The Governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery has
announced a new website and campaign, Calling All
Californians: #ShopSafeShopLocal, which provides
resources to small business on how to make modifications to
protect against the spread of COVID-19. The website also
encourages Californians to support small businesses in their
communities.
Governor Newsom signed
Executive Order N-71-20, which addresses a number of ongoing
issues related to COVID-19 and amends a several previous
Executive Orders.
The Government, Finance and Administration Policy Committee is
requesting feedback on the following bills. Please send comments
to Geoff
Neill or Ada
Waelder.
AB 398 (Chu) – Local Government and School Recovery and
Relief Act
This week, Governor Newsom signed Executive
Order N-67-20, which provides guidance for county election
officials with regards to the November 3, 2020 General Election,
and clarifies that EO
N-64-20, which directed vote-by-mail ballots be sent to all
California voters, does not apply to inactive voters.
County costs for hearings to designate someone a sexually violent
predator (SVP) are once again reimbursable after a
hard-fought, long-awaited decision
from the semi-obscure, quasi-judicial Commission on State
Mandates. This represents a big win for counties in an area that
is often a cause for frustration.
Should property taxes be refunded to landlords because of state
regulations related to COVID-19? That’s the question at the heart
of
SB 1431, by Senator Steve Glazer.
On Tuesday, Democrats from the California State Senate released a
budget proposal with recommendations to address the economic
fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan is headlined by two
specific recommendations, one which would address renter-landlord
stabilization and one to establish a new $25 billion Economic
Recovery Fund.
Governor Newsom issued an
Executive Order requiring counties to send vote-by-mail
ballots for the November election to all registered voters, while
also retaining options for in-person voting opportunities. The
order will ensure that all registered voters have a chance to
vote without risking their health by congregating at polling
places.
Responding to impact of both the coronavirus itself and the
government actions taken to lessen the resulting economic
effects, CSAC today sent the Governor
a letter outlining a variety of urgent county fiscal
stability and budget needs, including backfilling deferred sales
taxes, issuing an executive order on property taxes, and
assisting any counties with critical cash flow needs.
The federal government has issued several important updates of
interest to California counties. Read on for information on
Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce guidance as well as
the much-anticipated guidance on “necessary expenditures”
approved for reimbursement in the CARES act.
A closely watched ballot measure proposal, which would amend the
historic Proposition 13, submitted 1.7 million signatures last
week, far exceeding the 997,139 verified signatures needed to
qualify for the November ballot and likely assuring its placement
on the November statewide ballot. The effort is being run by the
Schools & Communities First campaign, which has already qualified
a similar measure to be placed on the ballot, but is trying to
replace that one with a modified version to exempt more small
businesses from the tax increase.
Businesses will be able to “layaway” up to $50,000 of sales tax
liability pursuant to an announcement by the Governor today.
The deferral, which could come to as much as $3 billion statewide
and provide relief for up to 300,000 businesses, would have a
significant effect on county budgets, relying as they do on sales
tax revenues to fund 1991 and 2011 realignment programs,
transportation projects, public safety, and of course general
fund programs broadly.
This morning, the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal
OES) hosted the first in a series of daily webinars to train
local governments on how to apply for Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance. The webinar
specifically focused on federal procurement under FEMA’s
grant standards, which is a requirement of receiving FEMA Public
Assistance to help pay for the cost of responding to the COVID-19
Pandemic.
CSAC and a broad coalition of local agency associations—including
CACTTC, RCRC, UCC, the League of Cities, CSDA, CSBA, CASBO, and
ACSA—have voiced strong opposition to any postponement of the
April 10 property tax deadline and sent
a letter to policy makers Saturday afternoon.
This week California Public Employees’ Retirement System
(CalPERS) Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost sent a letter to
stakeholders on how CalPERS is handling operations during
COVID-19. Here are some key takeaways:
Last week’s news was all bad for the municipal bond market, but
actions by both the Federal Reserve and Congress have restored
normalcy, at least for now.
The Governor’s executive orders to this point have granted much
needed flexibility to counties in a number of areas. However, as
the COVID-19 crisis lengthens and broadens, a growing number of
county employees are working from home, taking sick leave, or
being redirected to deal with the emergency.
The Census Bureau announced this week that it will be suspending
all field operations from March 18 until April 1, 2020. However,
the public will still be able to submit their census forms online
at 2020census.gov during
this time. As of March 18, more than eleven million households
had responded.
Counties from Trinity to San Diego had measures on the ballot
this week, some placed there by the Board of Supervisors, some by
initiative, and two by referendum. Across the 58 counties, the
March 3 ballot featured 13 questions about taxes, two bonds, five
measures to expand or limit development, and a handful of others.
The results across the board were notably mixed.
(Please keep in mind that there are many ballots left to count,
which could swing the outcome considerably. All results below are
preliminary.)
The California State Controller’s Office is seeking volunteers to
serve on the Advisory Committee on County Accounting Procedures.
The Controller’s office is looking to fill a vacancy with regard
to the position of County Administrative Officer.
The Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving county
accounting and reporting procedures, which are then written in to
regulation by the Controller. The Committee meets in person
or by teleconference one or two times annually.
County supervisors and other local officials would remain able to
use social media to engage in discussions about important issues
with the public under the provisions of
AB 992, by Assembly Member Kevin Mullin, which passed the
Assembly this morning (January 30).
This week the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees held their
first hearings to discuss the Governor’s proposed budget for
2020-21. These are just the first round of hearings. Between now
and May, when the Governor will release a revised budget
proposal, the Budget Committees will hold a number of oversight
hearings on specific topics within the budget.
The official start of the 2020 Census will take place on January
21 in Toksook Bay, Alaska. Census Director Steven Dillingham will
conduct the ceremonial first counting in the village, where
census takers get an early start counting while the ground is
still frozen, making travel easier. However, most of the country
will not begin receiving census mail until March. Beginning in
mid-March, households can respond to the census online, by phone,
or by mail.
A bill that would have restricted, and in some cases outright
prohibited, local government associations from performing many of
the services provided on behalf of counties has been pulled from
consideration. CSAC was planning to oppose the bill,
AB 315 by Christina Garcia, in the Assembly Local Government
Committee next week, but got news today that the bill is dead.
