April 29, 2021

What should the future of government meetings look like? How should local agencies balance transparency, cost, and the safety of local officials? How can the Brown Act be modified to recognize the modern realities of interconnectedness?

These questions are at the heart of the debate about AB 339, a bill authored by Assembly Member Alex Lee and Cristina Garcia and sponsored by the ACLU California Action and the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.

April 15, 2021

April 8, 2021

Registration is now open for Part Two of the 2021 Redistricting Webinar Series, brought to you by CSAC and RCRC.  This is the conclusion of our webinar series that breaks down all you need to know about redistricting for your county.

April 1, 2021

March 18, 2021

March 5, 2021

February 18, 2021

The deadline to introduce most bills is this Friday, February 19. The Government, Finance and Administration Policy Team is working to complete an initial pass of the hundreds of new bills that have been, and continue to be, introduced. While team members will continue to review bills over the next week or two, we are seeking feedback on several bills.

February 4, 2021

CSAC and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) are teaming up on a two part webinar series that will break down all you need to know about redistricting for your county. The first webinar will take place on Friday, March 5, 10am-12pm. Registration information for this webinar will be available in the coming week.

January 14, 2021

Last Friday, Governor Newsom released his 2021-22 budget proposal and urged the Legislature to take the unusual step of immediately approving an $11 billion package to address COVID-19 and jumpstart California’s recovery.

December 10, 2020

This week, Legislators began introducing bills for the 2021-22 session and they included a handful of elections-related bills. As county officials are aware, a number of changes were made to California election procedures this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Legislature is looking to extend those provisions beyond the confines of the current emergency.

December 10, 2020

As the Governor pointed out last week in a letter to counties, cities, and school districts, December 31 marks the deadline for spending federal dollars allocated through the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), passed as part of the CARES Act. Fifteen counties received direct CRF allocations from the federal government and all counties received a sub-allocation from the state. The funds must be spent on costs associated with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic incurred by December 31, 2020. Unspent funds must be returned to the US government.

December 3, 2020

October 29, 2020

October 15, 2020

Governor Newsom met the September 30 deadline to take action on measures approved by the Legislature and delivered to his desk. To keep counties informed of new laws that impact them, CSAC will be publishing a series of articles to spotlight those laws in each policy area. This week, the Government, Finance & Administration policy area provides information on new laws impaction California’s counties.

Workers’ Compensation

October 15, 2020

This year, a new law went into effect, SB 234 (Chapter 244, Statutes of 2019), that aims to increase the availability of family child care homes. The sponsor of the legislation, the Child Care Law Center, reached out to CSAC to share resources with counties regarding the implementation of this law.

SB 234 makes various changes regarding licensing and zoning for family child care homes, including several that directly impact county regulations. These include:

October 1, 2020

The California Department of Finance (DOF) has published additional information regarding first quarter expenditures and obligations for the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), including information from counties, cities, schools, and the state. The main content is on the DOF COVID-19 webpage.

September 17, 2020

Last week, the California Supreme Court declined to review a state appellate court decision that allows local government special taxes to be increased by a simple majority, rather than two-thirds, if the tax increase is placed on the ballot by initiative petitions and not the governments themselves. This comes as a victory for those in favor of making tax increases easier to pass, as well as groups who might not seek taxes to benefit their causes via local initiative.

September 3, 2020

CSAC’s Government, Finance and Administration policy committee tracked a number of bills this legislative cycle. Here is a summary of the outcomes for a number of notable bills.

AB 107 (Budget): General Government: Assessment Appeals Deadlines

August 27, 2020

August 27, 2020

A new budget trailer bill, SB 815, would give county assessment appeals boards additional time to work through their backlogs and clarify that they are allowed to hold hearings remotely.

August 13, 2020

August 6, 2020

This week, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-72-20 – his 44th COVID-related executive action – which extends until January 31, 2021 the deadline to hear property tax assessment appeals filed on or before March 4, 2020.