Update on Key Government Finance and Administration Bills
May 30, 2024
The month of May brought two key legislative deadlines: the fiscal and house of origin deadlines. Earlier this month, the deadline for fiscal committees to hear and report bills introduced in their respective house to the floor passed. Over 1,000 bills were placed on the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees’ Suspense Files, with about 30 percent of those measures getting held on Suspense and are therefore no longer active. Almost 70 percent of those measures moved on to the next stage of the legislative process for Floor votes.
The end of last week marked yet another deadline: the house of origin deadline. Approximately 60 percent of the bills introduced in the Assembly have passed and moved onto the Senate and approximately 75 percent of the bills introduced in the Senate have passed and moved onto the Assembly. Bills that did not pass out of their house of origin by May 24 are no longer active. Currently, in addition to considering the budget act and budget trailer bills in time to meet the June 15th deadline when the final budget bill must be passed, the Legislature will hold policy committee hearings through June in the leadup to the next key deadline: the July 3rd deadline for bills to get out of policy committees.
CSAC staff have been working with legislative staff and local government partners to help shape the bills that impact counties. Below is a summary of the Government Finance and Administration bills that we have been advocating for. CSAC will continue to keep counties informed about the latest developments regarding these legislative measures.
Passed by the First House:
AB 817 (Pacheco) – Open meetings: teleconferencing: subsidiary body.
This measure would allow members of advisory bodies to participate remotely in public meetings without posting their remote location on a meeting agenda. This would only apply to subsidiary bodies that serve exclusively in an advisory capacity and lack the authority to take action on legislation, regulations, contracts, permits, or licenses. CSAC is co-sponsoring AB 817 along with a substantial local government coalition. The measure is set to be heard in the Senate Local Government Committee on June 5th.
AB 1785 (Pacheco) – California Public Records Act.
This measure would prohibit local agencies from posting an assessor’s parcel number associated with an elected or appointed official on the internet without their written permission. CSAC, RCRC and UCC have concerns about AB 1785 that centers around counties’ practical and fiscal capacity to accurately and consistently ensure that this information is appropriately redacted. The measure has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
AB 1827 (Papan) – Local government: fees and charges: water: higher consumptive water parcels.
AB 1879 (Gipson) – Electronic signatures.
This measure would allow the acceptance of electronic signatures by county assessors and will benefit taxpayers by improving the ability of county assessors to serve their constituents, especially those facing transportation or mobility challenges. CSAC is in support of AB 1879. The measure was passed by the Assembly and is set to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 4.
AB 2050 (Pellerin) – Voter registration database: Electronic Registration Information Center.
This measure would allow California to enroll in the voter registration database: Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and would authorize the Secretary of State to apply for ERIC membership, ensuring that counties maintain their ability to provide voters with the benefits of their services. CSAC is in support of AB 2050. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2061 (Wilson) – Sales and Use Tax: exemptions: zero-emission public transportation ferries.
This measure would establish, from January 1, 2025, until January 1, 2030, a new exemption for the purchase of zero-emission ferries by public transit agencies from the state portion of the sales and use tax. This is done by expanding on previous legislative actions to exempt from the state portion of the sales and use tax the purchase of zero-emission buses purchased by public transit agencies through AB 784 (Mullin, Chapter 684, Statutes of 2019) and AB 2622 (Mullin, Chapter 353, Statutes of 2022). CSAC and the League of California Cities are in support of AB 2061. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2249 (Pellerin) – Elections: retention of election records.
This measure would provide needed clarification to laws dictating the retention of election records, protect local governments from abuses of the California Public Records Act, and improve election security. CSAC is in support of AB 2249. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is set to be heard in the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee on June 4th.
This measure would provide new opportunities for ratepayers to participate in property-related water and sewer assessments and help local agencies avoid costly lawsuits related to Proposition 218 disputes. CSAC is in support of AB 2257. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
This measure clarifies the instances under which a physical therapist may sign the appropriate certification required before a placard or license plate can be issued to a disabled veteran or person with a disability. This clarification is consistent with other provisions of existing law and procedures established by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). CSAC is in support of AB 2289. This measure was passed by the Assembly and has been referred to Senate Committee on Transportation.
