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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 14827 City of Palo Alto (ID # 14827) Policy and Services Committee Staff Report Meeting Date: 10/11/2022 Report Type: Action Items City of Palo Alto Page 1 Title: Receive Update from the City's Federal and State Legislative Advocates and Discussion and Recommendation on the 2023 Citywide Legislative Guidelines From: City Manager Lead Department: City Manager Recommendation Staff recommends that the Policy & Services Committee (a) receive a legislative update from the City’s state and federal advocates, and (b) subject to the Committee’s discussion, recommend that City Council approve the 2023 Federal and State Legislative Guidelines (Attachment A). Background As part of the City’s legislative program, staff and the City’s contracted federal and state advocates work to identify and analyze potentially impactful legislation and communicate the City’s public advocacy positions to legislators. The program is guided by the Advocacy Process Manual, last approved by City Council on January 13, 2020 (CMR #10772). In addition to the Manual, the City maintains a City Council-approved set of legislative guidelines that provide additional City Council policy direction to staff and the City’s state and federal legislative advocates. The guidelines were last discussed at the Policy & Services Committee on December 14, 2021 (CMR #13850) and approved by the City Council on February 7, 2022 (at the same meeting City Council approved the legislative guidelines for the Utilities Department; CMR 13904; Minutes). Staff will coordinate with Utilities staff to bring both 2023 legislative guidelines to the City Council for adoption. The City Council, in June 2021, also reaffirmed the strategy desired for the City’s legislative actions. That reaffirmation is shown in the staff report (CMR #12344; Minutes) from June 22, 2021. The overall decision was to continue the strategy of Strategically Weighing in on Issues of Interest to the City in the legislative approach taken by the consultant advocates and City staff. Also, staff and the legislative advocates often come to Policy and Services Committee and the full City Council to discuss updates. The last legislative update to the Policy and Services Committee was on May 10, 2022 (CMR 14379; Minutes). City of Palo Alto Page 2 Discussion Legislative Guidelines The Legislative Guidelines enhance and add content to the City Council’s overarching priorities; they do not supplant them. The guidelines provide direction to staff and the City’s legislative advocates on issues that are both (a) important to the City Council, and (b) likely to become a legislative issue in 2023. The guidelines are not rank ordered and are intentionally reasonably broad rather than specifically narrow to allow for a flexible and quick response. Further, the guidelines are not proactive instructions; they act as a means by which staff and advocates can respond to federal and state government action, without returning to the City Council each time a bill is introduced or amended. The draft 2023 guidelines are a compilation of the current, approved guidelines, City Council’s 2022 priorities, and policy issues staff and the City’s legislative advocates have heard interest in. There are no major changes in the draft 2023 guidelines. Legislative Update The City’s legislative advocates in Sacramento (Townsend Public Affairs) and legislative advocates in Washington, D.C. (Van Scoyoc Associates) will be present to discuss updates on legislation, the budget, and the coming weeks and months in Sacramento and D.C. State Update Attachment B contains the Sacramento update from Townsend Public Affairs. The State legislative session recently ended, and the Governor signed over a thousand bills into law. The memo provides an overview of bills passed and signed by the Governor that are relevant to Palo Alto. It also includes information about state funding advocacy done in this legislative session. This was a very successful legislative session regarding funding with the City securing $7.2 million in state budget earmark requests through Senator Becker and Assembly Member Berman for the Newell Road Bridge project and the Fire Station 4 Replacement project in addition to a $26.6 million Homekey award for an interim supportive housing shelter to be built in Palo Alto. Federal Update Congressional Update Congress passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded until December 16, 2022. President Biden quickly signed the continuing resolution into law preventing the federal government from shutting down hours before the end of the current fiscal year. In addition to keeping the federal government operating at fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding levels, the bill also provides $12.4 billion in military and diplomatic spending to help Ukraine in its war against Russia and $18.8 billion for domestic disaster recovery efforts, including recent floods, wildfires, and hurricanes. City of Palo Alto Page 3 The House and the Senate are now in recess until after the midterm elections and will return the week of November 14. Upon return from the recess, the Congress will continue work to pass the FY 2023 appropriations bills, likely through an omnibus bill where all the funding bills are passed as one larger bill. If an agreement is made on FY 