Urban Counties of California

UCC Special Legislative Update on Housing Issues ICYMI... Newsom Warns Locals on Housing This Sunday's Los Angeles Times cover included a provocative headline about the state's housing crisis: "Newsom says he's done a good job fixing California's housing crisis. Facts say otherwise." In the article, Governor Newsom defends actions this year to address the housing crisis, amid criticism from stakeholders. It's an interesting read, to say the least, and, most importantly, inc...Continue reading

The Governor wrapped up the 30-day signing and veto period this past Sunday, taking final actions on the remainder of the 1,042 measures that made it to his desk this year. In the final tally, Governor Newsom signed 870 bills and vetoed 172 (a veto rate of 16.5%, which reportedly matches the rate of Governor Jerry Brown's last year in office). Below we report out on measures of high priority and consequence to urban counties. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have qu...estions about any other measure. Email Retention Requirement - AB 1184 (Gloria): VETOED UCC Position: OPPOSE Surplus Lands - AB 1486 (Ting): CHAPTERED UCC Position: CONCERNS Independent Redistricting Commissions - SB 139 (Allen): VETOED UCC Position: OPPOSE Redistricting Process - AB 849 (Bonta): CHAPTERED UCC Position: NEUTRAL Local Ballot Labels - SB 268 (Wiener): VETOED UCC Position: SUPPORT DJJ Fee Increase - SB 284 (Beall): VETOED UCC Position: OPPOSE Court Fines and Fees; Ability to Pay - AB 927 (Jones-Sawyer): VETOED; SB 144 (Mitchell): TWO-YEAR BILL UCC Positions: AB 927 - WATCH; SB 144 - OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED/FUNDED Accessory Dwelling Units - SB 13 (Wieckowski), AB 68 (Ting), AB 881 (Bloom), AB 587 (Friedman), and AB 671 (Friedman) UCC Positions (where applicable): SB 13 - OPPOSE; AB 68 - OPPOSE PRIOR VERSION; and AB 587 - SUPPORT Housing Data - AB 1483 (Grayson): CHAPTERED UCC Position: OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED Transportation Match-Exchange Program - SB 137 (Dodd): CHAPTERED UCC Position: SUPPORT Emergency Medical Services Dispatch - SB 438 (Hertzberg): CHAPTERED UCC Position: NEUTRAL

2019 Legislative Round Up NOTE: With the Legislature having wrapped up its activities for 2019, UCC will publish its legislative update on an as-needed basis. Now that the Legislature has completed its work for the year, attention now turns to the Governor's bill signing period, which ends on October 13th. We will present a comprehensive report that includes details for all measures on which UCC has positions on after the bill signing period. Until then, we provide highlight...Continue reading

Ojai's "The Pink Moment" in Ventura County can be witnessed at dusk when, as the sun sets, its light bounces off the Topa Topa Mountains.

Legislature Enters Last Week of 2019 Legislative Year Amidst Protests This week's legislative activities will primarily be focused on floor sessions during which members will endeavor to move bills in their final stages of the legislative process to the Governor's Desk. During this afternoon's floor sessions, both houses of the Legislature were being shouted down or otherwise disrupted by very active opponents of a set of vaccination-related measures. What has proven to be a...Continue reading

This Week in the Legislature: More Budget Trailer Bills and the Suspense File: Three weeks remain in the Legislature's 2019 session, and there are a few events to note for this week. As suspected, the Legislature will consider additional trailer bills before session ends. The Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee is scheduled to hear 11 bills at a full committee hearing tomorrow; at the time of this writing, substantive language has yet to be amended into the identified t...railer bills. We will keep you apprised on budget trailer bill developments of consequence to urban counties. The second important event taking place this week is the fiscal deadline, which means that all bills with cost impacts must pass the respective second-house Appropriations Committee. On Friday, the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees will hold their suspense file hearings during which the disposition of hundreds and hundreds of fiscal bills will be announced. (Decisions about which bills will live to see another day are made behind the scenes.) There are three general outcomes for individual bills from the suspense file hearing: (1) a bill can be "held on suspense" (i.e., die in committee); (2) a bill can be passed out and on to the floor with no changes; (3) or a bill can be passed out with amendments that typically focus on reducing the fiscal impact of the measure. On the latter outcome, amendments may take a day or two to appear in print. We will be tracking the fiscal committees' actions at week's end.