AB 2337 (Dixon) – Workers’ compensation: electronic signatures.
This measure seeks to address a critical issue concerning the use of electronic signatures in proceedings before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB). This is addressed by authorizing the use of certain electronic signatures in workers’ compensation proceedings permanently and ensuring efficiency and consistency in WCAB proceedings. CSAC, along with a broad coalition of agencies, are in support of AB 2337. The measure was passed by the Assembly and is set to be heard in the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee on June 5th.
AB 2421 (Low) – Employer-employee relations: confidential communications.
This measure would create a new, broad privilege between public employees and an employee representative without limitation regarding how the privilege functions, thus restricting an employer’s ability to conduct internal investigations. CSAC, along with a substantial coalition of agencies, are opposed to AB 2421, similar to our previous opposition of the previous attempt, AB 418 (Kalra, 2020). This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2455 (Gabriel) -Whistleblower protection: state and local government procedures.
This measure would modernize the Whistleblower Protection Act and assist local agencies prevent the misuse of government resources. This would be achieved by extending protections for activities related to government contractors, among other changes. CSAC is in support of AB 2455. This measure was passed by the Assembly and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary and Local Government committees.
This measure would burden the process for local agencies to contract out for statutorily authorized special services by requiring onerous contractor reporting obligations and audits, and by exposing contractors’ employee data. The bill is likely to disincentivize contractors from doing business with counties and increase costs and delays. CSAC, along with a substantial coalition, is opposed to AB 2557, similar to our opposition on a previous attempt, AB 1250 (Jones-Sawyer, 2017). This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2561 (McKinnor) – Local public employees: vacant positions.
This measure requires local public agencies with bargaining unit vacancy rates exceeding 10% for more than 180 days (approximately 6 months) to produce, implement, and publish a plan to reduce their vacancy rates to 0% within the subsequent 180 days. The bill also requires the public agency to present this plan during a public hearing to the governing legislative body and to publish the plan on its internet website for public review for at least one year. CSAC, along with a substantial local government coalition, is opposed to AB 2561. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
This measure would reinstate General Fund support for the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Program (PTP), by requiring an annual transfer of General Fund moneys when the balance of the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund (Fund) is less than $15 million.
CSAC and the League of California Cities are in support of AB 2564. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2631 (Fong, M) – Local agencies: ethics training.
This measure would codify the Fair Political Practice Commission’s ethics training program in statute and ensure that local officials continue to have free and convenient access to a resource that educates these officials on important ethics laws that impact their work and decision-making. CSAC, the Fair Political Practice Commission, and the League of California Cities are co-sponsors of AB 2631. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2715 (Boerner) – Ralph M. Brown Act: closed sessions.
This measure would authorize local agencies’ governing bodies to convene a closed session to consider or evaluate matters related to cybersecurity and represents an important modernization of the Brown Act. CSAC, RCRC, and UCC are in support of AB 2715. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is set to be heard in the Senate Local Government Committee on June 5th.
AB 2736 (Carrillo, J) – Veterans: benefits.
This measure would improve access to higher education for family members of disabled veterans by allowing them to receive additional educational benefits while also receiving federal educational benefits or duplicate assistance from any other government source. CSAC is in support of AB 2736. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 2922 (Garcia) – Economic development: capital investment incentive programs.
This measure seeks to extend the authorization for capital investment incentive programs until January 1, 2035. By extending the authorization for capital investment incentive programs, this measure ensures that local governments can continue to drive economic growth, job creation, and community development across California. CSAC and the League of California Cities are in support of AB 2922. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is set to be heard in the Senate Local Government Committee on June 5th.
AB 2946 (Valencia) – District discretionary funds: County of Orange.
This measure would require the Orange County Board of Supervisors to handle certain items of appropriation in a specific manner. Even though AB 2946 explicitly applies to the County of Orange, CSAC, RCRC, and UCC are concerned about some language used in the bill and the precedent-setting nature of the measure. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
AB 3134 (Chen) – Property taxation: refunds.
This measure, related to property tax refunding procedures, allows counties to initiate refunds of up to ten thousand dollars without the taxpayer filing a claim, leading to improved and expedited service for the public. CSAC is in support of AB 3134. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
This measure would extend the sunset date for the low-value ordinance exemption (LVOE) by five years, which provides county boards of supervisors the flexibility to exempt certain low-value possessory interests from taxation. CSAC is in support of AB 3268. This measure was passed by the Assembly and is currently awaiting referral to a Senate policy committee.