2023 appropriations, other issues could be included in a larger omnibus bill such as policies on pandemic preparedness, mental health, and immigration. If an agreement on FY 2023 appropriations is not made by December 16, another continuing resolution will be needed to be passed in the lame duck session to keep the federal government open past December 16. Transportation Update EV Charging Plans Approved: On September 27, FHWA announced that it had approved the state charging plans for all 50 states. As such, federal funds for electric vehicle charging facilities will soon be available to every state to implement the plan that each state has submitted to USDOT. The state plans are here. Vertiport Design Standards: On September 26, FAA released new design guidelines for vertiports, infrastructure that will support Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft. The design standards will serve as the initial step to provide key information for airport owners, operators and infrastructure developers to begin development of facilities that will support operations of AAM aircraft that are electrically powered and take-off and land vertically. Housing Update HUD Opens Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant Program: The Department of Housing and Urban Development today began accepting applications for its FY 2022 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant Program. HUD anticipates making almost $380,000,000 in awards. Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants support the implementation of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plans that are expected to achieve the following three core goals: 1. Housing: Replace distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood; 2. People: Improve outcomes of households living in the target housing related to employment and income, health, and children’s education; and 3. Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community. City of Palo Alto Page 4 More information on the implementation grant program can be found here on HUD’s website. The application and supporting documents can be found here on grants.gov. Climate and Energy Update Grid Deployment Office Releases New Grid Transmission Programs Funding Website: The Grid Deployment Office has launched the Grid and Transmission Programs Conductor, an online clearinghouse and resource repository to point stakeholders to information on financing opportunities through DOE for grid and transmission projects.  The new online clearinghouse for grid and transmission funding provided through the U.S. Department of Energy can be viewed here. Economic Development Update FEMA and EDA Release Joint Economic Development and Hazard Mitigation Guide: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) have published a new resource intended to help both economic development and hazard mitigation planners achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and Hazard Mitigation Plan Alignment Guide connects economic development and hazard mitigation plans so communities can be more resilient from natural hazards. Local and state officials can use the guide when preparing or reviewing FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plans and EDA Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS). Included in the guide are approaches to help align strategies with approved local plans. According to the agencies, when communities align their CEDS and hazard mitigation plans, benefits can include: • Businesses and business districts are built in safer areas with a lower risk of hazard impacts. • Private investment is directed to safer areas. It is also developed to be more resilient to hazards. • Businesses can reopen more quickly after disaster events. • Critical facilities and infrastructure keep working during and after disaster events. • Regional marketability improves as businesses and investors see the community as safe and well prepared. Hazard mitigation plans and CEDS are key plans to improve resilience. A CEDS must include economic resilience in its strategy while a hazard mitigation plan identifies and plans for natural hazard risks to key sectors, including the economy. The guide includes economic development concepts to add to hazard mitigation plans. It also encourages integration of information from risk assessments and hazard mitigation ideas to use in a CEDS. City of Palo Alto Page 5 The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and Hazard Mitigation Plan Alignment Guide can be downloaded online from the disaster recovery page on the EDA’s website. Upcoming Discretionary Funding Opportunities: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant Program: The new Federal Highway Administration program will provide funding for projects that would replace, remove, or repair culverts and weirs that meaningfully improve or restore passage for anadromous fish. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $1 billion for the new competitive program that will be spread across the next five years. Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grants: The new Federal Highway Administration program will provide discretionary grant funding to install electric vehicle charging and alternative fuel in locations on public roads, schools, parks, and in publicly accessible parking facilities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $1.25 billion for the discretionary community charging funding. Resource Impact There is no resource impact associated with adopting legislative guidelines and hearing from the City’s state and federal advocates. Staff has started the procurement process (request for proposals) for the state and federal legislative advocacy work. At the appropriate time staff will bring the contracts to City Council for review and approval. The City Council has already allocated funds for these contracts and services. Stakeholder Engagement Staff from multiple departments are involved in the legislative process in helping to review the impacts of bills as well as discussing grant oportunities linked to state and federal programs. Environmental Review This legislative update is presented for informational purposes only with no action required by the Committee. The Committee’s recommendation to Council is not a project as defined by CEQA because Approval of the 2023 Federal and State Legislative Guidelines is a general policy making activity. CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(2)." Attachments: • Attachment A: 2023 Draft legislative guidelines-Oct 2023.docx • Attachment B: 2022 Legislative Session Wrap Up - City of Palo Alto October2022 Attachment A: Draft 2023 Guidelines The City of Palo Alto’s 20232 Federal and State Legislative Page 1 of 3 These Guidelines reflect and activate the City Council’s priorities; they do not supplant them. They work to guide staff and the City’s legislative advocates on issues that are important to the City Council, and fairly likely to become a legislative issue. These Guidelines are not rank- ordered and are meant to allow for a flexible and quick response by staff and advocates, without the need to return to the City Council to seek guidance. The Guidelines work in conjunction with the City Council-approved Advocacy Process Manual and the City Council action to do “Strategic Weighing in on Issues of Interest” (June 22, 2021 CMR 12344; Minutes). The below Foundational Principles represent the ideals that form the core of the City’s policy agenda. The Legislative Guidelines all rise from and strengthen four foundational principles: 1. Protect local revenue sources and prevent unfunded mandates. 2. Protect, seek, and increase funding for programs, projects, and services; pursue grants. 3. Protect and increase local government discretion. Oppose items that preempt or reduce the authority or ability of local government to determine how to effectively operate local programs, services, activities, and governance. 4. Protect the health and safety of the community. The Legislative Guidelines create the framework for organizing the City’s policy interests, while guiding staff and contracted lobbyists in their advocacy efforts on behalf of the City. The items below provide direction for the City’s efforts when addressing reasonable government actions. Transportation The City supports government action that: • Deters single occupancy drivers and alleviates local traffic congestion • Supports local and regional public transportation • Regulates technology that diverts traffic into residential neighborhoods • Provides funding for rail grade separations, rail efficiency improvements, and other means of reducing the local impacts of regional transportation systems Environmental The City supports government action that: • Reduces GHG emissions • Reduces airplane noise, health impacts, and/or airplane emissions • Promotes residential and vehicle electrification programs Page 2 of 3 • Promotes the use of renewable resources, water conservation, and the flexible use of existing resources • Supports a statewide ban on polystyrene containers and packaging materials • Provides opportunities for staff to work with the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority and other regional stakeholders in efforts to improve the creek’s watershed and floodplain • Supports efforts to protect local communities from sea level rise and other impacts of climate change • Supports proper disposal of recyclables once removed from Palo Alto Financial The City supports government action that: • Supports the long-term stability of CalPERS and the ability of local governments to mitigate and manage with flexibility its pension obligations • Protects the funding sources and levels of City services • Provides for COVID-19 related expenses and revenue losses • Supports the continued deductibility of tax-exempt municipal bonds and the restoration of Advance Refunding of Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds Public Employment The City supports government action that: • Preserves local government’s ability to manage its own employment issues, including, but not limited to hiring, evaluating, disciplining, and/or terminating and negotiating collective bargaining agreements with employees’ representatives Technology The City supports government action that: • Supports reasonable regulatory efforts surrounding policies regarding cybersecurity, drones, shared mobility services, returning to Obama-era net neutrality regulations, and smart city initiatives Housing The City supports government action that: • Supports reasonable housing policies that recognize local autonomy to maintain the local public process and preserve local government’s ability to determine land use policies and development standards Page 3 of 3 • Provides funding for (a) affordable