May 23, 2024

In the days following the release of the Governor’s 2024-25 May Revision budget proposal, CSAC advocates have worn out their walking shoes with trips to the Capitol Building and Annex Swing Space to testify before budget subcommittees on behalf of California’s 58 counties regarding the impacts of proposed state budget cuts on county governance and service delivery.

Last week, the budget negotiations began in earnest, with the tight constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass the budget bill(s) by June 15. Budget committees in the Assembly and Senate have been and will continue to hold hearings to review the Governor’s May Revision budget proposals and craft the legislative vehicles that will eventually become the 2024 Budget Act.

Most budget committee work is done through subcommittees that focus on specific policy areas. A list of subcommittees by policy area and their hearing schedules are available on the Senate and Assembly budget committee websites.

This week, CSAC submitted letters to legislative leadership and budget committee chairs in both houses offering comments to inform budget conversations in the upcoming days and weeks:

• CSAC’s letter to the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review
• CSAC’s letter to the Assembly Budget Committee

Individual counties can add to this advocacy work by submitting letters directly to budget committees and meet with their legislative members to ensure the voices of their communities are heard in addressing their unique needs.

In addition, CSAC legislative advocates submitted individual letters and provided public testimony to the budget subcommittees regarding specific budget proposals, as detailed below:

Administration of Justice

On Monday, May 20, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee 6 on Public Safety met after an over five-hour floor session to discuss the May Revision, including items for the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). On the agenda was CalOES’ Victim Services Program, which facilitates the administration of Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. Due to federal reductions through the Bureau of Justice, VOCA funding will be slashed by 45% or over $100 million statewide by July 1, 2024; this will result in catastrophic cuts or elimination of crucial programs, including legal assistance, housing support, rape crisis centers, trauma recovery centers, and much more. Due to the wide range of victim services, providers vary in size and scope. However, the concern over proposed impacts is felt across the continuum of care for victims of crime. In order to continue the current service provision, we have joined state efforts requesting $103 million to supplement existing funds. CSAC, alongside over 200 victim services and county partners, will continue to advocate for the maintenance of funding on both the federal and state levels to ensure the sustainability of these critical services. We strongly encourage counties to reach out to the budget committees in both houses, sharing the impacts of the dramatic cuts.

• Read CSAC’s Letter of Support to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for AB 1956 (Reyes) here.
• Read CSAC’s Letter of Support to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for AB 2432 (Gabriel) here.
• Find the budget committee membership in the Assembly here and the Senate here.

Please reach out to Ryan Morimune (rmorimune@counties.org) or Michaela Schunk (mschunk@counties.org) with any questions.

Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources

As one of CSAC’s top priorities in 2024, the bulk of AENR’s budget advocacy has been around funding for SB 1383 (Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016) organic waste implementation. In an attempt to help bridge the funding gap in this cuts year, CSAC is leading a coalition to ask that any climate or natural resources bond that moves forward contain money to support local governments in the implementation of SB 1383.

Please reach out to Ada Waelder (awaelder@counties.org) or Catherine Freeman (cfreeman@counties.org) with any questions.

Government Finance and Administration

The GFA team has been active in advocating on several issues in budget subcommittees.

First, CSAC joined a coalition of local governments in opposing the Governor’s proposal to make charter schools eligible for educational revenue augmentation funds (ERAF). The proposal would run counter to a recent court decision and guidance from the state controller and result in five affected counties losing a collective $130-$180 million in revenue.

• Coalition Letter to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on State Administration (April 3, 2024)

Second, CSAC joined another coalition of local governments to urge the legislature to include an appropriation to hold three counties harmless for the vehicle license fee (VLF) swap by backfilling the insufficient ERAF amounts in three counties. Whereas the state has provided this funding in prior years, there is no funding in the 2024-25 budget for the three impacted counties: Alpine, Mono, and San Mateo. Collectively, the lack of an appropriation would result in over $72.5 million in lost revenue for the counties.

• Coalition Letter to Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and General Government (April 29, 2024)

Additionally, on May 16 the Assembly Budget Subcommittee 5 on State Administration met to discuss the 2024-25 May Revision. During this hearing, CSAC expressed disappointment regarding the substantial reduction in funding allocated to the California Department of Technology for the Middle Mile Broadband Initiative, a $250 million reduction for 2024-25 and a $1.3 billion reduction for 2025-26. CSAC had previously supported SB 156 (Chapter 112, Statutes of 2021) which represented a historic $6 billion investment in broadband infrastructure. CSAC remains committed to advocating for adequate funding for the Middle Mile Broadband Initiative.

Please reach out to Kalyn Dean (kdean@counties.org), Eric Lawyer (elawyer@counties.org) or Stanicia Boatner (sboatner@counties.org) with any questions.

Health and Human Services

Over the last week, the CSAC HHS team has been pushing back against proposed cuts to core county services in various budget subcommittees. Between Wednesday, May 15 – Wednesday, May 22, the CSAC HHS advocates spoke in five different budget subcommittees spanning ten different hearings to oppose the proposed funding cuts included in the Governor’s May Revision impacting CalWORKs, foster care programs, Adult Protective Services programs, In-Home Supportive Services, public health workforce and infrastructure, and homelessness programs. In addition, CSAC continues to voice concerns for the lack of ongoing or additional funding for future rounds of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Program, as well as outline the need for new and ongoing funding for counties to implement the provisions of Proposition 1.

• Read CSAC’s letter opposing various cuts to human services programs here.
• Read CSAC’s letter opposing cuts to homelessness programs here.
• Read the coalition letter opposing cuts to CalWORKs here.
• Read the coalition letter opposing cuts Child Welfare Services here.
• Read the coalition letter opposing cuts to Adult Protective Services here.
• Read the coalition letter opposing the elimination of the Future of Public Health investment here. 

Please reach out to Justin Garrett (jgarrett@counties.org), Jolie Onodera (jonodera@counties.org), or Danielle Bradley (dbradley@counties.org) with any questions.

Housing, Land Use, and Transportation

CSAC is a part of a coalition requesting that Caltrans be required to provide regular reports with relevant data to the Legislature on its progress meeting the implementation plan outlined by the Department.  Local governments’ vehicle fleets are also impacted by California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulations that Caltrans is citing as the initiating need for this BCP.   Given concerns by counties and other local governments, we believe that counties can utilize the data from the proposed Caltrans report to learn best practices, assess reasonable procurement timelines and determine realistic delivery estimates for charging infrastructure projects.  This and other proposed reporting data elements will assist local government fleet managers in their efforts to acquire ACF compliant vehicles while managing their fleets to provide critical services to the public.  CSAC, in coalition with Cal Cities and California Special Districts Association has been actively advocating for the inclusion of this language through the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees. The Senate Subcommittee 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation is considering this request at their May 29 hearing while the Assembly Budget Committee will be voting on the entire budget on May 30.

CSAC is also a part of a coalition that supports the restoration of REAP 2.0 grant funding. The Governor’s January Budget proposed to cut $300 million from the REAP 2.0 program, which is a critical investment to advance the implementation of adopted regional plans by funding planning and development activities that accelerate infill housing and reduce vehicle miles traveled.

Please reach out to Mark Neuburger (mneuburger@counties.org) or Kristina Gallagher (kgallagher@counties.org) with any questions.