Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations

I'd like to thank Dr. Wood for filling in for Assemblymember Bryan I'd also like to thank Assembly Member Connolly for filling in for Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo. We would like to welcome Assemblymember Sanchez as our new Vice Chair, Madam Vice Chair. I'd also like to acknowledge our returning Committee Members and to welcome our new Members to the Committee. Assemblymembers Arambula, Grayson, Haney, Ta and Villapudua.

We encourage the public to provide written testimony before the hearing by visiting the Committee website at apro.assembly.ca.gov. Please note that any written testimony submitted to the Committee is considered public comment and may be read into the record or reprinted. The hearing room is open for attendance. All are encouraged to watch the hearing from its livestream on the Assembly website, assembly.ca.gov/todaysevents. We encourage the public to monitor the Committee's website for updates.

We will accept public comment on any bill placed on the suspense file by the Committee today for which the author weighed presentation before the close of regular ordered hearing. Testimony on any such bill will be limited to a statement of name, organization of any, and a position on the bill. The Committee will allow no more than 40 minutes of testimony in total.

As you came into the hearing room today, the sergeants directed your attention to the rules of public attendance and participation which were posted outside the door. I encourage members of the public who are in attendance to be aware of and observe those rules. Please be aware that violations of these rules or other violations of general courtesy or decorum may subject you to removal or other enforcement process.

With that, we'd like to get a roll call and establish a quorum. Although apparently there's a problem with the broadcast, it's not going out just yet. So we'll pause for just a moment till we get a signal, literally a signal, so others can see.

Are we good? We'll now turn to establishing a quorum.

[Roll call]

Okay, we've established a quorum. We're going to move to the consent calendar and dispense with the consent calendar. Madam Clerk, will you please read the consent calendar?

AB 1274 Connolly. AB 1316 Irwin. AB 1725 McCarty.

Is there a motion? It's been moved by Mr. Arambula. Is there a second? Pellerin. A roll call on the motion.

[Roll call]

Okay, the consent calendar is adopted 15 to zero. I will now look to dispense with the suspense file. Madam Clerk, please read the suspense file.

[Second Reading]

Okay, the suspense file is deemed approved. We'll now move to our hearings that we have before us, and we have our first Member who's up is Assemblymember Connolly. You're here to present on AB 828. That enjoys a due pass.

Thank you, Chair and Members, good morning. There can be no doubt as to the incredible impact that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, is having on all water users in California's over-drafted basins. It also cannot be understated just how much small rural communities and natural conservation areas have suffered because of decades of unregulated over pumping. There has been significant work done by Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, or GSAs, as we'll refer to them, local water users and the Department of Water Resources, to design and implement SGMA.

However, Groundwater Sustainability Plans in some cases did not do a thorough job identifying managed wetlands and small community water systems in their basins and how GSP management will adversely impact them. Managed wetlands are a critical natural resource for our state. They provide significant habitat for endangered species, migratory birds of the pacific flyway, and many other native wildlife and fish populations. Managed wetlands also improve local water quality, aid in flood protection, provide recreation, and offer opportunities for scientific research. Unfortunately, only 5% of California's historic wetlands remain.

These important public trust resources continue to face numerous threats, including water availability. Nearly 85% of Californians depend in whole or in part on groundwater for their public water supply. That percentage increases even more for small water systems, which have fewer than 3300 connections and service communities whose access to clean drinking water is most at risk. These disadvantaged communities usually depend on a single source for their water supply, leaving them vulnerable to drought or over pumping by their neighbors.

They also face affordability challenges and lack the local economy needed to address financial and technical issues that often come when running a public water system. This bill offers a modest and reasonable step toward protecting safe and clean water accessibility for our communities. This bill now only exempts the average groundwater usage annually from 2015 to 2020. Any increase over that average is subject to regulation by GSAs.

I have heard the opposition's concerns regarding Proposition 218 and 26, and I have requested an opinion from legislative council on the issue. We're awaiting that. I would point out, however, that some exemptions already exist at SGMA and have been there since it was first passed. With me to testify today is Ellen Wehr, General Counsel at Grassland Water District, and Jennifer Clary, State Director at Clean Water Action.

Thank you. Good morning. Appreciate the opportunity to speak in favor of AB 828. I'm Ellen Wehr with the Grassland Water and Resource Conservation District in Merced County. My area contains public wildlife refuges and conservation easements for wildlife habitat, and I'm just going to touch on the fiscal impacts of the Bill. First, we agree with the Committee consultant's analysis that AB 828 will save the state money. It will provide relief to the Department of Fish and Wildlife with its already oversubscribed budget.

