Sept. 2, 2016
Issue #78

Editor's Note

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Key Climate Change Bills and Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan Clear Legislature in Final Days

$900 million Allocated, but Uncertainty of Cap-and-Trade Program Remains

The League tracked legislation dealing with climate change and measures to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) throughout the session. Although the League did not take formal positions on all of these bills, cities will want to be aware of their effects.

Environmental Quality, Cap-and-Trade, Greenhouse Gases, Legislation, Hot Bills, Assembly, Senate
 

Second Attempt at Costly Employee Orientation Proposal Fails in Senate

The Legislature often acts in a manner that is responsive to issues that have local, state or even national implications. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 ruling in the controversial Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which challenged the collection of “fair share” or “compulsory” union fees from nonunion employees, organized labor responded with AB 2835 (Cooper). Co-authored by legislative leadership, the measure was amended in June in and would have required that all public employer labor organizations be allowed 30 minutes of paid time to organize new hires. The measure did not move forward at the end of session.

Employee Relations, Legislation, Hot Bills
 

Legislation Undermining Local Taxi Regulation Authority Sent to Governor

Flawed Bill Redrafted in Final Hours of Session

Without any meaningful input from the public and affected stakeholders in the closing hours of the legislative session, the Legislature redrafted AB 650 (Low) to arbitrarily restrict the ability for cities and counties to properly regulate the taxi industry, in an attempt to level the playing field for taxis against their competition (transportation network companies, or TNCs, such as Uber and Lyft). Enhancing competition at the expense of maintaining important community standards, including ensuring public safety, community-wide coverage, and disabled access is the wrong approach.

Transportation, Legislation
 

League’s Regional Divisions Contribute to Defeat of Legislation Undermining Local Control of Regional Authority

A bill proposing to add state appointments to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board, was defeated on the Assembly Floor in the final hours of the legislative session. The measure represented a clear threat to local control and was strongly opposed by all four of the League’s affected regional divisions — Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County and Inland Empire. Many stakeholder organizations, individual cities and the state League also opposed the measure.

Environmental Qulaity, Legislation, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, Inland Empire
 

California City Solutions: Livermore Library Develops Innovative Service Model to Continue Providing Accessibility to Services

This story is part of an ongoing series featuring Helen Putnam Award entries. The 2015 entries are available on the League’s website as a resource for cities in a searchable database called California City Solutions. Livermore’s Easy Access Library was submitted in 2015 for the Community Services and Economic Development award category.

CA City Solutions, Helen Putnam, Community Services, Library Services
 

State Launches Revised Open Data Portal

The California Government Operations Agency (GovOps) announced today that its open data portal has been updated with open source technology. Hosted by the Department of Technology, the portal is a collection of data gathered from multiple state agencies. Information contained in this portal can be of use to government agencies, the public, researchers and the press.

Open Government
 

U.S. EPA Will Release RFP for Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup Funding this Fall

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields program is expecting the release of their annual request for proposals for brownfields assessment and cleanup funding in September/October 2016 with applications due 60-75 days after the release. These grants support property redevelopment and economic revitalization. Funds can be used to develop a brownfields inventory, conduct community outreach, perform environmental site assessments and clean up brownfield properties.

Environmental Quality
 

Marijuana Cannabis Cultivation Program Public Scoping Period Opened Sept. 1

Scoping Workshops Scheduled Statewide

The California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) is developing regulations to establish cannabis cultivation licensing and a track and trace system, collectively referred to as the Medical Cannabis Cultivation Program (MCCP). The overall purpose of CDFA’s licensing program is to ensure medical cannabis cultivation is performed in a manner that protects the environment, cannabis cultivation workers, and the general public from the individual and cumulative effects of these operations, and fully complies with all applicable laws. In addition, the program has been set up to establish a track and trace program to ensure the movement of medical cannabis items are tracked throughout the production chain.

Medical Marijuana Regulation, Public Safety, Meetings and Events
 

Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation and Department of Public Health Announce Pre-Regulatory Stakeholder Meetings

During September and October, the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation (BMCR) and the Department of Public Health will be holding pre-regulatory stakeholder meetings. These meetings will be used to gather input on upcoming regulations.

Medical Marijuana Regulation, Public Safety, Meetings and Events
1400 K Street ■ Sacramento, CA 95814 ■ (916) 658-8200
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