housing, (b) homelessness, and (c) infrastructure (such as parks, utilities, roads, and transit) required to support the increased housing production • Fosters reasonable ratios between jobs and housing • Supports the development and implementation of efficient and environmentally sustainable land use and building practices Police The City supports government action that: • Supports efforts which seek to modify policing services, including but not limited to alternative public safety models and funding to address community mental health issues, expansion of requirements regarding police data and rules regarding prior employment information transparency, and expansion of data and communications including radio encryption. Other The City supports government action that: • Updates, implements, and refines processes, services, and programs affecting the City. This includes, but is not limited to, public safety reform efforts and streamlining reporting mandates • Protects individual privacy and allows the City to safeguard customer information • Provides for the equal treatment of all individuals • Allows the City to support the collaborative work of regional partners, trade associations, other local governments and organizations, and Joint Powers Authorities Page 1 M E M O R A N D U M To: The City of Palo Alto Ed Shikada, City Manager Chantal Cotton Gaines, Deputy City Manager From: Townsend Public Affairs Christopher Townsend, President Niccolo De Luca, Vice President Andres Ramirez, Senior Associate Carly Shelby, Legislative Associate Date: October 2, 2022 Subject: Summary of the 2022 Legislative Session port August 31 marked the final night of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. The night ended at two o’clock in the morning, which can be attributed to numerous last minute legislative pushes for new climate regulations, disputes over a bill that would have allowed legislative staffers to unionize, and the fate of California’s last-standing nuclear power plant. In a stark contrast to last years’ calm and quick final night of session, many major issues had not been decided and passed with the incremental waves of budget bills and budget trailer bills over the summer and in the month since summer recess. Nevertheless, the Legislature decided the fate of a number of bills important to local governments in its final days of session. Of the 2,350 bills introduced this year, the Legislature passed a total of 1,166. Following the Legislature’s adjournment, per the state Constitution, September 30 was the last day for Governor Gavin Newsom to act on the 1,166 bills sent to his Desk during the Session. Governor Newsom concluded his work in the late afternoon on September 30. Of the 1,166 bills, the Governor signed 997 bills and vetoed 169 bills, which was a 14.5% veto rate. Below is an overview of a few of the bills the Legislature worked on this Session, organized by issue area: Housing and Land Use Throughout the 2022 Legislative Session, lawmakers were once again keenly focused on land use and zoning reform. These efforts build upon the passage of major land use reform bills from 2021, including SB 9 (Atkins), which requires the ministerial approval of urban lot splits and two-unit developments on single-family zoned parcels. This year’s Session ended with the passage of several notable land use reform measures, including AB 2011 (Wicks) and SB 6 (Caballero), both of which authorize housing development projects in sites zoned for retail, office, parking, or along transit-rich corridors, so long as STATE LEGISLATIVE WRAP UP: 2021-22 SESSION OVERVIEW Page 2 developers utilize stricter labor standards or adhere to stricter affordability requirements. Despite their similarities, both bills passed into law – a strategy that legislative leadership has touted as a method to give developers the choice to decide which strategy to use when approaching a housing development project in a non-residential zone: comply with stricter labor standards or stricter affordability standards. The Governor signed both bills into law. Another major land use reform measure that passed this year was AB 2097 (Friedman), which prohibits public agencies from imposing minimum automobile parking requirements on specified residential, commercial and other developments located within one-half mile of public transit. Notably, this bill is the second iteration of the legislation, which failed in the Appropriations Committee during the 2021 Legislative Session. The Governor also signed this bill into law. In addition to land use reform measures, the Legislature passed a handful of bills relating to Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) requirements. These include SB 897 (Wieckowski), which makes various changes to existing ADU laws, including adjustments to the minimum height limitations that a local agency may impose. Another ADU reform measure is AB 916 (Salas), which prohibits a city or county from requiring a public hearing as a condition of reconfiguring existing space to add up to two bedrooms within an existing dwelling unit. Both bills were signed by the Governor. Additional housing bills signed by the Governor include: AB 2006 (Berman) – Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, the California Housing Finance Agency, and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding by July 1, 2024, to streamline the compliance monitoring of