Aug. 16, 2018

The fate of more than 600 bills was determined this afternoon as the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees took up their respective “suspense files,” consisting of legislative proposals that have significant fiscal impacts to the State. The idea is that Committee Members examine the total cost of the proposed laws all at once, rather than in a piecemeal fashion.

At this point in the legislative cycle, bills either get held in committee with no further movement in the legislative year, or they advance to a vote by the full Assembly and Senate in the final two weeks of session. This year, the Assembly suspense file contained more than 200 measures and the Senate suspense file contained more than 400.

CSAC would like to highlight the following key bills, of great importance to counties, that passed suspense and remain in play. Please contact CSAC legislative staff with any questions on the following key bills or any others that CSAC is tracking.

KEY BILLS PASSED TO THE FLOOR

SB 10 (Hertzberg) – Bail Reform – Oppose unless amended.  

SB 10 was passed as amended.  The amendments are not yet available.  But, as described by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the amendments to SB 10 would: (1) strike the language of the legislation; (2) repeal all current bail provisions effective in 2019; (3) enact a pre-trial assessment system within Judicial Council; and, (4) provide that Judicial Council or a local agency, such as probation, can perform pre-trial assessments. Once language is received, CSAC will send out an additional alert.

SB 1260 (Jackson) – Fire prevention and protection: prescribed burns – Support.

This bill would help improve fire protection in California by enhancing the ability to utilize prescribed burning operations to abate a fire hazard. The bill includes provisions that enhance training, education and outreach regarding prescribed burns. In addition, SB 1260 would also require a local planning agency in counties that contain a State Responsibility Area (SRA) or a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to refer adoptions or amendments of a general plan’s safety element to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and to local fire protection agencies that protect territory where the amendment or adoption will occur.

SB 1343 (Mitchell) – Sexual Harassment Prevention Trainings – Support if amended.

SB 1343 would establish sexual harassment training requirements for non-supervisor positions to ensure safe workplaces and provide greater protection from liability for employers.  CSAC led a coalition of public agency employers and successfully negotiated amendments with the author’s office that maximize the benefit of trainings while minimizing the impact on local public resources.

The other bills addressing sexual harassment in the workplace – AB 3081 (Gonzalez-Fletcher) and SB 1300 (Jackson) – are opposed by CSAC and remain highly problematic for employers, both public and private.

AB 553 (Daly) – Return to Work Fund – Oppose.

AB 553 would prematurely make changes to the “return to work” fund prior to the publication of a use study and exposed local agencies to higher costs for direct payments and administrative burdens.

AB 1804 (Berman) – CEQA Exemption: Infill Development – Support.

AB 1804 passed to the Floor with amendments to clarify that this new CEQA exemption for multi-family infill housing only applies to already urbanized unincorporated areas, among other technical changes. CSAC urges counties to contact their Senator and Assembly Members in advance of the bill’s final floor votes to support this long-sought housing streamlining tool for counties.

AB 1956 (Limon) – Fire Prevention activities – Watch.

AB 1956 passed from Senate Appropriations to the Floor with amendments. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2019, to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention activities. The bill would also allow for advance payments of awarded grants and would require Cal Fire to report back to the Legislature about the program. The Appropriations committee amended the bill to expand program eligibility and to prioritize grants for fire adaptive communities.

AB 2551 (Wood) – Forest and Wildland Health Improvement and Fire Prevention Program: joint prescribed burning operations: watersheds – Watch.

AB 2551 would require the department to establish the Forest and Wildland Health Improvement and Fire Prevention Program. The bill would require the department to take specified actions to implement and administer programs that are intended to promote forest and wildland health, restoration, and resilience, and improve fire outcomes, prevention, and preparedness throughout the state. The bill would improve Cal Fire’s ability to work with small non-industrial landowners on projects that improve forest health and would allow Cal Fire to partner with entities to do more joint prescribed burns to improve forest health.