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2019-12-10; City Council Legislative Subcommittee; ; City of Carlsbad Legislative Platform
City Manager’s Office Intergovernmental Affairs 1200 Carlsbad Village Dr. Carlsbad, CA 92008 760-434-2958 t City Council Legislative Subcommittee Meeting Date: December 10, 2019 To: City Council Legislative Subcommittee From: Jason Haber, Intergovernmental Affairs Director Item 3: City of Carlsbad Legislative Platform Recommendation: Review the City of Carlsbad Legislative Platform, discuss proposed organizational framework and schedule for preparing and presenting potential amendments to recommend to the City Council, and provide feedback to staff. The following presents a proposed organizational framework and schedule for restructuring, preparing and presenting potential amendments to the City of Carlsbad Legislative Platform, including the identification of Legislative Priorities for the current legislative session, based upon the League of California Cities’ Summary of Existing Policy and Guiding Principles, and pursuant to initial input provided by the Subcommittee at its meeting on Nov. 25, 2019. Existing Legislative Platform Organizational Framework: 1.General Government 2.Local Government Finance 3.Labor Relations 4.Tort Reform 5.Transportation 6.Coastline 7.Water Management 8.Environment 9.Waste Management 10.Safety Services 11.Land Use Planning 12.Housing and Community Development 13. Redevelopment 14.Child Care 15.Immigration 16.Energy 17.Public Health Proposed Legislative Platform Organizational Framework: 1.Community Services 2.Environmental Quality 3.Water 4.Governance, Transparency, and Labor Relations 5.Housing, Community and Economic Development 6.Public Safety 7.Revenue and Taxation 8.Transportation, Communication and Public Works (See attached Contents page from the League of California Cities Summary of Existing Policy and Guiding Principles - April 2018 for further detail.) {city of Carlsbad Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 1 of 16 City Manager’s Office Intergovernmental Affairs 1200 Carlsbad Village Dr. Carlsbad, CA 92008 760-434-2958 t Proposed Review Schedule Subcommittee Organizational Framework & Council Policy 39 Dec. 10, 2019 Subcommittee Legislative Platform/Priorities Jan. 14, 2020 City Council Workshop Legislative Platform/Priorities & Council Policy 39 Feb. 18, 2020 Subcommittee (Special) Legislative Platform/Priorities Feb. 25, 2020 City Council Legislative Platform/Priorities & Council Policy 39 Mar. 10, 2020 {city of Carlsbad Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 2 of 16 2 LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES | WWW.CACITIES.ORG | APRIL 2018 Governance and Ethics .....................................................................36 Elections ............................................................................................36 Recall Elections .................................................................................36 Elected Officials .................................................................................36 Legal Issues .......................................................................................37 Data and Privacy Protection ..............................................................37 Housing, Community and Economic Development ..........38 Planning And Zoning ..........................................................................38 Housing Element ...............................................................................38 Housing Finance ...............................................................................39 Economic Development ....................................................................39 Eminent Domain ................................................................................40 Rent Control ......................................................................................40 Subdivision Map Act ..........................................................................40 Residential Care Facilities .................................................................40 Development Fees ............................................................................40 Annexation and Incorporation ..........................................................40 Development Agreements ................................................................40 Building Standards ............................................................................40 Housing for Homeless .......................................................................41 Military Base Closure And Reuse ......................................................41 Mobile Home Regulation ...................................................................41 Sign Regulation ..................................................................................41 Principles for Smart Growth ..............................................................41 Public Safety ..............................................................................43 Fire Services ......................................................................................43 Emergency Services and Preparedness ............................................43 Law Enforcement ..............................................................................44 Wildland Urban Interface ..................................................................44 Nuisance Abatement .........................................................................44 Violence .............................................................................................45 Indian Gaming ...................................................................................45 Gaming ..............................................................................................45 Alcohol .............................................................................................45 Marijuana Regulation ........................................................................46 Graffiti ................................................................................................46 Sex Offender Management ...............................................................46 Corrections ........................................................................................46 Miscellaneous ...................................................................................46 Revenue and Taxation .............................................................47 Cities and the League ........................................................................47 Legislature or the Voters ...................................................................48 State Mandates .................................................................................48 Additional Revenue ...........................................................................48 Reduce Competition ..........................................................................49 Funding for Counties .........................................................................49 Regional Revenues ............................................................................49 Revenue Modernization ....................................................................49 Federal Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) ............50 Federal Legislation Requiring Use Tax Collection .............................50 Transportation, Communication and Public Works ..........51 Transportation ...................................................................................51 Public Works ......................................................................................52 Vehicles .............................................................................................53 Contracts ...........................................................................................53 Telecommunications .........................................................................53 Plain Old Telephone System (POTS): ..................................................54 Air Pollution .......................................................................................55 How You Can Get Involved .............................................................56 Contents Vision ....................................................................................................ii Mission Statement ...............................................................................ii We Believe ............................................................................................ii About the League .................................................................................ii Introduction ................................................................................1 Community Services ..................................................................3 Animals ................................................................................................3 Arts, Cultural Resources, Historic Preservation and Activities ...........3 Child Care ............................................................................................3 Children ...............................................................................................3 Park Bond Funds .................................................................................3 Public Parks/Recreational Facilities ....................................................4 Public Libraries ....................................................................................4 Seniors .................................................................................................4 Healthy Cities ......................................................................................4 Smoking and Tobacco Control ............................................................4 Environmental Quality ..............................................................5 Air Quality ............................................................................................5 Climate Change ...................................................................................5 Hazardous Materials ...........................................................................6 Solid Waste .........................................................................................7 Electronic Waste .................................................................................8 Household Hazardous Waste ..............................................................8 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) .............................................8 