SB 1034 (Seyarto) – California Public Records Act: state of emergency.
This measure would amend the definition of “unusual circumstances” in the California Public Records Act (PRA) to include the need to respond to a PRA request during an emergency and provide some narrow, limited relief to counties when they receive PRA requests. CSAC, along with a coalition of agencies, are in support of SB 1034. This measure was passed by the Senate and is set to be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on June 4th.
SB 1515, SB 1516, and SB 1517 – (Committee on Revenue and Taxation) Validations.
These measures would assist all public agencies by protecting investors from minor and technical errors that might otherwise threaten bonds, boundary changes, and other official acts and will ensure that local bonds attain the highest possible ratings, resulting in the lowest possible borrowing costs for constituents. CSAC, UCC, CALAFCO, RCRC, and the League of California Cities are in support of SB 1515, 1516, and 1517. These measures were passed by the Senate and are set to be heard in the Assembly Local Government Committee on June 5th.
SB 1072 (Padilla) – Local government: Proposition 218: remedies.
This measure would be declaratory of and clarify the existing law that a refund is not available for alleged “excess” water or wastewater service charges and that, instead, a challenger’s remedy would only be to have any allegedly “excess” charges used to offset future rates and charges. CSAC is in support of SB 1072. This measure passed off the Senate Floor and has not yet been referred to a committee.
SB 1116 (Portantino) – Unemployment insurance: trade disputes: eligibility for benefits.
This measure would provide employees who remain on strike for more than two weeks with Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits, thus requiring employers (via UI) to fund ongoing labor disputes. CSAC, along with a coalition of agencies, are opposed to SB 1116 (similar to our opposition of a previous attempt, SB 799 (Portantino, 2023). This measure passed off the Senate Floor and is awaiting referral to the Assembly policy committee.
SB 1164 (Newman) – Property taxation: new construction exclusion: accessory dwelling units.
This measure would reduce local government property tax revenue by exempting newly constructed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) from property tax assessment if certain conditions are met, for ten years from the date of completion or until the property changes owners, whichever comes first. CSAC along with the League of California Cities, the California Teachers Association and the Special Districts Association are opposed to SB 1164. This measure passed off the Senate Floor and is awaiting referral to the Assembly policy committee.
SB 1205 (Laird) – Workers’ compensation: medical benefits.
This measure would increase costs and administrative friction in California’s workers’ compensation system by broadly expanding the payment of temporary disability benefits in a way that fundamentally undermines its purpose, which is to be available as wage replacement in situations where the worker is temporarily disabled and unable to work while recovering from an industrial injury. CSAC, along with a coalition of agencies, are opposed to SB 1205. This measure passed off the Senate Floor and is awaiting referral to the Assembly policy committee.
This measure would enhance an existing fund source for California’s network of fairs and offer much needed financial support for fair projects involving public health and safety, infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and reinvestment into the state’s 76 fairs. CSAC, along with a coalition of agencies, are in support of SB 1261. This measure passed off of the Senate Floor and is awaiting referral to the Assembly policy committee.
SB 1441 (Allen) – Examination of petitions: time limitations and reimbursement of costs.
This measure would preserve local election resources by establishing reasonable timeframes for the examination of failed petitions. The bill would also protect those vital public resources by allowing local election officials to recover the costs of the examinations. CSAC is in support of SB 1441. This measure passed off the Senate Floor and is awaiting referral to the Assembly policy committee.
Bills held on Suspense and no longer active:
SB 955 (Seyarto) – Office of Planning and Research: Infrastructure Gap-Fund Program.
This measure was held in suspense by the Senate Appropriations Committee. It aimed to create the Infrastructure Gap-Fund Program at the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to offer grants to help cities and counties with infrastructure projects that provide benefits to the entire community. Additionally, the bill would have mandated the OPR to establish implementation guidelines and criteria for the program. CSAC and the League of California Cities were in support of SB 955.
SB 964 (Seyarto) – Property tax: tax-defaulted property sales.