affordable multifamily rental housing developments that are subject to a regulatory agreement with more than one of these entities. AB 2094 (Rivas) – Requires cities to include progress towards meeting their share of regional housing needs for extremely low-income households in their annual progress report. AB 2334 (Wicks) – Allows a housing development project to receive added height and unlimited density if the project is located in an urbanized very low vehicle travel area in specified counties, at least 80% of the units are restricted to lower income households, and no more than 20% are for moderate-income households. SB 649 (Cortese) – Creates a state policy supporting local tenant preferences for lower income households, which are subject to displacement risk. In addition, the bill authorizes local governments and developers in receipt of the low-income housing tax credit program and tax-exempt bonds for rental housing developments to restrict occupancy to those at risk of displacement. This legislation has a sunset of January 1, 2033. SB 948 (Becker) – Replaces individual project transition reserves for the development of affordable housing to a pooled reserve model, as specified, operated by the Department of Housing and Community Development. Brown Act Reform The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated reforms to the Brown Act to provide remote flexibilities to adhere to social distancing orders. During the 2021 Legislative Session, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, AB 361 (Rivas) into law, which allows local agencies to use teleconferencing without complying with specified Ralph. M Brown Act restrictions in certain state emergencies. Following the passage of AB 361, it was thought there would be no appetite to modify its provisions for additional Brown Act modernization requirements. However, this Session, three measures addressing public meetings requirements were passed by the legislature. Page 3 These include AB 2449 (Rubio), which allows members of a legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing without identifying each teleconference location in the notice and agenda of the meeting, and without making each teleconference location accessible to the public. AB 2647 (Levine) allows writings that have been distributed to members of a legislative body of a local agency less than 72 hours before an open, regular meeting to be exempt from specified requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), if the agency meets certain requirements. Both measures were signed by the Governor. An additional measure, SB 1100 (Cortese), was also signed into law. This bill authorizes the presiding member of a legislative body conducting a meeting, or their designee, to remove an individual for disrupting the meeting, and defines “disrupting” for these purposes. Each of these three measures reflect modest changes to the Brown Act to allow for additional flexibilities for local agencies. Continued remote teleconferencing for all members of a legislative body is currently provided via the provisions established under AB 361, which are set to expire January 1, 2024, or when the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted – whichever comes first. Behavioral Health Reform This Session, Governor Newsom and Legislative Leaders made it clear that overhauling the State’s existing behavioral healthcare infrastructure was a top priority. On March 3, 2022, Governor Newsom unveiled his CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment) Court proposal framework, which was later packaged into SB 1338 (Umberg). This bill would offer court-ordered individualized interventions and services, stabilization medication, advanced mental health directives, and housing assistance to individuals struggling with behavioral health crises. Plans would last anywhere up to 12-24 months. In addition to their full clinical team, the client-centered approach also includes a public defender and a supporter to help individuals make self-directed care decisions. County behavioral health departments would be responsible for carrying out the care plans. Those who don't comply with their plans could be subject to California's existing system of involuntary hospital stays and conservatorships. Such programs have been in place since the 1960s, following the state's shift away from mental health hospitals and toward community-oriented care. Since California dismantled the hospital system, the state has primarily made use of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act and Laura's Law to care for people who suffer from severe mental illnesses. According to an October 2021 Department of Health Care Services report, only 218 people received treatment through Laura's Law during the 2018-19 fiscal year – a statistic that many supporters of the program have referenced as an example for new programming. After numerous iterations of amendments, SB 1338 was passed by the Legislature on the final night of Session. Notably, the bill includes staggered implementation and additional funding resources to allow counties and other local agencies time to implement the program. Other bills seeking to add reforms to behavioral healthcare were part of a bill package introduced by Senator Eggman. This included bills SB 929, SB 1035, SB 1227, and SB 1338 – each of which adds modernizations to California's behavioral health