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The Legislature is in the thick of vetting and amending bills. I surveyed some of the major government agencies and local advocacy groups around the region to see what measures they’re advocating for (or lining up against) this session.
There’s virtually no overlap in terms of what the groups are throwing their support behind – though they share some priorities like making housing more affordable, they all seem to be backing different bills in the Legislature.
The bills listed represent measures the agency supports, unless otherwise noted.
San Diego County
Last week, Maya Srikrishnan noted that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, with its new Democratic-majority, has made a 180 when it comes to its position on separating local law enforcement efforts from immigration enforcement. Its support for some of the bills below further exemplifies the county’s evolution. It supports multiple bills expanding government services for unauthorized immigrants.
AB 112 extends the duration during which Medi-Cal benefits are suspended when an individual is incarcerated to three years or until the individual is no longer an inmate, whichever occurs sooner.
AB 240 requires the Department of Public Health to contract with an entity to evaluate the adequacy of local health department infrastructure and make recommendations on workforce needs and resources to fund local public health.
AB 302 expands the ability of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to enter into contracts to license or regulate certain services.
AB 341 adds texts and social media posts to evidence protected by California’s rape shield law. That means an attorney can’t introduce evidence to suggest a victim was asking to be assaulted. The bill was sponsored by San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan.
AB 413 appropriates $13 million annually to the Department of Housing and Community Development for programs that assist former foster youth in accessing stable housing.
AB 472 prohibits a person from using or selling software or services to circumvent a security measure, access control system or other control or measure used to ensure an equitable campsite reservation-making process for visitors.
AB 503 limits the period of time in which a court may place a ward of the court on probation to six months, except that a court may extend the probation in six month increments if it is in the best interest of the ward.
AB 552 authorizes local educational agencies and county behavioral health agencies to enter into partnerships to provide school-based behavioral health and substance abuse disorder services on school sites, and authorizes the billing of private insurance providers for these services under specified conditions.
AB 695 changes age requirements in Adult Protective Services, expands APS to provide long-term case management for those with more complex cases and expands and makes more flexible the Home Safe Program to aid clients facing homelessness.
AB 762 requires charter schools and private schools to follow the same siting requirements as public schools for evaluating a school site for potential hazardous substances, hazardous emissions, or hazardous waste. Requires the evaluation, under the California Environmental Quality Act, of a potential charter school site to follow the same CEQA process as public schools.
AB 831 makes technical and clarifying changes to the California Retail Food Code.
AB 937 requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to include specified elements in the training on the duty to intercede where there is excessive use of force by another peace officer, and requires officers to complete training on the requirement every two years.
SB 17 establishes a state Office of Racial Equity.
SB 20 expands criteria for which a student receives written notice from the California Student Aid Commission regarding eligibility for CalFresh benefits.
SB 29 requires county elections officials to mail a ballot to every active registered voter, and to allow voters to use a ballot tracking system through Jan. 1, 2022.
SB 56 extends eligibility for Medi-Cal benefits to individuals 65 or older and are otherwise eligible for those benefits but for their immigration status.
SB 464 makes noncitizens eligible for the California Food Assistance Program if they satisfy other eligibility requirements.
San Diego Unified
AB 22 clarifies that preschool- and TK-eligible 4-year-old children include those children whose 5th birthday occurs after Sept. 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program. San Diego Unified is a sponsor of this bill.
AB 75 places the Kindergarten-Community Colleges Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2022 on the 2022 statewide ballot.
AB 101 requires students beginning with the graduating class of 2029-30, to complete a one-semester course in ethnic studies. It would also require local educational agencies and charter schools serving high schoolers to offer at least a one-semester course in ethnic studies beginning with the 2025-26 school year.
AB 306 exempts school district and community college district employee housing architectural plans from certain requirements.
AB 421 requires changes to the way a California community college may take attendance for certain noncredit courses.
AB 520 creates a one-time competitive grant program for local educational agencies to develop or expand programs to develop a more diverse educator workforce.
AB 576 allows community colleges to collect per-student apportionment funding for courses taught on military bases.
AB 780 authorizes the governing board of a school district to render a city or county zoning ordinance inapplicable if the proposed use of property is to offer school district employee housing.
AB 883 amends the Mental Health Services Act by requiring that funds subject to reversion be reallocated to the county from which the funds reverted.
AB 927 authorizes Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to establish permanent district baccalaureate degree programs.
AB 967 establishes the COVID-19 Special Education Fund to support local educational agencies in dispute resolution, conflict intervention and providing services to students with disabilities who’ve been impacted by COVID-19 school disruptions.