Single-Use Carryout Bags ....................................................................8 Utilities ................................................................................................8 Electric Industry Restructuring ............................................................9 California Environmental Protection Act (CEQA) ..............................12 Coastal Issues ...................................................................................14 Miscellaneous ...................................................................................14 California Water Guidelines ....................................................16 I. California Water: General Principles ...........................................17 II. Water Conservation ..................................................................18 III. Water Recycling .........................................................................18 IV. Water Quality .............................................................................18 V. Areas of Origin ..........................................................................20 VI. Water Storage ...........................................................................21 VII. Conveyance Systems .................................................................21 VIII. Flood Management ...................................................................22 IX. Groundwater .............................................................................22 X. Fish and Wildlife .........................................................................23 XI. Drainage ....................................................................................23 XII. Recreation ..................................................................................24 XIII. New Technology .........................................................................24 XIV. Financial Considerations ...........................................................24 Appendix A .......................................................................................25 Appendix B ........................................................................................26 Sources: ............................................................................................30 Governance, Transparency, and Labor Relations .............31 Labor Relations ..................................................................................31 Public Sector Pensions, Compensation and Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEBs) ..............................................31 CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) .............33 Workers’ Compensation ....................................................................34 Other Employer and Employee Related Issues .................................34 Transparency ....................................................................................35 Open Meeting Law (Ralph M. Brown Act) & Open Access to Public Records (California Public Records Act) .........................35 Political Reform Act of 1974 (PRA) ....................................................35 Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 3 of 16 CITY OF CARLSBAD 2018 LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM The City will actively monitor and advocate or oppose legislation as directed by the City Council, through this platform, to protect the City’s interests and local legislative authority and will take appropriate action when required to safeguard and/or advance the City’s interests. This includes preserving and protecting the City’s charter powers, duties and prerogatives to enact local legislation concerning local affairs. The purpose of this Legislative Platform is to clearly outline the position of the City Council on priority issues and matters that impact the city's ability to operate effectively, without precluding the consideration of additional legislative and budget issues that arise during the legislative session. The statements outlined below allow the mayor, council members, and staff to take rapid action on these and other legislative issues if necessary. 1. General Government: (a) Oppose legislation or constitutional amendments that weaken or interfere with the powers of charter cities and preserve local autonomy or home rule authority. (b) Support measures which would strengthen cities' ability to reorganize and consolidate water districts, sewer districts, school districts, and other special districts that operate within or provide service to a city. (c) Support legislation that provides State assistance for local public libraries. (d) Support measures which provide adequate funding for the State Library. (e) Support measures which lead to a state or national energy policy. (f) Support state and federal funding and legislation for the arts that benefits local communities. (g) Support legislation reducing and providing for recovery of costs, maintaining privacy, and eliminating attorney's fees for administering public records laws. (h) Oppose federal measures which remove the deduction of all state and local taxes for federal income tax purposes. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 4 of 16 2 (i) Support legislation and regulations of telecommunications facilities and services that: 1. Maintain local control over public right-of-ways. 2. Provide just compensation for use of right-of-ways and overseeing public service standards. 3. Ensure public, education, and governmental access is available and affordable. 4. Provide free access for public information services and announcements. 5. Maintain local control, including but not limited to discretionary permits over wireless communications facilities. 6. Reinstates competition in the telecommunications industry. (j) Support legislation prohibiting firms from bidding on City projects if the firm is currently involved in legal proceedings against the City arising from prior projects. (k) Support legislation that facilitates economic development efforts and encourages businesses to locate or remain in California. (l) Oppose measures that would eliminate state licensing requirements for professionals involved in designing public and private developments. (m) Support legislation that will foster independence of older Californians. (n) Support legislation that requires cable television companies to assure that audio and video portions of adult entertainment channels are completely blocked 24 hours a day in the homes of non-subscribers. (o) Support measures that provide funding for community park facilities, open space, and recreation programs. (p) Support legislation that either requires citizen initiatives to comply with CEQA before placing the initiative on the ballot or exempting from this requirement a City Council initiated ballot measure dealing with the same subject matter on the same ballot. 2. Local Government Finance: (a) Support measures that implement basic structural changes in state government that result in state budget expenditures being brought into balance with state revenues. (b) Support measures which safeguard existing revenue sources from preemption by the State or County. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 5 of 16 3 (c) Support measures which would provide fiscal independence to cities. (d) Support legislation that makes funds to support public facilities (ie. facilities, open space) more available to local municipalities. (e) Support measures which relieve taxpayers of the burden of paying for services which could be charged directly to the service user, and which simplify the process of establishing such fees. (f) Support legislation that would provide greater accountability on the part of counties for the distribution of funds back to municipalities, including, but not limited to, fines and forfeitures. (g) Support measures to reinstate flexibility in the administration of Article XIII- B (The Gann Initiative). (h) Oppose any change in revenue allocations which would negatively (current or future) affect local government, including the redistribution of sales tax, property tax, transient occupancy tax and other taxes and fees. (i) Oppose any measure that shifts revenue from any unit of local government to other agencies. (j) Oppose any measure that would make cities more dependent on the State for financial stability and policy direction. (k) Support legislation to eliminate or repeal unfunded state and federal mandates or to require timely reimbursement and oppose measures that would impose those mandates for which there is no guarantee of local reimbursement or offsetting benefits, or would shift the cost of government services to cities. (I) Oppose any measure that restricts or limits a public entity’s ability to use tax exempt debt for the purchase or construction of public purpose improvements. (m) Oppose legislation that shifts State/County criminal justice costs to cities. (n) Oppose the use of the federal gas tax for federal debt reduction. (o) Support legislation that streamlines permitting processes without undermining the ability of local government to apply and be compensated for the enforcement of reasonable building, planning and fire protection standards. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 6 of 16 4 (p) Oppose legislation that creates surcharges for state oversight of state mandated programs. (q) Support legislation that allows cities with civil service/personnel systems to contract out services to the private sector to save taxpayer dollars. (r) Support legislation that assists cities to enforce and collect local taxes. (s) Support legislation that would exempt stormwater and urban runoff management programs from Proposition 218 requirements. (t) Oppose any measure or legislation that prevents local franchising of cable television or video services, regardless of the technology used to deliver the cable television or video services to the subscriber. (u) Oppose legislation that would erode or purport to erode a charter city’s ability to design, implement, determine wage rates or fund any and all public works projects within its jurisdiction. (v) Oppose any legislation that attempts to repeal or eliminate the “pay first and litigate later” provisions of law and oppose any bill or amendment that proposes to reduce or eliminate the obligation of any online travel agency to pay transient occupancy taxes under state or local law.” 3. Labor Relations: (a) Support legislation that limits the ability of employees to receive workers' compensation benefits for occupational injuries/illnesses that result from stress, disciplinary action, or performance evaluations or consultations. (b) Support any measure that would reverse the imposition of compulsory and binding arbitration with respect to public employees. (c) Oppose any measure that would grant employee benefits that should be decided at the local bargaining table. (d) Oppose any legislation that would reduce local authority to resolve public employee disputes, and support legislation that would preserve court jurisdiction, and/or impose regulations of an outside agency (such as PERB). (e) Oppose measures that propose a standard higher than the normal civil ones in disciplinary proceedings for peace officers. