June 7, 2018

The Government Finance and Administration (GFA) policy unit reports the following “hot” bills which remain alive in the 2018 calendar year and are headed to the second house. As CSAC works to stop these measures, counties are encouraged to get involved and engage their legislators.

AB 1912 (Rodriguez) – Expanded Pension Liability for JPA Members

• Scheduled for Hearing Monday, June 11 (Senate PERS Committee) •

Applies liability (both retroactive and prospective) for all retirement-related obligations to any current or former member of a joint powers authority, thereby increasing local government debt burden significantly and threatening a highly effective service delivery tool.

For more information, see the latest coalition opposition letter and the full text of AB 1912.

SB 1085 (Skinner) – Paid and Protected Leave for Union Employees

• Scheduled for Hearing Wednesday, June 20 (Assembly PERSS Committee) •

Erodes the collective bargaining process by requiring public employers to provide union employees with “reasonable” leaves of absence to serve as union stewards or officers. While on the leave of absence, employees are entitled to their regular compensation offered by the agency, the same benefits (including retirement accrual), and job reinstatement without loss of seniority, rank, or classification.

For more information, see the latest coalition opposition letter and the full text of SB 1085.

SB 1412 (Bradford) – Limits on Employee Background Checks

• Committee Referral and Hearing Date TBA •

Requires employers to limit their criminal background checks to a “particular” conviction as it relates to the job the applicant is seeking. By doing so, the bill creates a conflict with the recently implemented “ban the box” hiring procedure which affords certain exemptions for specific public agency positions.

For more information, see the coalition Senate Floor Alert and full text of SB 1412.

AB 2558 (Brough) – Voter Approval for Consolidation of County Offices

• Committee Referral and Hearing Date TBA •

Prohibits a county board of supervisors from independently consolidating elective offices of auditor, controller, treasurer, tax collector, and director of finance. The matter would need to be placed on the ballot for voters to decide, undermining the authority of every county board of supervisors.

For more information, see CSAC’s Assembly Floor Alert and the full text of AB 2558.

Lastly, counties should note the recent introduction of ACA 31 (Cervantes) which seeks to cap the annual base salary of all public sector employees to the compensation set for the Office of Governor. Numerous hurdles lie ahead in terms of the legislative process, but it deserves a spot on the “hot” bill list due to the massive impact it would have on public sector operations.

For status updates on any of these measures and more, please visit www.counties.org/legislative-tracking or feel free to contact GFA Legislative Staff Dorothy Johnson and Tracy Sullivan.