By exempting those wildlife areas and ecological areas from SGMA pumping allocations and fees, it will ensure that our managed wetlands can continue to exist, preserving millions of tax dollars that have already been invested in conservation easements and habitat restoration projects on that last 5% of wetlands that remain in the valley. It will safeguard California's biodiversity and the many local and statewide economic benefits that our habitat and wildlife areas bring to the state.

So the question was raised about AB 828's limited fee exemptions and whether that conflicts potentially with Prop 218 or Prop 26. Not a tax lawyer, but I am a public agency lawyer. So we looked into this and we await legislative council's determinations. But the bill is consistent with Prop 218's requirements.

SGMA expressly requires GSAs to comply with certain provisions of Prop 218 and one of those provisions is that a fee for pumping shall not exceed the proportional cost of service that's attributable to the fee payers. In a nutshell, what the test is is that a reasonableness standard must be applied on a system wide or a basin wide basis. It's not a parcel by parcel test. AB 828's exemption of this very small category of pumpers meets Prop. 218's reasonableness standards because first managed wetlands and small community systems don't pump much groundwater. In fact, they pump less than 2% of the groundwater in these overdrafted basins.

And if you could just give concluding comments.

No problem. So, essentially, requiring these fees to be paid by 98% or more of the land base is reasonable and proportional. Thank you.

Thank you. I should have said two minutes.

Good morning. My name is Jennifer Clary. I'm the California Director for Clean Water Action. I've been working to help small communities gain access to safe drinking water, safe and affordable drinking water, for over two decades. This bill is a very small step. Essentially, these small systems are very similar to domestic wells that are already exempted from SGMA because they have shallow wells, they have mostly low income communities of color. They have severe affordability challenges. So we feel it's an appropriate and limited exemption.

Most importantly, both the State Water Board and the Department of Water Resources have found that this would have no physical impact on their operations. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We'll turn out to the public if there's anyone that'd like to comment on the bill in support.

Hi. Samantha Samuelson, on behalf of Audubon California sponsor of the Bill and on behalf of the Nature Conservancy, in support.

Mark Smith, on behalf of California Waterfowl Association, in support.

Kim Delfino, on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, in support.

Is there anyone that would like to comment in opposition?

Thank you, Chair, Members of the Committee. I'm Danny Merkley with the Gualco group, on behalf of the California Association of Wine Grape Growers, Kern County Water Agency, King's River Interests, and the Modesto Irrigation District. We remain opposed in spite of recent amendments, because this bill makes significant changes to provisions that were very heavily negotiated within the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to attempt to give it balance among all the impacted parties.

Additionally, this impacts the groundwater sustainability plans that have been submitted to the Department of Water Resources and are, as we speak, being implemented. It also impacts all the other fee payers and causes an imbalance that will then impact Props 26 and 218. For these reasons, we must respectfully remain opposed to the measure. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? We'll bring it back to the Committee. Are there any questions for the author? Comments? Is there a motion? By Lowenthal. And second. Any closing comments?

Thank you again. Respectfully, ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. The bill's out. B roll call. Villapudua not voting. Bill is out. Mr. Lowenthal.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members, for all the doom and gloom we've been hearing about at the budget, I am pleased to present a Bill that will actually save the State of California money immediately. Pleased to present AB 1135, which will initiate a transition away from the use of toll free lines 800 numbers 888, 877, 855, 844 by state agencies and departments, while ensuring that the public maintains equitable telephonic access to state services.

As noted in the Committee analysis, any cost to the state resulting from this Bill should be minor and absorbable and should actually result in cost savings for the state to the tune of millions of dollars annually. By drastically reducing the number of calls to state operated toll free numbers as our state faces budgetary shortfalls, this Bill is a common sense approach to saving the state money by transitioning away from antiquated technology that results in significant and unnecessary costs.

Thank you for that. I will turn to the public for supportive comments. Is there anyone that would like to speak in opposition to 1135? Seeing none. Any questions from the Committee? It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Lowenthal, this is out on a roll call with Sanchez voting no, we're just waiting for Assembly Member Valencia. He's on his way, so we'll give him a few minutes and that will be our last public comment or public hearing.

See, we weren't sure if you were going to be here until just this moment, and then we found out you were. So when you walked in, you had that, kind of, the athlete that comes in out of the locker room, had the stroll, you had everything working for you this morning.