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 7 of 16 5 (f) Oppose legislation that expands or extends any presumptions of occupational injury or illness and support legislation that repeals the presumption that the findings of a treating physician are correct. (g) Oppose legislation that increases workers' compensation benefits without providing for concurrent cost controls. (h) Support legislation that improves access to, and reduces the cost of, healthcare for public employees. 4. Tort Reform: (a) Support measures to reform California's tort system to reduce/limit liability exposure for public agencies and restore the ability of public agencies to obtain affordable insurance. (b) Support legislation that recognizes or broadens immunities for public agencies and oppose legislation that attempts to limit or restrict existing immunities. (c) Support legislation that requires plaintiffs’ to make a good faith showing of liability prior to filing a lawsuit against a public entity. 5. Transportation: (a) Support measures that would increase the ability of local agencies to finance local transportation facilities. (b) Support measures to finance local and regional transportation facilities and improvements, including alternative modes of transportation and transportation demand management systems. (c) Support legislation that provides for effective and efficient transportation alternatives. (d) Oppose transportation proposals that would adversely affect the quality of life in North San Diego County by causing traffic congestion, air pollution or other problems. (e) Encourage and support double tracking of the rail corridor within the City limits in a manner that: 1. Improves public safety access and response times. 2. Eliminates or reduces existing at-grade rail crossings within the rail corridor. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 8 of 16 6 3. Improves local, regional, and coastal access for all travel modes (bike, pedestrian, vehicle, transit). 4. Minimizes impacts to neighborhoods. 5. Maximizes community and neighborhood connections. 6. Protects and/or improves the economic vibrancy of surrounding neighborhoods and the city. 7. Protects and/or enhances environmental resources. 6. Coastline: (a) Support measures which provide funding for urban waterfront restoration and enhancement. (b) Support legislation that would aid the restoration, preservation and enhancement of beachfront property, sand, bluffs, access and parking. (c) Support measures that would preserve and extend the authority of cities over land use regulations, over the placement of onshore facilities which service offshore oil drilling. (d) Support legislation that requires the double hulling of all new oil tankers and the retrofitting of all existing oil tankers. (e) Support legislation that promotes aquatic research, education, aqua culture, and other related uses. (f) Oppose any new offshore oil and gas leasing, drilling and exploration in all State of California and U.S. waters in the Pacific Ocean. (g) Support legislation providing that if Coastal Commission staff has an opportunity to participate in local and or regional habitat management plans, there is a presumption of consistency with the Federal Coastal Management Act. 7. Water Management: (a) Support a balanced water transportation and regional storage system that provides for the needs of San Diego County, while protecting the Delta and Central Valley regions with minimal impact on agriculture and the environment. (b) Support measures that increase water supply and storage facilities within the region and allow for economically feasible water transfers within the system. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 9 of 16 7 (c) Support efforts that will encourage water conservation practices by all water consumers. (d) Support efforts to assist in the production and distribution of reclaimed water. (e) Support measures that provide for the equitable allotment and distribution of preferential water rights. (f) Support legislation and regulations that encourage the use and development of alternative water sources, including desalination. (g) Support legislation that allows Water Districts to award contracts in conformity with the provisions of the local City Charter. 8. Environment: (a) Support legislation that complements Council’s Environmental Sustainability Guiding Principles. (b) Support efforts for the safe and cost effective disposal of solid, hazardous and medical waste. (c) Support legislation that encourages timely action to reduce the amount of ozone depleting compounds discharged into the atmosphere. (d) Support legislation that allocates state and/or federal funds for the construction of facilities to capture and treat the flow of raw sewage entering San Diego from Tijuana. (e) Support measures, which promote the recycling/reclaiming of natural resources, including water, timber, oil, gas minerals and earth metals. (f) Support measures that would make low-interest loans and/or grants available to local agencies for programs that would encourage the recycling/reclaiming of resources. (g) Support legislation that streamlines federal and State of California's environmental review processes and limits court reviews of environmental documentation. (h) Support legislation to develop an ongoing funding source to implement the federally mandated Clean Water Act of 1987 and to ensure protection of local resources. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 10 of 16 8 (i) Support legislation that provides funding to improve recreational water quality, habitat management, and open space. (j) Support legislation that promotes alternatively powered vehicles in the State vehicle buying program. (k) Oppose environmental legislation that creates an unfunded mandate for cities to implement and fund. 9. Waste Management: (a) Oppose legislation restricting the ability of local governments to regulate solid waste and recyclable materials. (b) Support measures that promote market development of recyclable materials. (c) Support legislation toward the procurement of recyclable and recycled materials. (d) Support legislation that promotes source reduction measures. (e) Support measures that encourage the streamlining of California Integrated Waste Management Board grant programs and provide maximum flexibility to local government. (f) Oppose legislation regulating "flow control" of solid waste materials. 10. Safety Services: (a) Support legislation that strengthens local law enforcement. (b) Support measures which strengthen present state or federal laws to increase penalties and give local governments the power to restrict or regulate the sale, manufacture, or use of dangerous drugs. (c) Support measures that would provide a greater share of seized assets to localities and increased discretion for local spending. (d) Support legislation that discourages, prevents, and penalizes driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. (e) Support legislation that enhanced local agencies ability to recover costs from guilty parties for damage to public property and services in accidents involving driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 11 of 16 9 (f) Support legislation that would allow for the destruction, confiscation, or extended safekeeping of firearms or other deadly weapons involved in domestic violence incidents. (g) Oppose legislation that would restrict or reduce the ability of local government to determine the extent or method of fire hazard mitigation necessary in or around wildland areas. (h) Support legislation granting immunity to or limiting liability of governmental entities and their employees who provide emergency medical instructions and/or treatment as a part of their public safety dispatch system. (i) Oppose legislation that would restrict a local government from revising the delivery of emergency medical service to its citizens and support measures that broaden these powers. (j) Support legislation that would assist local safety agencies in regionalization of activities such as training, crime labs, and other appropriate functions. (k) Support legislation that would provide funding for addiction rehabilitation treatment. (I) Support legislation that provides financial assistance to local agencies for Homeland Security. 11. Land Use Planning: (a) Support legislation to strengthen the legal and fiscal capability of local agencies to prepare, adopt and implement fiscal plans for orderly growth, development, beautification and conservation of local planning areas, including, but not limited to, regulatory authority over zoning, subdivisions, annexations, and redevelopment areas. (b) Support measures in local land use that is consistent with the doctrine of "home rule" and the local exercise of police powers in planning and zoning processes. (c) Support legislation requiring environmental review of initiatives to amend a general plan or zoning ordinance before the initiative is placed on the ballot or enacted. (d) Support legislation to allow cities to issue all coastal development permits within their jurisdiction consistent with a previously certified coastal plan. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 12 of 16 10 (e) Support legislation that facilitates and provides funds for habitat management planning, maintenance, administration, and local control. (f) Oppose legislation or constitutional amendments that would restrict the power of California cities to use eminent domain for public purpose projects. (g) Support measures that allow local agencies to condition mobile home park conversions from rental to resident ownership pursuant to local land use regulations including a requirement to provide public improvements and infrastructure where necessary to promote the health, safety, and welfare of park residents. 