continuum, including increased data collection among agencies and stakeholders to better understand the outcomes of involuntary holds, services provided, waiting periods to receive care, current and projected behavioral health care infrastructure, service needs, and more. Each of these bills were signed into law. Climate and Energy In mid-August, reports began swirling about the Governor convening meetings with Legislative leaders and the Democratic Caucus to push forward last-minute legislation to address the climate Page 4 crisis. These priorities materialized into a memo presented to the Legislature, outlining climate change mitigation tactics the Governor wanted to see pushed forward in legislation before the end of Session. These included: setting interim targets for 100 percent clean energy, regulating projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere and smokestacks, and ending new oil drilling near communities. These efforts resulted in six legislative proposals, five of which passed the Legislature and were signed by the Governor. These five measures include the following: Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions Measures contained within the package relating to greenhouse gas emissions include AB 1279 (Muratsuchi), which codifies the State’s existing goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. For context, the State enacted another greenhouse gas bill, AB 32, in 2006, requiring the State to set a target for emissions to drop to 1990 levels by 2020. While AB 1279 passed, another, more aggressive measure that would have set California’s target at 55% below the state’s 1990 emissions up from the current 40% target, failed in the Assembly on the final night of session. Clean Energy and Grid Reliability Another measure relating to the Governor’s climate proposals is SB 1020 (Laird), which sets interim targets for generating clean energy. A current law already requires 100% of retail electricity to be fueled by renewables such as wind and solar by 2045. The new law would add 90% by 2035 and 95% by 2040. In addition, all State agencies must source their energy from 100% renewable sources by 2035, ten years sooner than law now requires. The question remains, however, if California’s electrical grid can handle the surge in energy demand. The State is expected to see a 68% increase in energy consumption by 2045, according to the California Air Resources Board. To handle that increase, the Agency estimates that the state needs to expedite renewable energy projects. The issue of grid reliability was addressed in SB 846 (Dodd) which aims to keep the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant in Diablo Canyon operating until 2030 and gives its operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, a $1.4 billion loan to do so. This bill was viewed as one of the most contentious bills of the final night of session – with proponents arguing the need to keep the power plant functioning in the face of increase grid demand, and opponents concerned about accidents, nuclear waste issues, and a perceived “PG&E bailout.” Carbon Sequestration SB 905 (Caballero) directs the California Air Resources Board to develop a program and set regulations for carbon capture, utilization and storage projects at polluting industries, such as oil refineries. The practice is supported by the oil industry, but environmentalists say it has the potential to do more harm than good and prolongs the lives of fossil fuels. The State has yet to see a large-scale carbon capture and storage development seen to fruition. Another bill approved by the Legislature, AB 1757 (C. Garcia), would require the State to set targets for removing planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere with nature-based methods, such as planting trees, restoring wetlands and scaling up public landscaping and urban forestry projects. The bill received widespread support from environmentalists, who say nature-based solutions to combating the existing amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the air is a better approach than relying on engineered technologies. Oil Well Setbacks Page 5 The 2022 Legislative Session saw several attempts to establish buffer zones around oil and gas wells and other large-scale industrial equipment, to prevent their encroachment on “sensitive receptors” like residential zones and schools. SB 1137 (Gonzalez), which requires 3,200-foot setbacks between new oil and gas wells and sensitive receptors, narrowly passed the Legislature on the final night of session. The bill also requires operators to take certain steps at the thousands of existing wells within that buffer zone. Included is a plan to monitor toxic leaks and emissions and install alarm systems. In addition, new requirements would include limits on noise, light, dust and vapors. The 2022 Legislative Session was highly successful for the City/TPA partnership especially with the focus on funding. This includes securing $7.2 million in state budget earmark request funding through continuous advocacy with the City’s legislative delegation, state budget committee leadership, and staff relationships. In addition, it includes advocating on behalf of the City’s successful Homekey Program funding, totaling over $26 million. In early 2022, the City/TPA team sprang into action supporting the Homekey Application in partnership with LifeMoves. The Homekey funding