Legislature Adjourns in the Wee Hours; Many Issues Left Unresolved
By Paul McIntosh, Executive Director
pmcintosh@counties.org
The California Senate and Assembly adjourned in the dawn hours of Saturday, September 12, after an arduous year of political wrangling, historic budget deficits, and last-ditch efforts to resolve considerable policy changes on water, prisons, and energy. Unfortunately, technical budget clean-up bills associated with the Proposition 1A securitization and the deferral and payment of Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA) funds were also caught up in the end-of-session dispute in the Senate. The technical budget bills include:
SB 65 – The cash management bill that includes the clean-up to accelerate the payback of deferred HUTA (Highway Users Tax Account) or gas tax funds to counties and cities.
SB 67 – The much-needed clean-up measure to ensure timely and cost-effective securitization of the Proposition 1A “loan.”
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Administration of Justice
As counties certainly recall, one of the major outstanding issues the Legislature grappled with in the closing weeks of the legislative session was how to achieve substantial savings in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) budget.
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Agriculture and Natural Resources
Faced with overwhelming opposition, passage of the Water/Delta Legislative Package during the final hours of the Legislative Session failed late September 11.
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Employee Relations
On September 3, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) issued new en banc decisions in the Almaraz/Guzman and Ogilvie cases, both previously heard in February 2009.
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Government Finance and Operations
Counties will recall AB 155 (Mendoza), a measure we reported to you earlier this year regarding municipal bankruptcy.
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Health and Human Services
AB 217, by Assembly Member Jim Beall, would allow the state to draw down federal funding for providing confidential and voluntary alcohol and drug screening and brief intervention services to specified Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
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Housing, Land Use and Transportation
CSAC, working with the Department of Finance and League of California Cities, was successful in reaching agreement on clean-up to the Highway User Tax Account (HUTA) deferrals to accelerate the payments and provide greater certainty in the Fiscal Year 2009-10 for a number of reasons.
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Washington, D.C., Report
Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill from their month-long summer recess on September 8 to face a long list of unfinished items.
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