12. Housing and Community Development: (a) Support efforts to develop federal and state participation, financial support and incentives (tax benefits, grants, loans) for programs which provide adequate, affordable housing (home ownership and/or rental opportunities) for all economic segments of the community including the elderly, handicapped, and low-income persons. (b) Support legislation that provides incentives (tax benefits, grants, loans, credits for affordable units) to local agencies, private developers and non- profit groups in order to rehabilitate residential units and commercial properties. (c) Support legislation that would provide additional funding for rental subsidy assistance programs (such as Section 8) via more vouchers or certificates. (d) Support repeal of Article 34 (Public Housing Project Law) of the California Constitution. (e) Support legislation that allows entitlement cities to use CDBG funds for new construction of housing units. (f) Support state inclusionary housing legislation that allows for adoption of local programs such as that implemented in Carlsbad. (g) Support the repeal or modification of the Davis-Bacon Wage Act, as it relates to charter cities, that set a prevailing wage scale for public projects, substantially increasing the cost of publicly assisted housing developments. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 13 of 16 11 (h) Support legislation that will consolidate and streamline the administration and reporting requirements for the Community Development Block Grant program. (i) Support the consolidation of the Section 8 Certificate and Voucher Programs. (j) Oppose legislation that would give the State financial administrative responsibilities for the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG). (k) Oppose legislation that makes the local municipality or redevelopment agency financially responsible for the removal, abatement or mitigation of hazardous materials. (l) Support legislation that requires availability of adequate school facilities contemporaneously with occupancy of housing. 13. Redevelopment: (a) Support reform of reporting requirements for the Redevelopment Agency that simplify the process and eliminate the confusion regarding which reports to file with which State agency (Housing and Community Development or Controllers Office or both). (b) Oppose legislation that would prohibit/limit the establishment of new redevelopment project areas and/or expansion of existing project areas. (c) Oppose any legislation that allows reallocation of tax increment revenues by the State to finance agencies and/or projects other than the redevelopment project which generated the increment. (d) Oppose legislation or constitutional amendments that would restrict the power of California cities to use eminent domain for redevelopment projects, including economic redevelopment, where a prior finding of blight has been determined. 14. Child Care: (a) Support the reduction of present regulatory complexities. (b) Support the reduction of the burden of insurance costs. (c) Support funding for the construction, renovation and/or maintenance of child care facilities. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 14 of 16 12 (d) Support the provision of reasonable tax incentives for employers who offer child care services. (e) Support legislation that restores local control over quality childcare in areas such as licensure, staffing, education and training. 15. Immigration: (a) Support legislation which recognizes the unique and difficult problems associated with recent legal and illegal immigrants to the United States, and assist local communities in dealing with these problems in such areas as housing, health services, education and employment. (b) Support legislation to increase the number of border patrol agents at the International Border. (c) Support state and federal assistance to local communities attempting to address the needs of migrant workers. 16. Energy: (a) Support legislation that develops regulatory and market mechanisms that ensure the State achieves the greatest level of energy self-sufficiency and security as soon as practical. (b) Support legislation that establishes a market structure and rules that promote real competition and reasonable, justifiable prices. (c) Support legislation that aggressively pursues refunds to consumers for rates that have been determined to be unjust or unreasonable. (d) Support legislation that commits to and expedites the development of needed infrastructure (e.g. generation, transmission, and natural gas pipelines) to create robust and functional markets. (e) Support legislation that increases the diversity of the State and region’s energy resources, particularly increasing the use of higher-efficiency, clean distributed generation (e.g. combined heat and power) and renewable resources. (f) Support legislation that encourages and incentivizes the adoption of new and emerging technologies that provide real-time pricing to promote better price response by consumers. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 15 of 16 13 (g) Support legislation that promotes municipal renewable energy development. (h) Support legislation that allows net electrical metering. (i) Support legislation that provides financial incentives for renewable energy. (j) Support legislation that minimizes adverse environmental impacts of the State and the region’s energy use. (k) Support legislation that encourages funding programs for and promotion of alternate energy sources (l) Support legislation that prohibits the California Energy Commission from issuing any license to operate a power plant unless and until it has received the report required by the California Coastal Commission under the Warren-Alquist Act. 17. Public Health: (a) Support any measure that protects children and youth from exposure to tobacco, second hand smoke and tobacco-related products. (b) Support legislation that recognizes and prevents the adverse impacts affecting the public health and welfare of its citizens, and particularly minors. Dec. 10, 2019 Item #3 Page 16 of 16 12/10/2019 League of California Cities -Strategic Goals Home > About Us > Strategic Goals 2020 Strategic Priorities Throughout the state, city leaders -urban, suburban and rural -work hard every day to improve the quality of life for their residents. To meet this commitment to our communities, city leaders come together annually and set the League of California Cities strategic priorities, to strengthen our cities as vibrant places to live, work, and play. We stand ready to work collaboratively with the Governor, the Legislature and other stakeholders to accomplish these strategic priorities in 2020. 1. Improve the supply and affordability of housing. Provide cities with financial tools to increase construction of housing, particularly for vulnerable populations, reform state regulatory barriers, and ensure cities retain flexibility based on the size, geography, demographics, impact mitigation and land use needs of each community. 2. Advocate for increased funding and resources to prevent homelessness and assist individuals experiencing homelessness. Secure additional resources and flexibility to provide navigation assistance, emergency shelters and permanent supportive housing and strengthen partnerships with stakeholders to ensure mental health, substance abuse treatment, and wraparound services are available for adults and youth at risk or already experiencing homelessness in our communities. 3. Address fiscal sustainability. Raise awareness among stakeholders about the fiscal challenges cities face and work collaboratively to secure new revenue tools and flexible prudent policies to ensure cities are able to provide essential services to their residents while maintaining their ability to meet pension obligations. 4. Strengthen community and disaster preparedness, public safety, and resiliency. Improve community resiliency to disasters and environmental threats, and strengthen infrastructure stability and control, through expanding partnerships, including state and federal agencies, and securing additional resources and support for climate change adaptation, planning, preparedness, response, recovery, and sustainability in our cities. 5. Address public safety concerns of California cities. Reform recently enacted criminal justice laws -enacted by both statute and initiative -that have eroded public safety protections of California residents through the passage of the Police Chiefs/Grocer's-sponsored criminal justice reform measure eligible for the November 2020 state ballot, or by equivalent reforms achieved through legislative action. Protect public safety by reducing access to firearms by the mentally ill. https://www.cacities.org/Top/About-Us/Strategic-Goals 1/2 12/10/2019 League of California Cities -Strategic Goals Support additional tools and resources to address critical community challenges such as homelessness, mental health, domestic violence, drug rehabilitation, human trafficking, and workforce development for ex-offender reentry. Past Goals • 2019 League Strategic Goals • 2018 League Strategic Goals • 2017 League Strategic Goals • 2016 League Strategic Goals • 2015 League Strategic Goals • 2014 League Strategic Goals • 2013 League Strategic Goals • 2012 League Strategic Goals • 2011 League Strategic Goals • 2010 League Strategic Goals • 2009 League Strategic Goals • 2008 League Strategic Goals https://www.cacities.org/Top/About-Us/Strategic-Goals Terms of Use © 2019 League of California Cities New Privacv. PolicY. 