This measure was held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It aimed to make significant changes to the process for selling tax-defaulted properties by county governments and would have imposed new costly requirements on a state agency without providing the necessary funding. CSAC, RCRC, and UCC were opposed to SB 964.
SB 1124 (Menjivar) – Deceptive practices: service members and veterans.
This measure was held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It aimed to strengthen state law protections for veterans by prohibiting any person not accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from charging a veteran for help with a benefits claim. The measure also sought to increase penalties for those who obtain unauthorized access to veterans’ data on VA computer systems, and to prohibit the charging of fees that exceed what a VA-accredited attorney or claims agent could legally charge to assist a veteran with a benefits claim. CSAC was in support of SB 1124.
SB 1346 (Durazo) – Workers’ compensation: aggregate disability payments.
This measure was held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee as a reintroduction of the extremely flawed AB 1213 (Ortega, 2023) that was vetoed by Governor Newsom last year. It would have further complicated California’s burdensome claims-handling process and created an incentive to unnecessarily challenge Utilization Review (UR) decisions through Independent Medical Review (IMR). CSAC, along with a coalition of agencies, were opposed to SB 1346.
AB 2404 (Lee) – State and local public employees: labor relations: strikes.
POSITION: Oppose
This measure was held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and was a re-introduction of last year’s AB 504 (Reyes), that CSAC opposed. This measure aimed to declare the acts of sympathizing with and honoring a strike line as a human right. As a result, it would disallow provisions in public employer policies or collective bargaining agreements that would limit or prevent an employee’s right to sympathize with a strike. CSAC, along with a coalition of agencies, were opposed to AB 2404.
AB 2489 (Ward) – Local agencies: contracts for special services and temporary help.
This measure was held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and attempted to alter contracting for special s services by local agencies. AB 2489 would have required local agencies – at least 10 months prior to a procurement process to contract for special services that are currently or in the past 10 years provided by a member of an employee organization – to notify the employee organization affected by the contract of its determination to begin a procurement process by the governing body. The definitions of special services varied by agency type but covered a broad array of services provided by local agencies, from essential government administration services to medical and therapeutic services to legal and other technical services. Similar to previous legislative attempts to limit local agency authority for contracting (AB 1250, Jones-Sawyer, 2017), AB 2489 was unnecessary and inflexible. It was likely to lead to worse outcomes for vulnerable communities and reduced local services for residents and students. CSAC, along with a substantial coalition, were opposed to AB 2489.
AB 2591 (Quirk-Silva) – Local government: youth commissions.
This measure was held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and would have required cities and counties to establish a youth commission in response to petitions from high school pupils enrolled in their jurisdiction, thus creating a new mandated local program. CSAC, RCRC, UCC, and the League of California Cities were opposed to AB 2591.
AB 2751 (Haney) – Employer communications during nonworking hours.
This measure was held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and aimed to restrict communication between employers and employees, except in cases of “emergency”, which was not clearly defined. AB 2751 would have required a public or private employer to establish a workplace policy that permits employees the right to disconnect from employer communications during nonworking hours. The bill could have created uncertainty and affected the delivery of important local programs and services. CSAC, along with a coalition of local government agencies, were opposed to AB 2751.
Status of additional bills GFA has taken a position on:
SB 251(Newman) – Candidates’ statements: false statements.
This measure increases the penalty for intentional false statements by election candidates from $1,000 to $5,000. SB 251 expands on those policies and further safeguards against the risks of unqualified candidates being elected to office. CSAC is in support of SB 251. This measure has been referred to the Assembly Elections Committee.
AB 2813 (Aguiar-Curry) – Government Investment Act.
This measure would have provided clarity to ACA 1 and ensured that local governments were accountable for ACA 1 projects by further specifying how citizens’ oversight committees would operate and refine the role of the California State Auditor in overseeing ACA 1 projects. AB 2813 would have ensured that future ACA 1 measures were set up for success by guaranteeing the proceeds could have been used to support meaningful progress in their communities, ensured accountability and transparency of ACA 1 projects, and would exist as a vehicle to make necessary technical adjustments to the provisions of ACA 1 before it is considered by voters. CSAC was in support of AB 2813. This measure was moved to the inactive file by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry.
