Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael Callagy, County Manager
Connie Juarez-Diroll, Legislative Officer
Subject: 2022 State and Federal Legislative Update #1
RECOMMENDATION:
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Accept this informational report on the start of the 2022 State legislative session.
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BACKGROUND:
The California State Legislature reconvened on January 3, 2022, to begin the second year of their two-year legislative cycle. This year, the Legislature introduced 2,109 new bills, with 1,422 submitted by the Assembly and 687 introduced by the Senate.
DISCUSSION:
COVID-19 continues to impact the work of the Legislature, with the Senate and Assembly still using remote testimony to conduct legislative business. Construction on the Capitol forced legislators to move into a new, temporary “swing space,” creating a shortage of meeting locations. Despite the challenging working conditions, members submitted over 2,100 new bills in January while hearing hundreds of 2-year bills on tight deadlines. Policy committee hearings begin in March after most bills are in print for the mandatory 30 day period.
Major policy areas of newly introduced bills include:
Public Safety:
Curbing firearms and combatting retail theft are areas addressed in many public safety-related bills. Over 25 new bills are focused on firearms, including a package of four bills backed by the Newsom Administration that seek to tighten restrictions on ghost guns (AB 1621 (Gipson)), prohibit the advertising of certain weapons to minors (AB 2571 (Bauer-Kahan)), and expand the ability of the Attorney General and private citizens to sue manufacturers and distributors of firearms (AB 1594 (Ting) and SB 1327 (Hertzberg)). To address theft, multiple proposals aim to amend Proposition 47, The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014 that recategorized certain nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors rather than felonies. Changes to Proposition 47 would need voter approval. In addition, the Legislature introduced bills aimed at combatting bias in policing, eliminating additional justice system fees, and increasing training for officers who interact with vulnerable communities, such as the homeless or persons with intellectual disabilities.
The Brown Act
Three measures would amend the Brown Act. The first two proposals (AB 2449 (Rubio) and AB 1944 (Lee)) seek to allow meeting participants to participle remotely from a non-public location without revealing their addresses if certain conditions are met, such as a quorum of the legislative body meeting in person in a location available to the public. SB 1100 (Cortese) would authorize removing a disruptive individual from a public meeting. This bill is a response to the concerning trend of increasing disruption of local public meetings that often feature explicit or implicit threats of violence against public officials and their families and pets, racial slurs directed toward public employees and public officials, and other forms of harassment.
Housing and Homelessness
The Legislature continues to focus on the dual crisis of homelessness and a shortage of affordable housing. Multiple proposals would create new programs and incentives for local governments and developers to build more affordable housing and streamline the process for local governments to apply for a variety of existing state affordable housing funds. AB 2755 (Muratsuchi) would create a right to housing and establish an obligation for the unhoused to use available local housing and shelter options. Many proposals aim to curb homelessness in specific vulnerable populations, including foster youth, those with histories of incarceration, veterans, and victims of domestic violence.
Environment
Climate change and protecting our environment continue to be areas of focus for the Legislature. Multiple proposals aim to better manage and reduce waste. AB 1985 (Rivas) seeks to help counties implement California’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy, which requires counties to divert organic waste away from landfills. Other proposals would prohibit single-use plastic packaging from being sold and distributed in the state and ban the sale of tobacco products with single-use components. Additionally, the Legislature proposes to put a more significant emphasis on environmental justice when it comes to creating General Plans, applying CEQA, and distributing state and federal funds.
COVID-19 and Public Health
As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, debates on vaccine requirements, health misinformation, and the public health system continue. SB 866 (Wiener) would authorize minors 12 years and older to consent to vaccines, SB 871 (Pan) would add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required vaccines for children attending K-12 schools, and AB 1993 (Wicks) would mandate that all employers in the state require their employees and independent contractors to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The pandemic has also highlighted financial vulnerabilities in our public health system, and the Legislature proposes further examining public health financing and workforce needs.
Human and Social Services
Finally, the Legislature introduced many bills to improve experiences and outcomes for foster youth, including setting up foster youth with savings accounts, ensuring better access to extracurricular activities, and providing more access to substance use disorder programs.
Additionally, the Legislature has shown interest in reforming the Lanterman-Petris Short (LPS) Act, which provides for LPS conservatorships, resulting in involuntary commitment to provide treatment to individuals found to be a danger to themselves or others or found to be “gravely disabled.” Proposals would expand the definition of “gravely disabled” and create more uniformity in applying the LPS Act across counties.
Of the 2,800+ active bills, the Intergovernmental and Public Affairs Unit (IGPA) will monitor over 700 measures, including 150 bills related to public safety, approximately 100 bills impacting our County Health System, and over 110 bills focused on housing and homelessness issues.
The attached 2022 Legislative Activity Report, which will be updated every month, provides details on the bills the IGPA is monitoring.