May 2024

After the recent culling of about a third of the legislative proposals in the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees, a significant number of Cal Cities' priority bills continue to advance. A recent Cal Cities Advocate article provided an update on those bills that the appropriations committees voted up or down, with Senate Appropriations Chair Anna Caballero summing up the fiscal committees action succinctly in her comments to CalMatters: "We don't have the money."

Cal Cities will continue to monitor the budget negotiations, but due to the deep cuts proposed in the Governor's May Revise we are asking for your help... Please contact contact your legislators to urge them to reject the proposed budget cuts to affordable housing and homelessness programs. Cities are working diligently to find creative solutions to prevent and reduce homelessness and boost affordable housing, but we need the State to be a partner in these efforts. Division staff recently sent information to city officials about these cuts, but if you need talking points or other information please reach out to us.

Earlier this month, Governor Newsom announced the state is working to quickly make Proposition 1 funding available for building local behavioral health outpatient treatment slots, beds, and/or community campuses to fill a gap in the local or regional behavioral health continuum of care. This initial round of $3.3 billion in funding is open to cities, counties, and tribes. Funding will be awarded based on the local behavioral health needs data, community engagement, and regional collaboration.

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has released a fact sheet and guidance for this first round of funds. Applications will be due in the Fall and funds will be awarded in early 2025.

The Governor also announced the launch of MentalHealth.ca.gov, a one-stop website for accessing mental health resources in California. This portal will soon include a mapping interface that will showcase how counties are implementing the state's behavioral health initiatives, including CARE Court, conservatorship reform, and Proposition 1.

Having a hard time keeping track of the bills that impact your city? The Cal Cities lobbying team are ready to help and will be hosting two webinars focused on legislation in the coming months.

Advocacy Update on Priority Legislation

June 4, 2024

10 AM - 12 PM

REGISTER HERE

Summer Recess Briefing on Priority Bills

July 8, 2024

1:30 - 3:30 PM

REGISTER HERE

Sign up for one or both of these briefings to get the latest information to supplement your advocacy efforts!

By Jason Rhine, director of legislative affairs

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee on [May 14] unanimously approved Sen. Steve Glazer’s request to audit the state's housing element review process. The move — strongly supported by Cal Cities — comes as more cities raise concerns about the timeliness, consistency, and fairness of the process.

“If we are going to require cities to uphold many state standards in their housing plans, the state must provide clear and consistent guidance to cities,” Sen. Glazer said yesterday in a press release. “This audit will help provide legislative insight and scrutiny of the work of this important housing department.”

Cities have been working diligently to update their housing plans to account for much larger housing goals, as well as new programs and strategies mandated by new laws — often to great success. However, many cities have also faced significant challenges when submitting their housing plans to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

According to Sen. Glazer, the audit will include:

• A determination of how clear HCD’s standards and regulations are for housing elements.
• An assessment of how responsive HCD has been to local governments.
• A measure of how many different reviewers evaluate a jurisdiction’s housing element.
• A determination of the consistency of HCD’s comments and reviews.
• An evaluation of the clarity of HCD’s feedback.
• An assessment of how HCD communicates housing element submission deadlines to local governments.

Cal Cities will continue to work with Sen. Glazer to identify shortcomings with the housing element process and much-needed reforms. The State Auditor’s Office will start the audit this fall. More information about the audit process, including estimated timelines, is available online.

A report posted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website signals opposition to the motion filed by AT&T to withdraw as the carrier of last resort (COLR). Although this action will not be finalized until the commission's upcoming meeting on June 20, the Division is hopeful that this will ensure communities still have access to landline telephone service for the foreseeable future.

According to the release, the proposed rejection appears based on AT&T’s failure to demonstrate sufficient alternatives to the landline option: “Despite AT&T’s contention that providers of voice alternatives to landline service – such as VoIP or mobile wireless services – can fill the gap, the CPUC found AT&T did not meet the requirements for COLR withdrawal. Specifically, AT&T failed to demonstrate the availability of replacement providers willing and able to serve as COLR, nor did AT&T prove that alternative providers met the COLR definition.”

The report also indicates that the CPUC intends to begin a new rule-making process to adapt regulations to evolving market conditions and technology. Cal Cities and the LA County Division will continue to monitor the CPUC for the approval of this report and will engage when the next rule-making process is announced.

Registration for the Annual Conference in Long Beach from October 16 - 18, 2024 begins today!

More details here, but please register promptly if you plan to stay in Long Beach near the convention center as lodging will sell out early.