AB 1170 will make it easier for individuals to file their statements of economic interests, also known as Form 700s. Filing through the FPPC's e-filing system is currently voluntary. AB 1170 will shift the FPPC and Form 700 filers over to a fully electronic filing system. AB 1170 balances the important need for public transparency with the potential safety concerns By expanding the redaction provisions in existing law to protect the confidentiality of sensitive information of government employees.

1170 will help to modernize state processes, increase agency efficiency and streamline the filing process for Form 700s. With me to provide a little bit of context and then also answer any technical questions is Lindsay Nakano, Legislative Counsel for the Fair Political Practice Commission? If there are questions.

So just as a technical?

Yes.

Okay. Let's see if we need you to join us. It's been moved and seconded. Okay, if I could, let me just make sure that there's no one here from the public that would like to comment in favor or oppose an opposition? Seeing none, we'll turn to Dr. Wood for your question.

Thank you. Danger of having me on a Committee, as I usually have a question. Will this apply for local elections as well, or is this just going to be for state offices?

Lindsey Nakano from the FPPC. Thank you for the question. The bill applies to folks for whom the FPPC is the filing officer. So for some locals it will and some it won't.

Thank you.

Great. Any other questions? We have a motion. Would you like to close?

I'd respectfully ask for a yes vote and hope everybody has a great weekend.

Thank you. Bill's out on an A roll call.

Thank you.

So that concludes the presentations that we have on bills to be heard during the regular hearing. We'll now turn to public comment on any bill that was presented today or not presented today that's now on suspense. Please be sure to limit your comments to your name, organization, if any, and your position on the bill.

Richard Polanco, representing the California Emerging Technology Fund and members of the Digital Equity in support of AB 1588, the affordable equity--the Affordable Internet and Net Equality Act 2024. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning. Samantha Seng with NextGen California, proud cosponsor of AB 1160, also on behalf of Student Borrower Protection Center, also cosponsor of AB 1160, in strong support.

Good morning. Sarah Bouabibsa, on behalf of Young Invincibles, also a cosponsor of AB 1160, here also on behalf of Student Debt Crisis Center and Consumer Reports, in support. Thank you.

Good morning. Alchemy Graham, on behalf of Solano County, in opposition of AB 544. Thank you.

Good morning. Vanessa Gonzalez with the California Hospital Association, here in strong support of AB 977 by Assembly Member Rodriguez. Thank you.

Good morning. Alexis Rodriguez with the California Medical Association, sponsors of AB 977. Thank you.

Good morning. Alia Sky with the UC Student Association, the representative body for all 230,000 plus UC undergraduates, a proud cosponsor of AB 1160, also on behalf of the Cal State Student Association, which is the representative of CSU undergraduates in strong support.

Hi. Good morning. Thank you, Chair, Committee Members, and staff. Ryan Morimune with the California State Association of Counties, also on behalf of the Urban Counties of California and the Rural County Representatives of California, here to express a concerns position not opposed on AB 797 due to the fiscal impacts to Counties. Thank you.

Good morning again. Seeing as the last one, I'll just do these last two. Alchemy Graham, again, on behalf of Fresno County in opposition of AB 797 and also on behalf of Fresno County in opposition of AB 1047. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else? Seeing no one else from the public to comment on the regularly ordered meeting and the items that were sent to suspense, that concludes today's regular ordered hearing. With that, I would like to call the Assembly Appropriation Suspense File Hearing to order and give me 30 seconds just to make sure my Vice Chair and I are in sync, and then we will begin. Okay, we have 37 two-year bills under consideration on the suspense file.

That includes 36 Assembly bills and one Senate Bill: SB 263 by Senator Dodd. Although the Committee generally does not act on two-year Senate bills until the relevant summer deadline, the Committee is taking action on SB 263 today due to an upcoming federal deadline by which states must act to avoid dual regulation of certain annuities products. It is my understanding that the author will continue to work on the bill as it moves to the Assembly floor. It is now time to dispense with those 37 bills.

I'd also like to announce that the hearing agenda is organized alphabetically by author. The electronic copy of the agenda is available online by the Assembly Appropriations Committee's website, which is located at apro.assembly.ca.gov. There are also a limited number of hard copies of the agenda in the hearing room. Later this afternoon, following today's hearing, the Committee will post the results of this suspense file hearing on the same website. Assembly Member Sanchez, is there anything that you would like to say before we get started?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this opportunity, and I look forward to working with you.