2/2 l '' LEAGUE ►~crrrns Potential 2020 Issues Political Issues • Presidential election year • Priorities of Governor Gavin Newsom • Priorities of super Democratic majority • Continued policy tensions with President Trump's Administration • Uncertain state budget surplus/slowing economy • Positioning on initiatives on Nov 2020 Ballot Housing/Land Use • 6th cycle RHNA • Newsom's 3.5 million housing units by 2025 (would increase required residential zoning by 250%) • Effort to financially penalize cities for not building housing (withholding sales tax or transportation funds) • Effort to cap/reduce/eliminate local development fees • Mandatory state densities/height around transit • Promoting regional solutions (Regions Rise) • Housing land use in fire-prone areas Homeless Policy • Newsom's Council of Regional Homeless Advisors • Rollout of 2019-$650 million in city/county emergency grants; effort to extend funding Affordable Housing Funding/Planning Funding • Continued Rollout of Prop 1, housing bond • Rollout, Prop 2, No Place Like Home (homeless housing} • SB 2 planning grants • COG/local gov't planning/streamlining grants Economic Development/Post RDA Tools • Effort to restore a more robust tax increment tool (SB 5 redo) • Possible fixes to CRIA/EIFD law • Improving Hiring Tax Credit • Opportunity Zones -Conform with Federal tax law Environmental Issues • Wildfires: prevention, relief, sustainability & liability 129 • GHG reduction-incentives for local agencies (avoiding local mandates) • Organic waste diversion implementation (SB 1383) • Single use plastic reduction legislation (SB 54) • Effort to regulate community choice aggregation • CalRecycle Budget -CRV/Tip Fee proposal • Future of clean energy Water • GGRF safe drinking water fund allocations for disadvantaged communities • Central Valley river flows (urban and ag v. environmental uses} • Implementation of permanent conservation measures • Effort to craft revised water bond for 2020 • Continued ground water statutory and regulatory implementation (SGMA) Community Services • Newsom's child care proposals • Newsom's mental health/homelessness proposals • Responding to growing senior demographic • Park bond allocations Public Safety • Drone regulation (state and federal) • Firearms regulation • Police Chiefs/Grocers measure on 2020 ballot • Regulatory structure for industrialized hemp Cannabis • Outcome of delivery issue • Industry's continued push on local governments for mandatory retail structure • State and Local Taxation • Policy needed to empower locals to enforce against illegal activity Labor and Human Resources • Pension/OPES sustainability and reform • AB 5 and effects on cities • Renewed focus on prohibiting contracting for services (AB 1250) • CalPERS divestment issues/challenges • CalPERS litigation against defaulting agencies • Workers comp: off duty claims Governance/Data/Elections • Open data expansion/privacy requirements on cities • CA Voting Rights Act reform • Permissive options for rank choice voting Revenue and Taxation • State tax reform discussion (split roll, state revenue volatility) • Allocation of local Bradley Burns: o Wayfair implementation o Use taxes from county pools o Internet sales/subsidies • Facilitating incorporation and inhabited annexation • 55% local vote threshold (ACA 1) Transportation and Public Works • Protecting transportation revenues • EV charging infrastructure • Micromobility regulation • Road User Charge • Autonomous vehicle regulation Federal • Possible Presidential impeachment proceedings • Federal budget negotiations • Transportation funding • Immigration (border wall, public charge, reform) • Environmental rules • Lawsuits between California and federal government • Wireless facility regulations • Cable facility regulations • Homeless funding • Cannabis banking 130 San Diego County Division Submitted By: Catherine Hill League Staff: Catherine Hill, Regional Public Affairs Manager Goal 1: Provide Cities Additional Funding and Tools and Preserve Local Authority to Address Housing Production, Affordability and Homelessness Challenges. • Division member cities monitored and engaged in the housing production, affordability and homelessness crisis discussions through direct advocacy, active support of disbursement and full utilization of funding for housing and homelessness services such as SB 2, and in-depth discussion of housing and homelessness policy at division meetings. • Division member cities proactively engaged in League priority housing bills such as support for SB 5 and ACA 1 and opposition to SB 50 and other policy efforts through letters, in-district and capitol office meetings with state legislators. Division members continued engagement with regional leaders and stakeholders such as San Diego Regional Taskforce on the Homeless and the San Diego Housing Federation. Goal 2: Improve Disaster Preparedness, Recovery and Climate Resiliency. • Division advocated for legislation to provide cities support for disaster preparedness, recovery and climate resiliency. Division continues to work with and engage in the League's Coastal Cities Issues Group and brought forward a successful resolution at the League's Annual Conference in October 2019 to address transboundary river flow pollution from Mexico into California's most southern regions. • Division partnered with public safety personnel, SDG&E, San Diego Chapter of American Red Cross and 211 San Diego for education and awareness meetings on emergency response and preparedness services provided throughout the region. Division members attended SDG&E Emergency Operations Center tours to better understand the IOU's wildfire prevention and Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) operations. Key League Legislative staff also attended this tour. Goal 3: Promote Sustainability of Public Pension and Retirement Health Benefits. • Division members engaged with the League to promote pension sustainability principles, discussed challenges and possible solutions and worked collaboratively to achieve meaningful options and flexibility for cities to address these challenges in order to stabilize local budgets and ensure sufficient funding remains available to provide services to communities. PERS and pension sustainability was the topic at a division meeting and again at a separate city managers meeting during the year. • Member cities engaged in advocacy with the Legislature, Administration, CalPERS and employee organizations.to create public awareness of the fiscal challenges cities face as a direct result of growing unfunded pension liabilities and retirement health benefits. Division cities overwhelmingly participated in the League's pension survey submitting information to assist in a statewide and regional snapshot of the pension crisis. Goal 4: Address Public Safety Concerns of California Cities. • Division engaged with the League to address local community public safety concerns stemming from recently enacted reduced sentencing laws and worked with communities 41 and legislators to seek appropriate legislative actions to enhance public safety policies and funding. • Members continued to seek tools and resources to address critical community challenges such implementation and local authority of adult-use and medicinal cannabis, homelessness, mental health, domestic violence, drug rehabilitation, ex-offender reentry, use of force and human trafficking. Division had the first ever cannabis panel discussion, engaging three cities utilizing different approaches to cannabis regulation and industry experts. The panel discussion concluded with a tour of a legal licensed dispensary in San Diego. Additional Information: • San Diego County Division continued to include standing reports and discussions led by Policy Committee representatives at the division meeting following the policy committee meetings in January, March and June. Additional reports from division member representatives to the Board of Directors and Coastal Cities Issues Group were presented on a regular basis. The inclusion of these member led reports afforded discussion and dialogue of League priorities and actions. Additionally, discussion of pressing issues led to the San Diego County Division bringing forward an Annual Conference Resolution on the critical transboundary river flow pollution coming into the region from Mexico. • Member cities in attendance at League conferences gathered for networking dinners and receptions during New Mayor and Council Members Academy, City Managers Conference, Legislative Action Day and Annual Conference. • San Diego County Division continued to solicit sponsorship for division meetings and events and requested division partners in 2019 to support the Division efforts by directing their contribution through CitiPAC. 42 ; I Ii LEAGUE ~~crrrn 2019 Legislative Year in Review A progressive dawn illuminated the state Capitol at the opening of the 2019 legislative session. Throughout several days of inauguration events and festivities, supporters celebrated the election of Gavin Newsom to the Governor's Office. It was a clean sweep: Democrats now occupied all constitutional offices and obtained historic supermajorities in the Legislature. With former Gov. Jerry Brown, the prudent four-term octogenarian, out of the way, California could now plunge progressively forward. "Courage for a change" was Gov. Newsom's campaign theme. Yet California's complex challenges and governing realities meant utopia would have to wait. The Town of Paradise was in ashes after a utility-caused wildfire. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) declared bankruptcy, requiring a major utility recovery and stabilization package to be crafted. Tension and Twitter battles with President Trump's administration over immigration, the census, environmental policies and other issues became a distraction; by late September, 60 lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration. Despite Gov. Newsom's goal to produce 3.5 million new units over six years, new housing production sputtered as developers balked at a weakening market with flattening rents and prices. And to the disappointment of legislators with plans for billions of dollars in new spending, Gov. Newsom's budget was cautious. Like his predecessor, he avoided overcommitting and focused on repaying debts, building reserves and making one-time expenditures, including nearly $2.5 billion for affordable housing and homelessness. Overwhelming Democrat majorities failed to propel many progressive actions, with the most aggressive measures stalled or vetoed. Despite multiple attacks on local zoning authority, the League and cities emerged surprisingly well. Efforts to link allocation of local transportation street and road funds to housing production were rejected, and the initially controversial housing trailer bill was later approved in workable form. Aggressive housing density bills stalled for the year; many others were amended or sidelined. On other fronts, the League worked to neutralize or stop many labor and elections bills of concern and supported a solution to rural clean water issues through a 10-year state funding plan instead of a water tax. Cities were again protected from liability for utility-caused wildfires though a repeal of inverse condemnation, and a compromise was reached to address law enforcement's use of deadly force. Bills undermining local parking authority and scooter regulation also failed. There was time for playing offense as well. The League sponsored legislation to provide cities additional resources and tools. SB 5 (Beall, McGuire, Portantino) would have restored a more robust property tax-based financing mechanism focused on building affordable housing and infill infrastructure. While the bill was passed by both the Senate and the Assembly, the