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.

July 30, 2020

In a case closely watched by public agencies, their unions, and pension hawks, the California Supreme Court this morning unanimously upheld the “California Rule” that prevents most reductions to pensions for existing employees. However, the decision itself found in favor of the pension systems and against the union plaintiffs, by finding that the changes in question served “the constitutionally permissible purpose of closing loopholes and preventing abuse of the pension system.”

July 16, 2020

This week, the California State Library announced the launch of the California Grants Portal. The Portal allows users to browse nearly all grants and loans hosted by state agencies and departments, as well as to subscribe to email updates for new opportunities. The new Portal can be found at grants.ca.gov. 

July 9, 2020

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.

June 25, 2020

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

June 25, 2020

June 4, 2020

May 28, 2020

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.