Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Connie Juarez-Diroll, Chief Legislative Office
Subject: State and Federal Legislative Update #8-2024 Legislative Session End-of-Session Wrap-up
RECOMMENDATION:
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Accept an informational report on the 2024 State and Federal Legislative sessions.
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BACKGROUND:
August 31, 2024, marked the end of the second year of the 2023-24 state Legislative Session. In the weeks before the final deadline, lawmakers worked into the evening to determine the fate of over 1,300 bills.
The House and Senate returned from their August recess on September 9. Facing a September 30th deadline before the end of the federal fiscal year, Congress has less than three legislative weeks to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown.
DISCUSSION:
State Update
In 2024, legislators introduced 2,523 pieces of legislation, including 802 bills in the Senate and 1,721 bills in the Assembly. Members also bid farewell to 23 departing Assembly Members, including Assembly Member Phil Ting (D-District 19) and 11 departing Senators.
While the end of the session is often stressful, this year's was marked by heightened tension generated by the Governor's end-of-session efforts to address spikes in gasoline prices and high electric bills. This included the "gutting and amending" six bills in the final week of the session to tackle increasing energy costs. The package included SB 950 (Skinner), which proposed requiring oil refiners to maintain reserve stockpiles of gasoline to prevent shortages in case of unplanned maintenance. While Senate pro Tempore Mark McGuire welcomed taking up these consequential bills during the regular session, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas did not, asking for more review time.
In the meantime, the Governor turned up the heat by calling a special session on energy this fall, an idea embra...
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