further review.
Questions? Contact:
Mark Neuburger, Legislative Advocate, at mneuburger@counties.org