Though COVID-19 response and impacts have taken priority in recent months, CSDA has continued to advocate on other pressing priorities including funding assistance to mitigate impacts to special districts from Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). Last week, Senate Budget Sub-Committee 5 (Public Safety) Chair, Senator Nancy Skinner, as well as Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci, both recognized the importance of supporting special districts facing these events.
Special districts often operate within the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), providing critical services to communities in high-risk fire zones. According to a survey of special districts conducted by CSDA to evaluate the impacts of PSPS events, they pose significant challenges in the delivery of critical local services that are necessary to the public’s health and safety. Data showed that, while most impacted agencies have redundancies and response plans in place, special districts still experienced operational challenges and substantial cost burdens during last year’s PSPS events. Budget challenges and additional unbudgeted expenditures were particularly significant for districts operating in regions where the PSPS events were repeated multiple times throughout fire season.
2019-2020 Budget: PSPS Funding for Local Government Excluded Special Districts
In last year’s budget, seventy-five million in PSPS funding assistance was allocated to counties, cities, and tribal governments. Unfortunately, California’s independent special districts were left out despite experiencing substantial cost impacts and playing a vital role in community response throughout these events. We have continually expressed the need for additional funding assistance to prepare for de-energization events in order to stand strong and ready for this and future fire seasons so that critical local services are not compromised.
Special Districts Eligible for 2020-2021 Proposed $50 Million Community Power Resiliency Funding
Since last fall, CSDA advocates have been meeting with key leadership and staff at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), the Department of Finance (DOF), and the Legislature since late fall to educate them on the vital role special districts play and the impacts experienced during the 2019 PSPS events. This outreach led directly to special districts’ explicit inclusion in the Budget Change Proposal that accompanied the Governor’s 2020-21 January Budget proposal of a fifty million dollars in one-time General Fund investment in Community Power Resiliency grants aimed at increasing local preparedness and response capability.
State Funding Priorities Shift Post-COVID19 Impacts, PSPS Funding and Special District Eligibility Remain Priority
Despite the significant economic crisis the state and local governments collectively face, funding for local assistance to respond to de-energization events continues to be considered in this year’s fiscal priorities. Significantly, the Budget Change Proposal for this item remains unchanged and thus far continues to provide for special district eligibility.
While final budget determinations have yet to be made, preserving this funding as a priority in this year’s funding package - and special district inclusion in it - has significant support within the Legislature and CalOES. Last week when presenting the Community Power Resiliency budget item to the Senate Sub-Committee on Corrections, Public Safety, and the Judiciary, Director Mark Ghilarducci of CalOES echoed concerns CSDA raised to the Legislature and communicated to his office and the Administration in this letter, saying:
“We want to highlight, particularly during this time, special districts. They collectively manage many critical local services Californian’s rely on such as water and wastewater, waste management, healthcare, transportation, commerce, burials, etc. All these services were directly impacted by last fall’s PSPS event. With the potential of COVID-19 impacts overlapping with PSPS this year, as a State we need to ensure these services continue to operate.”
Senator Nancy Skinner, Chair of the Sub-Committee, followed Director Ghillarducci’s presentation with her own comments, speaking at length to the critical services special districts provide, particularly in the WUI, and the need for the state to ensure districts are “adequately resourced so that the power shutoff does not impede their ability to provide the emergency services they provide.”
A clip of the Senator’s remarks is available for viewing here. CSDA sent a formal comment letter to the full Senate Budget committee thanking Senator Skinner for voicing her support and continuing to urge their support of the Community Power Resiliency grants to local government and explicit inclusion of special districts.
Specifically, CSDA asked the Legislature to consider the following eligible uses for this budget item:
- securing equipment, such as generators and/or generator connections
• fuel storage or other backup energy sources for essential facilities, such as fire stations, community centers, health facilities and other facilities that are critical to communities’ function during energy interruptions
• backup emergency communications equipment
• developing and conducting plans that better prepare communities for PSPS events, including risk assessment for critical infrastructure
• equipping resource centers for the public to access
• reimbursement for fuel and fuel delivery
• reimbursement for cost impacts due to diversion of staff resources
CSDA will continue to monitor the actions taken on this funding as the Budget process continues in both the Assembly and Senate and to advocate on your behalf to the Legislature and Administration.
#AdvocacyNews#FeatureNews