Thank you. With that, let us begin. The first bill before the Committee is Assembly Bill 805: Arambula. AB 805: Arambula, which is sewer service, disadvantaged communities. It's a do pass as amended to narrow the scope of the bill to specify authorities of the State Water Board, and to expand the eligible use of the Board's cleanup and abatement account. Is there a motion to adopt or to support? Dr. Arambula? And there's a second.

Okay, without objection, we will substitute the motion and second for all do pass or do pass with amendments on the rest of the suspense file. AB 805: Arambula is out. Do pass with Republicans not voting. AB 1693: Bauer-Kahan: civil service requirements. Hold in Committee. AB 544: Bryan: polling locations. Do pass as amended to modify the scope of the bill to instead require upon appropriation the Secretary of State to operate a grant program to establish new polling locations at jail facilities.

That's out with Republicans on a B roll call. AB 263: Dodd: annuities. Do pass. Republicans: A roll call. AB 1142: Mike Fong: postsecondary coordination. Do pass. 'A' roll call. AB 810: Friedman: hiring disclosures. Do pass. A roll call. AB 930: Friedman: housing and infrastructure investment districts. Do pass as amended to require OPR to develop guidelines rather than standards. Delete the requirement that OPR-certified district plans require the IBank rather than Go-Biz to establish the revolving loan fund. It's out on a B roll call.

AB 1044: Gallagher: Go-Biz grant program. Hold in Committee. AB 865: Garcia: agricultural products. Hold in Committee. AB 990: Grayson: water quality infill housing. Do pass. A roll call. AB 236: Holden: provider directories. Do pass with author amendments to provide implementation guidance and benchmarks to allow a central utility and other changes. B roll call. AB 359: Holden: dual enrollment. Do pass as amended to allow for supplemental agreements. Specify in person instruction is legislative intent.

Other amendments. Republicans not voting. AB 1575: Irwin: campus advocates and advisors. Do pass as amended to limit bill to advisor portion. Limit scope of advisor role to code of conduct violations. Require notice advisor option to students. Republicans not voting. AB 627: Jackson: vehicle incentive program. Do pass as amended to align bill with provisions of Budget Act of 2023, revise fleet size from 50 vehicles or fewer to 49 vehicles or fewer, delete the word 'increased.'

Republicans not voting. AB 637: Jackson: zero-emission rental vehicles. Do pass. A roll call. AB 1299: Jackson: school police officers. Do pass as amended to strike provisions related to disciplinary matters. B roll call. AB 884: Low: language access. Do pass as amended to modify the population thresholds and scope of which translated election materials and language services must be provided.

Republicans not voting. AB 1570: Low: optometrist scope expansion. Hold in Committee. AB 456: Maienschein: campus mental health. Do pass as amended to require a report on a plan to make mental health hotlines available on CCC and CSU campuses. Republicans not voting. AB 667: Maienschein: restraining orders. Do pass. Republicans not voting. AB 1047: Maienschein: firearms registry. Hold in Committee. AB 1160: Pacheco: institutional debt. Do pass as amended to allow one re-enrollment with notification. It's out on a B roll call.

AB 1260: Joe Patterson: parole dates. Do pass. A roll call. AB 1284: Ramos: tribal co-governance and co-management agreements. Do pass as amended to make technical and clarifying changes. Republicans not voting. AB 415: Rodriguez: fairgrounds grant programs. Hold in Committee. AB 977: Rodriguez: assault and battery. Do pass. A roll call. AB 1039: Rodriguez: detained persons. Hold in Committee. AB 901: Ting: affordable housing financing districts. Hold in Committee.

AB 428: Waldron: Department of Reentry. Hold in Committee. AB 941: Waldron: psychedelic assisted therapy. Do pass. Republicans not voting. AB 1408: Wallis: pupil transfers. Hold in Committee. AB 1635: Ward: Hillcrest property lease. Do pass as amended with technical changes. B roll call. AB 82: Weber: diet pills. Do pass. Republicans not voting. AB 797: Weber: police review boards. Hold in Committee. AB 922: Wicks: prepared meals program, delivery program. Do pass as amended to strike the appropriations, add intent language, make other clarifying changes.

It's out on a B roll call. AB 1252: Wicks: Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Do pass. Republicans not voting. And AB 1588: Wilson: Affordable Internet and Net Equity Equality Act. Do pass. Out on a B roll call. And that concludes, so the Committee moved 26 bills to the Assembly floor either as do pass or do pass with amendments in most cases. Amendment language will be available Monday through the California Legislative Information website. This concludes the hearing. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you.