This week, the Los Angeles County Division will host our Annual CitiPAC fundraising event at the world famous Magic Castle and we want to thank our sponsors for their generous support of this year's event!

GOLD SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSORS

Legislature: The end of May marked the House of Origin deadline so all bills that have crossed over must pass the second house by August 31^st. The Legislature and the Governor will be focused on adopting a budget by the June 15 Constitutional Deadline, they will break for summer recess in July and rush finish session by the end of August. 

2024 Budget Requests

Support $3 billion in ongoing funding to increase housing supply and reduce homelessness.

2024 Legislation

Governance, Transparency and Labor Relations

Support AB 817 (Pacheco) Local government: open meetings, as amended 1/17/24. Provides a narrow exemption under the Ralph M. Brown Act for non-decision-making legislative bodies currently governed by Act, such as advisory bodies and commissions, to participate in two-way virtual teleconferencing without posting physical location of members.

Status: Senate Local Government

Public Safety

Support SB 21 (Umberg) Controlled Substances. As amended 5/02/24. Requires a court to provide a written advisory to a person convicted of selling fentanyl notifying the person of the danger of selling or administering illicit drugs and counterfeit pills and of the potential future criminal liability if another person dies as a result of that person’s actions. It will also require that a fentanyl-related defendant be referred to drug court or drug treatment programs. 

Status: Assembly Second Reading

Support SB 1262 (Archuleta) Crimes. Supervised release. As amended 5/16/24. Seeks reforms to supervised release protocols and ensures that the Board of Parole has a full picture of a potential parolee’s history.

Status: Assembly Desk

Support AB 3171 (Soria) Controlled substances: fentanyl. As amended 4/30/24. Increases the penalties for offenses involving more than 28.35 grams of fentanyl or a fentanyl analog.

Status: Assembly Appropriations Suspense- Dead

Support if Amended AB 2943 (Zbur) Crimes Shoplifting. As amended 5/20/24. Enacts the California Retail Theft Reduction Act, which contains multiple provisions pertaining to shoplifting, grand theft, criminal deprivation of a retail business opportunity, and theft-related probation and diversion.

Status: Senate Rules

Support AB 2336 (Villapudua) Controlled substances: armed possession: fentanyl.  Makes it a felony for a person to be in possession of a substance containing fentanyl while armed with a loaded and operable firearm.  This felony is punishable by a state prison term of two, three, or four years.

Status: Assembly Appropriations Suspense- Dead

Support AB 2045 (Hoover) Controlled substances: fentanyl trafficking penalties. Authorizes a sentencing enhancement for a defendant convicted of using, inducing, or employing a minor to transport or possess fentanyl, where the defendant knew the substance in question contained fentanyl.

Status: Assembly Appropriations Suspense-Dead

Transportation, Communications and Public Works

Support AB 761 (Friedman) Local finance: enhanced infrastructure financing districts. As amended 9/13/23. Extends the statutory period of available Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFD) tax increment from 45 years to 75 years for districts created to fund zero-emission transit projects in Los Angeles County with federal financing through Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans.

Status: Senate Local Government

Support AB 1869 (McKinnor) Outdoor Advertising Displays: City of Hawthorne.  Allows the City of Hawthorne to promote city services, businesses and community activities through digital advertising displays or “municipal message centers” operating within its city boundaries as “on-premises” displays.

Status: Dead, failed deadline

Federal

Support H.R. 1201 (Napolitano) Increasing Behavioral Treatment Act. Removes the Institutions for Mental Disease Medicaid restrictions which currently prohibit a psychiatric hospital or other residential family with more than 16 beds from receiving federal reimbursement for services provided to adults within that facility. In Los Angeles County, this exclusion has inadvertently limited facility capacity and contributed to a shortage of mental health beds. 

Oppose H.R. 6859 (Kamlager-Dove) Gabrielino/Tongva Nation Recognition Act of 2023. Circumvents the current Federal Tribal Recognition process, bypassing the requirement for the Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review impacts to local governments and eliminates opportunities for local jurisdictions to provide comments on any positive or negative public safety, environmental or other impacts to their communities.

Regulatory

Request to reject AT&T application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to withdraw its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designation and relief from its Carrier of Last Resort Obligation (COLR).

Status: CPUC Proposal Rejecting ATTs Request to Withdraw as Carrier of Last Resort

Ballot Measures

Oppose The Taxpayer Deception Act, Initiative No. 21-0042A1. Limits voters’ input, adopts new and stricter rules for raising taxes and fees, and makes it more difficult to hold state and local law violators accountable.