[Editor’s Note: Mr. Rice is a lobbyist in Sacramento for City Hall.]
Dateline Sacramento — Sacramento is essentially in a holding pattern regarding both budget and legislation as Gov. Brown is expected to release his May Revision later this week, which will form the basis of the upcoming budget discussions as well as frame the Appropriation’s Committees’ actions as they decide how many pieces of legislation, including their costs, to allow to pass. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, the next major legislative actions are set to begin very, very shortly.
It has been widely reported that the tax collections are running perhaps as high as $2.5 billion above previous projections. This would obviously reduce the deficit required to be dealt with. But it is not high enough to completely relieve the Legislature and the governor from making some seriously difficult choices.
The education lobby and its many allies have planned protests this entire week to inform policymakers of the importance of funding education as they deal with the deficit. As I write this, the CHP, the primary entity that protects the Capitol, is beginning to arrest some protesters who have refused to leave.
From the Sacramento Bee last night:
The California Highway Patrol has begun arresting protesters at the Capitol, after warning about 65 to leave the building after its 6 p.m. closing. The daylong protest, organized by the California Teachers Assn., drew about 1,000 protesters for various activities. About 150 moved into the rotunda in late afternoon, and some of them refused to leave at closing time. The crowd chanted “shame on you” as protesters were led off one-by-one to an elevator. The CHP used plastic wrist ties to bind the protesters. Mike Parker, a community college teacher who expected to be arrested, said the protest is to provide a “moral witness…What's happening in this society is totally out of kilter,” he said. The crowd chanted “CHP, join us!” during a lull in arrests. So far the arrests have gone off largely without incident.
Although this week is relatively calm…at least as the Legislature is concerned….there is still activity happening. The League of Cities has been doing a greater job this year of highlighting upcoming weekly activities. Following is the list of bills they are tracking that will be heard this week. Not all the measures will be of interest to you, but I wanted to pass these along to make you aware of not only the measures, but also of the League’s interest as well.
Please let me know if any of these bills are of interest to you if we have not already discussed them before. Also, between now and the end of the month, the respective Appropriation's Committees in each House will have calendars with hundreds of bills to hear. However, the real “action” on the vast majority of these bills is actually not on their assigned hearing date, but rather during the nebulous and highly politicized “suspense” process.
I'm happy to define this difference more fully if you or any member of your team would like further clarification.
The League's bills of interest for this week follow:
Yesterday
Senate Appropriations, State Capitol, Room 4203 at 11 a.m.:
SB 118. (Yee) Public Contracts: Energy Service Contracts Best Value. League position: Oppose.
SB 679. (Pavley) Energy: Energy Conservation Projects: Financial Assistance: Local Governments and Public Institutions. League position: Support.
Senate Public Employment and Retirement, State Capitol, Room 2040 at 2 p.m.:
AB 455. (Campos) Public Employment: Local Public Employee Organizations. League position: Oppose.
SB 931. (Vargas) Public Employee Organizations. League position: Oppose.
Today
Assembly Judiciary, State Capitol, Room 4202 at 10 a.m.:
AB 579. (Monning) Mobilehome Parks: Liability: Attorney's Fees. League position: Support.
Senate Judiciary, State Capitol, Room 112 at 1:30 p.m.:
SB 474. (Evans) Commercial Construction Contracts: Indemnity. League position: Oppose.
Tomorrow
Assembly Appropriations, State Capitol, Room 4202 at 9 a.m.:
AB 392. (Alejo) Ralph M. Brown Act: Posting Agendas. League position: Concerns.
AB 400. (Ma) Employment: Paid Sick Days. League position: Oppose.
AB 432. (Hall) Vehicles: Notice to Appear: Service. League position: Concerns.
AB 527.(Hernandez) Public Officials: Financial Interests. League position: Concerns.
AB 529. (Gatto) Vehicles: Speed Limits: Downward Speed Zoning. League position: Support.
AB 582. (Pan) Open Meetings: Local Agencies. League position: Concerns.
Assembly Housing and Community Development, State Capitol, Room 126 at 9 a.m.:
AB 264. (Hagman) Transitional Housing. League position: Support.
Assembly Local Government, State Capitol, Room 447 at 1:30 p.m.:
SB 191. (Committee on Governance and Finance) Validations. League position: Oppose Unless Amend.
SB 192. (Committee on Governance and Finance) Validations. League position: Oppose Unless Amend.
SB 193. (Committee on Governance and Finance) Validations. League position: Oppose Unless Amend.
AB 943. (Williams) Public Contracts: Local Contracts: Alternative Procedures. League position: Support.
AB 1338. (Hernandez) Redevelopment. League position: Neutral.
Mr. Rice may be contacted at tony@riceenglander.com