Governor vetoed SB 5 in the eleventh hour. ACA 1 (Aguiar- Curry) would allow the voters to lower the vote threshold for local general obligation bonds, sales taxes or parcel taxes that invest in affordable housing and a wide variety of infrastructure, and is pending in the Assembly. AB 147 (Burke), which Gov. Newsom 7 signed in April, implements the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court Wayfair decision that enables state and local agencies to collect millions of dollars in revenue from internet sales. Legislative Leadership Styles and Governor's Distractions Blunt Progressive Excess Battles do not always favor the strong. On paper, the status quo should have been routed by progressive proposals. Gov. Newsom took office touting bold visions and calling for courage, and Democratic legislators increased their dominance to 61-to-19 in the Assembly and 29-to-11 in the Senate. Republicans were vanquished bystanders, and lacked leverage to block actions; their emotions surfaced during bitter floor debates at the end of the session. Despite their advantages, progress for the progressive Democrat agenda was muted. The Governor reacted to too many issues, described by one pundit as "swinging at every pitch," and seemed more enamored with national politics than California. Legislative dynamics also contributed. Senate pro Tern Toni Atkins {D-San Diego) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon {D-Lakewood) have collaborative leadership styles that empower policy committee chairs and provide flexibility for their members on floor votes. This combination eroded the numerical partisan advantage and resulted in the most aggressive measures being watered down or stalled. Governor's Initial Budget Contained Housing Funding and Threats to Local Government The excitement was palpable as Gov. Newsom unveiled his first budget proposal. Intense media interest caused the press conference to be moved to a larger room. With state coffers swelling and many ambitious proposals discussed on the campaign trail, they expected something new and different. But after the Governor occupied the stage for nearly two hours, giving detailed explanations and displaying his command of state policy and finance, those who anticipated grandiose spending and new programs from the $20 billion surplus were disappointed. Gov. Newsom mirrored his predecessor's cautious and prudent approach. He focused on building reserves, repaying debts, reducing pension obligations, avoiding establishing or expanding ongoing programs and offering a series of one-time expenditures. Even ongoing proposals reflected fiscal caution. At one point he held a press conference to announce a sales tax exemption for diapers and menstrual products that would be in effect for only two years. The historic state budget investment in affordable housing and homelessness, however, was impressive. The budget included over $2 billion for local planning grants, housing- related infrastructure, homelessness services, mixed-income housing loan programs and expanding state's tax credit program. But some negatives outweighed these positives for local authority. The Governor's most aggressive threats targeted cities -including tying the allocation of local transportation funds to housing production. When the housing trailer bill language was released, the details were even more aggressive. The bill empowered the Department of Housing and 8 Community Development (HCD) to unilaterally impose on communities statewide zoning requirements for hundreds of thousands of new housing units, empower regions to monitor city progress on zoning and other actions to be used as a basis for taking local transportation funds. And there was more. Gov. Newsom revealed that he would consider limitations on development impact fees. Rather than reinstating local redevelopment authority, he preferred making one-time expenditures and merging tax incentives with the new federal Opportunity Zone program and enhanced infrastructure financing districts. League Works With Transportation Coalition to Get Links to SB 1 Funding Off the Table The League worked for over a decade building the case for increased transportation funding to address declining street and road conditions. Part of that effort included working to develop and support the passage of SB 1 (Beall) in 2017 and, in 2018, defeat Proposition 6, which sought to repeal it. Consequently, the League was determined to fight any proposals that undermined this funding stream for cities. The League was the first organization to send an "oppose" letter on AB 1568 (McCarty), a bill to shift local street and road funds from cities on the basis of housing production. In addition, the League helped organize a coalition of transportation stakeholders to oppose the bill. After an aggressive lobbying effort, the bill stalled in the first committee without a hearing. In a parallel effort, the League worked with transportation stakeholders to oppose the Governor's similar budget proposal. Fortunately, legislators were in no mood for this. Many had cast the tough votes to pass SB 1, and even those who had opposed the bill did not want to break faith with the voters by allocating the revenues differently than had been represented to the public. Two-Phase Negotiations Over Housing Trailer Bill's Planning Elements Throughout the spring, the League engaged in extensive negotiations with administration representatives on the housing trailer bill. The negotiations occurred in two phases over many months. Initially, Gov. Newsom proposed allocating $750 million to local agencies, with $250 million for enhanced housing-related planning and $500 million as rewards for locals achieving various "milestones." In the first phase, the League focused primarily on the policy and planning elements. It was important that any new program be workable for cities and avoid establishing unrealistic and divisive conditions. As a result of these negotiations, the language was largely rewritten and eliminated the proposal for HCD to dictate additional zoning for hundreds of thousands of additional units. The League also worked in collaboration with the California Association of Councils of Government (CALCOG) to rewrite the local planning grant language so that it worked collaboratively for both cities and regions. While negotiations addressed planning-related issues, challenges emerged over designing the metrics to allocate the $500 million in rewards. The League proposed a tiered system of per-unit financial awards to local agencies, with enhanced funding for 9 higher density, transit-oriented or affordable units. This system could have worked, however, the administration and Legislature ultimately opted to use these funds for infill infrastructure grants, which the League also supported. Last-minute changes triggered a second phase. Just before the budget deadline, the administration unveiled trailer bill language an aggressive packet of proposed fines, penalties and state receivership for jurisdictions lacking HCD housing element approvals. The League fought back against these punitive elements, working with legislative staff. Retaining due process in a court before aggressive actions could be taken against a city remained a critical League objective. After several days of intense negotiations, the League succeeded in revising the language to remove the most objectionable elements and ensure due process for cities. Finally, on July 5, the Legislature passed AB 101, the housing budget trailer bill, reflecting the compromise and negotiations that took place over seven months between Gov. Newsom, the Legislature and stakeholders. The bill: • Provides $2.5 billion to address the housing and homelessness crisis; • Creates incentives to increase housing production; • Establishes a process for a court to determine that a city or county has complied with housing element law; and • Imposes penalties, only as a last resort, if cities and counties disregard the direction of a court and continue not to fulfill their responsibilities under housing element law. Efforts to Create New Infill/Affordable Housing Development Tools: SB 5 and ACA One of the League's 2019 strategic goals was "Provide Cities Additional Funding and Tools and Preserve Local Authority to Address Housing Production, Affordability and Homelessness Challenges." In pursuit of this goal, the League worked proactively with four key policy committee chairs to sponsor and support legislation that proposed expanding options for cities to finance affordable housing and infill development. The League recognized these four legislators for their efforts with the 2019 League Distinguished Legislative Leadership Award: • Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose), chair, Senate Transportation Committee; • Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), chair, Senate Governance and Finance Committee; • Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada-Flintridge), chair, Senate Appropriations Committee; and • Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), chair, Assembly Local Government Committee. SB 5 was the most substantive and robust economic development tool to be proposed since the elimination of redevelopment. The bill would have created a local-state 10 partnership to provide up to $2 billion annually to fund affordable housing, infrastructure and economic development projects that also support state policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand transit-oriented development, address poverty and revitalize neighborhoods. It took tremendous legislative leadership by Sens. Jim Beall, Mike McGuire and Anthony Portantino to get SB 5 to the Governor's desk. Unfortunately, SB 5 was vetoed by Gov. Newsom. ACA 1, authored by Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, proposes giving state voters the opportunity to approve local investments in affordable housing and infill infrastructure with a 55 percent vote. The author and the League worked extensively to build support for this measure, collaborating with a broad coalition of co-authors and organizations. Unfortunately, the measure fell just short of the required two-thirds vote on the Assembly Floor, but remains eligible to move in 2020. The League also appreciates Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry's work with the League as chair of the Assembly Local Governrrent Committee to co-author SB 5. Additional Resources Secured to Address Homelessness Gov. Newsom focused on homelessness, augmenting resources approved by Gov. Brown in 2018, and allocated $650 million to build emergency