AB 1361 revises provisions related to expulsion and suspension of a child from the state preschool program and broadens the provisions to include general childcare and development programs and family childcare home education network programs.
SB 14 requires the Department of Education to identify an evidence-based training program on youth mental health for local education associations to use to train employees who have direct contact with students.
SB 50 expands the range of types of child care and early learning services that a state preschool contracting agency may provide.
SB 70 expands compulsory education to include kindergarten beginning with the 2022-23 school year.
SB 488 authorizes candidates who have been unable to take the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment due to the COVID-19 pandemic to take a CTC-approved assessment in reading instruction, and requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to update the Teaching Performance Assessment to replace the RICA by July 1, 2025. This bill also requires the CTC to revise its teacher preparation program standards and teaching performance expectations for literacy.
SB 508 requires certain health insurers in which 15 percent or more of students of a district are enrolled to contract with the district to provide or be reimbursed for mental health services. San Diego Unified is a co-sponsor of this measure.
San Diego Housing Federation
AB 71 invests $2.4 billion annually in solutions for homelessness.
AB 115 allows housing in commercial zones so long as the development includes at least 20 percent deed-restricted affordable housing.
AB 721 makes density restrictions in private restrictive covenants unenforceable against an affordable housing developer.
AB 989 creates a state Housing Accountability Committee to adjudicate violations of the Housing Accountability Act.
AB 1271 further clarifies the Surplus Land Act. This has become a big deal for the plan to redevelop the Sports Arena.
AB 1304 requires cities to analyze racial segregation patterns and requires an analysis of affirmatively furthering fair housing for the jurisdiction’s site inventory.
AB 1206 extends the welfare tax exemption to limited-equity housing cooperatives, similar to what is allowed for Habitat for Humanity and community land trusts.
SB 617 requires local jurisdictions with over 10,000 residents to provide an online solar permitting process for residential solar and solar-plus-storage systems.
SB 678 require the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to collect and include data about unaccompanied women experiencing homelessness in the state’s Homeless Data Integration System.
SANDAG
SANDAG currently supports AB 66 by North County Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, which would appropriate $2.5 million from the state’s general fund to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego to conduct research on coastal cliff landslides and erosion in the County of San Diego. Voice of San Diego’s MacKenzie Elmer detailed the research that could create an early warning system for cliff collapses here.
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber is in party mode – and by that I mean it’s going to bat for businesses that sell cannabis and alcohol.
“In addition to these specific bills, we are also working with legislators on other priorities, some of which predate the pandemic, including childcare solutions and general business climate. We also continue to communicate in regard to businesses navigating pandemic specific regulations,” Alison Philips, communications manager for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, wrote in an email.
Support
AB 61 allows the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control to issue licenses allowing third-party delivery services to deliver alcoholic beverages from licensed restaurants.
AB 725 eliminates the 50 percent tax penalty on late filings or payment for cannabis excise and cultivation taxes, while maintaining the 10 percent late penalty assigned to all other business types.
AB 915: This bill would require
AB 1560 requires the state to collect information about students’ access to computers and broadband service, and authorizes the California Department of Technology to strike deals with a broadband service provider for providing free or reduced-cost residential broadband service to eligible students.
SB 1-5: “Building Opportunities For All” (Atkins) Senate Housing Package
SB 314 creates a one-year grace period beginning whenever COVID-19 emergency orders are lifted allowing businesses continued flexibility in how and where they serve alcohol.
SB 743 allows the state Department of Housing and Community Development to administer a grant program to fund broadband adoption, digital literacy, computer equipment, and internet service for residents in public housing developments.
Oppose
AB 273 would further limit marijuana businesses’ ability to advertise on billboards on state highways.
San Diego Odds and Ends
- Akilah Weber was officially sworn in to the state Assembly this week. It marked the first time in state history a mother who is a statewide officer, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, has sworn in a daughter to state legislative office.
- Kevin Faulconer has set up a new ballot measure committee, a fundraising mechanism by which candidates can pull in much larger donations than what’s allowed for traditional campaign contributions. This one is aimed at recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom. Faulconer also has a ballot measure committee aimed at a 2022 statewide ballot measure related to homelessness.
Golden State News
- The Legislature confirmed Rob Bonta as the state’s new attorney general. (Los Angeles Times)
- Joe Matthews argues that California’s response to climate change has been successful even if it hasn’t … changed the climate. (Zocalo Public Square)
- Some Oakland schools want to give families money. (Oaklandside)