January 30, 2025
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Valerie Evans, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
MORE ON THE CALIFORNIA BUDGET
HOUSING – The draft budget does not provide any new funding for housing programs. Instead, the Governor is proposing another bureaucratic expansion with the creation of a new agency, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. The proposal will move through the existing process overseen by the Little Hoover Commission and few details are available at this time.
However, it does include principles on ways to reduce the cost to build, improve accountability and advance policies that promote climate change initiatives such a transit-oriented housing development.
ENCAMPMENT RESOLUTION GRANT PROGRAM – The budget includes $100 million general fund monies for the Encampment Resolution Grant Program. The program provides grant funding to assist local government with resolving critical encampment concerns and transitioning individuals into safe and stable housing.
Next week’s budget article will focus on school funding.
AB 267 (Macedo-) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 Designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include in its regulation of those emissions, the use of market-based compliance mechanisms.
Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism, to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law continuously appropriates 25% of the annual proceeds of the fund to the High-Speed Rail Authority for certain purposes.
This bill would suspend the appropriation to the High-Speed Rail Authority for the 2025-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years and would instead require those amounts from moneys collected by the state board to transferred to the General Fund. The bill would specify that the transferred amounts shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature, to augment funding for water infrastructure and wildfire prevention.
AB 68, as introduced (01/06/2025), Essayli. School safety: armed school resource officers.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers.
This bill would require a school district or charter school to hire or contract with at least one armed school resource officer, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm to be present at each school of the school district or charter school during regular school hours and any other time when pupils are present on campus, phased in by certain grade spans, as provided.
By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
AB 281, as introduced (01/23/2025), Gallagher. Comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education.
The California Healthy Youth Act requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified.
The act authorizes a school district to provide that education earlier than grade 7 with age-appropriate and medically accurate information. The act requires each school district to notify parents and guardians of pupils about its plan to provide sexual health education and HIV prevention instruction for the upcoming school year and to inform them, among other things, that written and audiovisual educational materials used in this instruction are available for inspection.
This bill would require a school district, as defined, to allow a pupil’s parent or guardian to inspect any written or audiovisual educational material used in comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education and would authorize a parent or guardian to make copies of any written educational material that will be distributed to pupils, if it is not copyrighted and has been or will be presented by an outside consultant or guest speaker.
The bill would authorize a school to charge up to $0.10 per page if a parent or guardian elects to make copies of this written educational material. The bill would also require a school district to inform parents and guardians of their right to make these copies and of the training in comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education of each outside consultant or guest speaker providing this instruction. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
A LITTLE LATE?
SB 224, as introduced (01/27/2025), Hurtado. Department of Water Resources: water supply forecasting.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to gather and correlate information and data pertinent to an annual forecast of seasonal water crop. Existing law also requires the department to update every 5 years the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, which is known as “The California Water Plan.”
This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, to adopt a new water supply forecasting model and procedures that better address the effects of climate change and implement a formal policy and procedures for documenting the department’s operational plans and the department’s rationale for its operating procedures, including the department’s rationale for water releases from reservoirs.
The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on its progress toward implementing the new forecasting model and to post the report on the department’s internet website.
The bill would also require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report that explains the rationale for the department’s operating procedures specific to the previous water year.
The bill would require the department, commencing in 2027 and annually thereafter, to present specified information, including the department’s operational decisions and its rationale for the state’s water supply during the preceding water year, at 5 open and public meetings in specified locations. The bill would require the department to include the information presented at the meetings in a report, post the report on its internet website, and submit the report to the Legislature.
Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill or directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RW or GSRW) – click here, or the bill’s author – click here, enter your bill # and look for tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.