Update from the Capitol: Legislature Returns for Final Five Weeks of 2019 Legislative Year The Legislature returned to Sacramento last Monday for its last several weeks of the legislative year. Given that it is an odd-numbered year (i.e., non-election), the session runs through mid-September. (During election years, the session wraps up at the end of August.) The Governor will then have a 30-day window (through October 13) to make his final signing and veto decisions for legi...slation that reaches his desk in the closing weeks of session. It will be interesting to analyze his bill signing and veto actions this first year, especially given recent market events indicating that the long-overdue recession could be upon us within 18 to 24 months. Bills we note some high-profile measures of interest: Community Paramedicine or Triage to Alternate Destination Act Alternate Transport - AB 1544 (Gipson): UCC Position: OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED DJJ Fee Increase - SB 284 (Beall): UCC Position: OPPOSE EMS Dispatch - SB 438 (Hertzberg): UCC Position: NEUTRAL University of California (UC) Equal Employment Opportunity Standards - ACA 14 (Gonzalez): UCC Position: WATCH

Orange County is located in sunny Southern California. It is mostly known for its various attractions, like Disneyland, and Knott's Berry Farm, as well as popular beaches nestled among more than 40 miles of coastline along the Pacific coast.

Legislature Breaks for Summer Recess Please note: Given the Legislature's summer recess, UCC will publish its next Legislative Update on Monday, August 12. Last week's legislative schedule featured long hearings and packed halls as members wrapped up work in advance of their four-week summer break. Committees were operating under the pressure of legislative deadlines that required all bills to be considered by relevant policy committees before adjournment for summer recess. ... When members return to Sacramento on August 12, the respective Appropriations Committees will be poised to undertake fiscal review of remaining necessary measures, and the houses will consider and take action on the hundreds of proposals headed to the respective floors. The Governor's signing period - which, of course, will be his first opportunity to signal how he's going to approach major policy decisions via the signature and veto process - runs from September 13 through October 13. Below we provided an update on some key legislative measures of interest. (A copy of the latest bill report containing status information on UCC's priority measures can be found below.) https://files.constantcontact.com//ad7c68ba-0c8d-4810-9148

Legislature Facing Bill Deadlines as Summer Break Approaches It's the last week of session before the Legislature adjourns for a four-week summer break. Two legislative deadlines this week will require the Legislature, when it returns to Sacramento, to focus only on fiscal hearings for remaining bills and then moving bills out of the second house and back to the house of origin before passing them along to the Governor for his consideration and action. As a reminder - barrin...g any rule waiver acrobatics (which has been known to take place in the last few weeks of session) - bills with a fiscal impact must be taken up and approved by all relevant policy committees by Wednesday, July 10; all non-fiscal bills must move out of policy committees by Friday, July 12. The Legislature returns for a final four-week stretch on Monday, August 12. Given the Legislature's summer recess, we will provide a legislative update on priority bills of interest next Monday, July 15, and then will get back to our normal weekly publication schedule in August.

Housing and Homelessness Budget Trailer Bill Advances Late last week, we sent you a quick outline of the provisions of the housing and homelessness trailer bill. That bill - AB 101 - was heard and approved by the full Senate yesterday and will be taken up by the Assembly by the end of the week. We are still combing through the bill and have questions about some of its provisions, so we will send out an analysis soon. Stay tuned!

Details on Housing and Homelessness Budget Elements Finally Drop Early this morning - on the very day the Governor is required to act on the 2019-20 state budget bill adopted by the Legislature on June 13 - reports of a final deal on housing and homelessness started to surface on Twitter. The final agreement, the details of which just came into print (AB 101/SB 102) within the last hour, contains three main components. And, while different from the May Revision in terms of ...funding levels dedicated to local government recipients, it continues to offer a mix of carrots and sticks. The proposal includes considerable General Fund support for housing and homelessness programs, incentives to encourage cities and counties to adopt pro-housing policies at the local level, and long-awaited details on the "stick" to encourage compliance with housing element law that - we are happy to report - does not include a tie to SB 1 transportation funding.