Every summer, during the California State Legislature’s annual recess, CSDA compiles a Mid-Year Legislative Report updating members on the status of key legislation. The Legislature reconvenes this week to act on hundreds of pending bills, may of which impact special districts. Download CSDA’s Mid-Year Legislative Report for an in-depth look on the status of CSDA-advocated legislation.
In the first half of 2021, CSDA was successful in securing $100 million in the State Budget for independent special districts impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. CSDA also secured requested amendments to otherwise costly legislation like AB 339 (Lee) related to the Brown Act, SB 443 (Hertzberg) related to redistricting, and AB 1465 (Reyes) related to workers’ compensation.
Special district mandates were completely removed from AB 339, which would have imposed significant new costs related to new Brown Act requirements and translation services. SB 443 would have mandated uniform redistricting processes for all state and local governments via the Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) act. SB 1465 would have created a statewide Medical Provider Network (MPN) within the workers’ compensation system, thereby increasing costs on all employers, including special districts. These are only a few of the bills CSDA actively lobbied to support special districts striving to best serve their communities.
As the first year of the biennial legislative session draws to a close, the team at CSDA, in partnership with our membership, will focus on a number of key bills, most of which are currently awaiting a hearing in the State Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees. Some of the remaining bills include:
- Brown Act Meetings During Declared Emergencies: AB 361 (Rivas) - CSDA's sponsored legislation dealing with the Brown Act. This bill allows local agencies to continue to operate and conduct the people's business during formally-declared state emergencies while instituting measures to promote standardization, transparency, and accountability. If your district has yet to register support for AB 361, you can do so today with a click of a button via CSDA’s new Automated Form Letter Visit csda.net/take-action/brown-act to learn more.
- PSPS Grant Funding: AB 418 (Valladares) - This bill was amended to create the Community Power Resiliency Grant program within CalOES to help tribes, special districts, cities, and counties adequately prepare for power outage events and would be subject to future appropriation by the state legislature, with similar special district eligibility criteria from the 2020-21 budget appropriation.
- Census-Delayed Redistricting Deadlines: SB 594 (Glazier) - This measure addresses the issues with local governments facing hard statutory deadlines for electoral division redistricting during a year when the national census may be delayed into the fall of 2021, putting pressure on all local agencies and the elections officials.
In addition to CSDA’s Mid-Year Legislative Report, CSDA members enjoy real-time access to all CSDA-tracked legislation at csda.net/advocate/bill-tracking. Members can search legislation by position, issue area, or bill number. In addition to a summary of each bill, members can access CSDA position letters, legislative committee analyses, and the bill text itself.
Thank you for all of your help to this point in the legislative cycle. CSDA will continue to work diligently, on behalf of all special districts, throughout the last remaining weeks of the legislative year, which comes to a close on September 10.
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