shelters, navigation centers and supportive housing. His budget included additional funding for the Whole Person Care Pilot programs, which coordinate health, behavioral health (including mental health and substance use disorder services) and social services, and housing for the mentally ill under the No Place Like Home Program. Accompanying trailer bill language, streamlined environmental review for homeless shelters, navigation centers and new supportive housing units, and allowed emergency shelters to be located in the right of way of state highways under overpasses. Major Efforts to Override Local Zoning Stall; Other Measures Signed The biggest legislative threats to local authority came on housing and land use. The Governor's production goal of 3.5 million housing units by 2025 -despite the state never having approached that level of construction in its history -opened the door for more radical legislative proposals. Concepts included banning density reductions in all residential zoning for 10 years, allowing all existing single-family homes to be converted to rental fourplexes, letting developers pick maximum densities of their buildings and eliminating single-family zoning. Developer-supporting activists and sympathetic reporters applauded such proposals on social media. For some legislators, the focus on cities and zoning offered a softer political target. It avoided angering developers, environmentalists, labor representatives or other influential stakeholders. Also skipped were the challenges of dealing with more complex issues affecting housing demand, such as declining middle-class wages; lingering economic effects of the foreclosure crisis; contributions of state environmental, water and energy regulations to housing cost; and mountains of student debt diminishing the ability of potential home buyers to save for down payments. The League proceeded carefully in this charged environment. It was impossible to fight on all fronts at once. Instead, the League timed its engagement and worked on selected 11 issues. Fortunately, the strategy of not playing the expected villain role immediately on every issue worked. By mid-session, cooler legislative heads prevailed and the most aggressive proposals stalled or were addressed by amendments. The League took the opportunity to support proposals affecting misconduct by landlords. SB 329 (Mitchell) prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants who rely upon housing assistance paid directly to landlords, such as Section 8 vouchers, and AB 1110 (Friedman) lengthens the time for tenants to receive notice before specified rent increases. Proposals signed into law that the League opposed included: • SB 330 (Skinner), which prohibits a city from imposing any fee -except California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)-related fees -after the submittal of a "preliminary" application. The concern is that this would essentially ban project- specific fees because these fees cannot be determined until a city fully analyzes the project. Given this omission, more local projects would likely require full environmental impact reports (EIRs) to ensure project-specific impacts are addressed. • AB 1763 (Chiu) allows 100 percent of affordable housing within one half-mile of a major transit stop to be up to three stories higher than other buildings with no more than one-half parking spot per unit. Such out-of-scale structures could further exacerbate community resistance to affordable housing and would undermine community-based housing plans. • Three additional bills on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) were also signed into law. While all were well-intended by the authors, the bills continue compounding the confusion over this law, which has become a moving target. o SB 13 (Wieckowski) prohibits local jurisdictions from imposing impact fees on ADUs less than 750 square feet and limits charges on ADUs over 750 square feet to 25 percent of fees for a new single-family dwelling on the same lot. o AB 68 (Ting) amends the statewide standards that apply to locally adopted ordinances concerning ADUs. Changes include prohibiting minimum lot size requirements, requiring at least 850 square feet per ADU and requiring approval within 60 days. o AB 881 (Bloom) prohibits a local jurisdiction from requiring that a property owner live in the main house or one of the accessory structures; requires local agencies to ministerially approve ADUs on lots with residential or mixed-use zones; and adds a definition of "public transit" to mean a location including but not limited to a bus stop or train station, where the public may access buses, trains, subways and other forms of transportation that charge set fares, run on fixed routes and are available to the public. Effort to Pre-empt Local Parking Authority Stalls The League led the opposition effort to AB 516 (Chiu), a bill sponsored by legal aid advocates proposing to eliminate the ability of cities and law enforcement to adequately 12 .. enforce state and federal vehicle violations. The bill would have prohibited immobilizing or towing a vehicle with more than five unpaid parking tickets or traffic violations and extended traditional 72-hour violations by an additional five business days. The League worked to get the bill pulled off consent on the Assembly floor and persuaded 31 members to vote "no" or abstain, then continued to lobby against the bill in the Senate with a coalition of cities. The League thanks Sen. Portantino for recognizing the bill's flaws and holding it in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Statewide Disaster and Emergency Response Gov. Newsom and the Legislature deserve thanks for their unwavering focus on helping communities, including the Town of Paradise, recover from recent wildfires. Paradise received emergency cash assistance to maintain operations, followed by a broader budget package that assists all cities and counties impacted by recent disasters, including backfilling lost property taxes. Despite political differences, the Governor and President Trump also worked together to ensure these communities received federal resources and support. The recovery of disaster-affected communities will take years, but the commitment and collaboration by all levels of government to assist these communities is commendable. To address future vulnerabilities, the budget included $300 million for disaster preparedness, emergency response, disaster related planning, improving communications, purchasing additional equipment and pre-positioning first responder resources. The Governor also signed two League-supported emergency response bills. SB 209 (Dodd) establishes the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center as the integrated central organizing hub for wildfire forecasting, weather information and threat intelligence gathering. SB 670 (McGuire) requires telecommunications service providers to submit a specified outage notification to the Office of Emergency Services (OES) when a telecommunications outage impacting 911 service and emergency notifications occurs. Other League-supported legislation included AB 291 (Chu), a bill that proposed $500 million in ongoing funds to support local emergency planning but that did not pass, and SB 45 (Allen), a proposed $4.3 billion bond for wildfire restoration, drought mitigation, and water projects. Work on SB 45 will continue in 2020. Tax Conformance with Opportunity Zones Stalls; Cleanup Needed on Changes to EIFDs The Governor's budget focused on economic development in two areas: providing state tax conformity for investments in affordable housing or green technology in new federal opportunity zones and removing the 55 percent vote requirement for bond issuance by Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs). Gov. Newsom's Opportunity Zone proposal ran into legislative concerns over the details and costs and was not adopted. On EIFDs, Sen. Beall, who was the author of the original EIFD law, carried SB 128 to remove the vote requirement, but that proposal stalled and the bill was used for another purpose. With several days remaining in the 13 session, AB 116 (Ting) removed the vote requirement, but imposed a lengthy public notice and protest process attached to EIFD formation. The League and the California Association for Local Economic Development raised concerns when the bill was on the Governor's desk. However, Gov. Newsom signed the measure. Utility Wildfire Liability Package Adopted Prior to the summer recess, Gov. Newsom and the Legislature enacted a utility wildfire liability package in AB 1054 (Holden, Burke, Mayes) and AB 111, a budget trailer bill. Pressure to pass this legislation arose with the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which faced billions of dollars in claims for wildfires started by faulty equipment and poor maintenance, and concerns over future massive fiscal exposure from other utilities and their shareholders. Over half of the $40 million insurance fund created by these bills is seeded by a state loan, with remaining contributions from utilities. Access to the fund is only available to utilities receiving Public Utility Commission (after 2021, the name changes to Natural Resources Agency) certification for their wildfire mitigation plans. To obtain a safety certification, an electrical corporation must establish an executive incentive compensation plan, approved by the Wildfire Division, linked to safety performance metrics, including tying 100 percent of incentive compensation to safety performance. Utilities obtaining this certification receive protection from future liability for wildfires, and other changes could make it easier to shift costs to ratepayers even if utilities are responsible for causing a fire. Previously a third party had to demonstrate that a utility's action was not reasonable, but AB 1054 increased the threshold to one where "serious doubt" must be established that an electrical corporation's conduct was not reasonable. A utility then has the burden of dispelling that doubt in proving its conduct was reasonable. It will be several years before the changes enacted in this legislation can be adequately evaluated. Water Tax Battles End with Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund Many rural areas lack safe water supplies, but residents are too poor to pay for upgrades, so the legislative debate is how to pay for it. The League worked with Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) to oppose various water tax proposals, which would have levied a tax on all water users with proceeds transferred to a state agency for allocation. This approach was flawed -taxing urban water users with no visible benefit would undermine support for paying for improvements to urban systems. After extensive discussions, an alternative financing plan was agreed to in SB 200 (Menning). The bill establishes a 10-year state commitment of up to $130 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund with a backstop guarantee from the General Fund. This solution avoids the problems associated with a water tax while still addressing the goal of helping provide an adequate and affordable supply of safe drinking water to communities statewide that need it. The League applauds the 14 leadership of SB 200's authors, Senate and Assembly leaders and the Governor for finding a workable solution. Sales Tax Collections Under Wayfair; and Other Local Revenue Matters The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Wayfair v. South Dakota in June 2018 provides states more authority to require out-of-state sellers to collect use tax. AB 147 (Burke), the implementing legislation supported by the League, clarifies the economic nexus thresholds to allow state and local agencies to collect a legislative estimated $400 million per year from out-of-state retailers and marketplace facilitators. This estimate may be low, actual revenue from this measure could be higher. Reflecting its recently refined policy on sales taxes, the League supported SB 531 (Glazer), which contains a recommendation adopted by a 2018 League taskforce to prohibit future sales tax agreements between local agencies and retailers with a warehouse, sales office or fulfillment center that results in a shift of sales taxes from other jurisdictions. While SB 531 passed in both the Assembly and the Senate, Gov. Newsom vetoed the bill. In a related measure, the League opposed and requested a veto on AB 485 (Medina), which imposes an onerous list of conditions on economic incentives associated with siting a warehouse. AB 485 was chaptered into law. Cities also benefit from League-supported AB 1637 (Smith), signed by the Governor, which authorizes the state controller to automatically allocate to a state or local agency any unclaimed property in that agency's name received as part of the controller's unclaimed property database. Responding to Local Recycling Challenges Local governments have long been responsible for ensuring that California achieves its recycling and waste management goals. California's solid waste and recycling industries, however, are facing a series of critical issues. Materials including plastics and paper are piling up at local waste facilities throughout the state with nowhere to go. First among these challenges is China's changes to its trade import policies. These changes, collectively referred to by China as the "National Sword," have significantly disrupted California's recycling industry by restricting foreign imports to China of recyclable materials and increasing the requirements for reduced contamination levels in recycling streams. This has caused increased costs to local governments, slowdowns in waste processing of other materials and public health risks. In response, the League worked with a coalition of local government and environmental organizations to support the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, contained in two identical measures SB 54 (Allen) and AB 1080 (Gonzalez). These measures would help California transition from single-use plastic containers to reusable or compostable packaging and promote the development of in- state manufacturing that uses recycled material to reduce the waste associated with 15 single use packaging and products by 75 percent by 2030. These measures stalled in the final hours of the Legislative session; efforts to pass them will resume in January. Organic waste materials present another major challenge. Local agencies face increasing organic recycling requirements, but the state lacks adequate infrastructure and markets. The League, along with a large coalition of environmental, waste industry and local government associations, advocated for $100 million for organic waste diversion programs and supported SB 667 (Hueso), which proposed a five-year investment strategy. Unfortunately, SB 667 stalled, but $25 million was allocated in the budget. AB 1583 (Eggman), which extends an existing sales tax exemption program benefitting investments in recycling infrastructure for five more years, was approved. Public Safety: Use of Force, 201 Rights, Drones and Cannabis A two-year long debate in the Legislature over police use of force reached a conclusion with the Governor's signature on AB 392 (Weber) and SB 230 (Caballero). Initially, these bills took differing approaches. AB 392 proposed altering the long-established legal standard used to evaluate the appropriateness of law enforcement's actions, while SB 230 approached the matter through increased training. The League and law enforcement organizations supported SB 230 and opposed AB 392. An agreement was reached that removed the most objectionable elements of AB 392. Gov. Newsom signed both bills. Another longstanding dispute over local "201 rights," affecting local emergency service delivery, was addressed via SB 438 (Hertzberg). The bill prohibits a public agency from delegating, assigning or contracting for "911" emergency call processing or notification duties regarding the dispatch of emergency response resources unless the delegation or assignment is to -or the contract is with -another public agency or made pursuant to a joint powers agreement or cooperative agreement. This bill was chaptered into law. League-sponsored AB 1190 (Irwin), which establishes a framework for local drone regulation, moved to the Senate where three policy committees have requested hearings in 2020. The most contentious cannabis proposal was AB 1356 (Ting), which required local agencies to issue a minimum ratio of cannabis licenses to existing liquor licenses. The bill stalled after the League strongly opposed this measure due to its clear violation of Prop. 64. Two measures supported by the League to improve tracking and tracing of cannabis, AB 1288 (Cooley) and SB 658 (Bradford), also stalled. A budget trailer bill was adopted extending laws related to provisional licenses and providing support for community equity efforts. League's Efforts to Assist Annexations and Incorporations Continued to 2020 Sometimes it takes a long time to clean up a mess. In 2011, a budget trailer bill -SB 89 (Chapter 35, Statutes of 2011) -was rushed through the legislative process with no public hearings and swept away over $200 million annually in vehicle license fee (VLF) 16 revenues from cities. This action severely harmed recently incorporated cities and cities that had annexed inhabited territory. Since then, the League sponsored numerous bills to right this wrong and re-establish good land-use policy going forward. Unfortunately, Gov. Brown resisted most of these efforts. A partial success occurred, however, in 2017 with the passage of SB 130, a budget trailer bill. With language drafted by the League, SB 130 assisted four recently incorporated cities in Riverside County that were harmed by the loss of up to 40 percent of General Fund revenue. Although SB 130 did not resolve issues associated with annexations or future incorporations, it provides the legislative template to also address this issue. With a new governor at the helm in 2019, the League sponsored two bills: AB 213 (Reyes) and AB 818 (Cooley and Quirk). AB 213 would restore funding to approximately 140 cities that had annexed inhabited territory in reliance on previous financial incentives and then suffered when the budget process swept away those funds through SB 89. AB 818 would restore fiscal support for new incorporations -otherwise no new incorporations will occur in the state. Both bills were held in the Legislature, and educational efforts with the administration on the policy benefits of these bills continue. Pensions, Labor and Employee Relations The League, along with other organizations representing public and private employers, played defense in 2019 against an onslaught of aggressive labor-sponsored measures. With Gov. Brown (who had demonstrated his willingness to contain costs and veto measures) no longer in office, labor groups dusted off and reintroduced their former proposals. Some expanded presumptions under workers' compensation, others limited contracting or required the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to divest from various investments. After long battles in the Legislature, the most onerous and costly bills failed to reach the Governor's desk. For those that did, Gov. Newsom appeared to draw some lines. For instance, in the final hours of the legislative session, he sent SB 266 (Leyva), which proposed that cities pay out of their general funds to retirees for compensation that CalPERS determined was not allowed, back to the Legislature. This is an encouraging sign. In February, the California Supreme Court issued its anticipated decision in Ca/ Fire which clarified that the purchase of air time was not a vested right. While the court avoided making wider pronouncements on vested rights under the "California Rule," the court has several cases on its docket where broader interpretations could occur. The League is also updating its comprehensive pension study for 2020 to document the hard truths that cities are grappling with as increasing shares of General Fund revenues are shifted to cover growing pension costs. The Governor is obviously aware of pension challenges, because he dedicated over $4 billion in the budget to mitigate growing state liabilities. 17 Outlook for 2020 With a contentious presidential primary and election, controversial ballot measures, deteriorating relations with Washington and continued pressure on land use and housing issues, 2020 is expected to be a year of significant political tension. But if stakeholders take the right approach, opportunities may arise for collaborative solutions on major issues by avoiding divisive or partisan approaches and seeking leadership from Gov. Newsom, the Legislature and local governments. In such discussions, city officials must continue to remind all stakeholders of the core values and benefits of local democracy for the residents whom they serve. As a nonpartisan organization representing the collective voices of all cities, the League remains the conduit to communicate on major policy issues affecting cities and advance the interests of cities and their residents. Onward to a better future for California cities. 18