was oversubscribed throughout the Bay Area and this application was on the fence. The TPA team utilized their contacts in the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency to help elevate this application, coordinated advocacy calls from our state delegation, provided them running updates, expressed the need and strength of the application to the Office of the Governor, and utilized other advocacy methods. This effort continued for multiple months and culminated with the announcement of a full funding award totaling over $26 million to help address the unhoused in the region. Towards the end of 2021, the City/TPA team began the efforts of securing state budget funding. During this nearly yearlong process, TPA compiled and submitted multiple robust applications to Senator Becker and Assembly Member Berman inclusive of comprehensive documentation and project component summaries, garnered key supporters and letters, worked in lock-step with senior capitol staff to address concerns and answer questions, walked the halls of the Capitol to ensure stakeholders were informed of the project, and worked with Legislative Leadership to advocate for the final successful passage of both budget items. The result was the announcement from Assembly Member Berman of funding for Fire Station #4 Replacement in the amount of $5.2 million dollars and the announcement from Senator Becker of funding for the Newell Bridge in the amount of $2 million dollars. The City/TPA team was also very engaged and successful in fighting to keep funding from being taken from the City. The team joined the opposition effort to a revised proposed trailer bill that would permanently “cap” the Education Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) after schools have been fully funded. More specifically, this proposed trailer bill would change current law in a way that would significantly harm counties and cities by permanently “capping” the ERAF funds that would be returned to them (after schools have been fully funded) and, instead, use such local tax revenues to pay the State’s in-lieu Vehicle License Fee (VLF) obligation. Palo Alto was one of those cities. LEGISLATIVE OUTCOMES: CITY OF PALO ALTO FUNDING AND PRIORITY BILLS Page 6 The TPA team, working with the City and cities throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, pushed back against the Department of Finance on their proposed trailer bill language and supported the compromise language from Assembly Member Mullin. These efforts included briefing Senate and Assembly Budget committee staff, staff in the Governor’s office, staff in the Pro Tem and Speaker’s Office, and others. The compromise language was part of the adopted state budget. Dating back to the past legislative session, and after discussions with the Policy and Services Committee and the full City Council, the legislative strategy of the City has been to focus on a handful of bills and serve as a strategic voice in Sacramento as opposed to taking positions on a wide range of bills. There has also been a focus of collaborating with various authors to help expand the City’s relationships. The City has taken a formal position on the bills listed below: SB 960 (Skinner) Public employment: peace officers: citizenship City position: Support This bill would eliminate the requirement that a person be a United States citizen or a permanent resident in order to become a peace officer and instead requires that the person be legally authorized to work in the United States per federal law. Status: Signed into law. SB 1000 (Becker) Law enforcement agencies: radio communications City position: Support This bill requires, no later than January 1, 2024, a law enforcement agency (LEA) to ensure any non-confidential radio communications are accessible to the public. The City was very active on this legislation dating back to the beginning of the year. At the P and S Committee hearing support was expressed and the direction was to work with the authors office. This included numerous discussions with the authors office, providing subject matter feedback, recommending draft language, and expressing support through the various committee hearings. Status: Did not progress out of the Legislature. Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. SB 1100 (Cortese) Open Meetings; orderly conduct City Position: Support This bill would authorize the presiding member of the legislative body conducting a meeting to remove an individual for disrupting the meeting. The legislation requires removal to be preceded by a warning to the individual by the presiding member of the legislative body or their designee that the individual’s behavior is disrupting the meeting and that the individual’s failure to cease their behavior may result in their removal. The bill would authorize the presiding member or their designee to then remove the individual if the individual does not promptly cease their disruptive behavior. Status: Signed into law. AB 1737 (Holden) Children’s camps: local registration and inspections Page 7 City Position: Support with comments This bill requires, on or before January 1, 2024, CDSS, in consultation other departments and stakeholders, to provide a report to the Legislature that includes information regarding topics related to the health and safety of children attending children’s camps and recommendations for developing and issuing requirements for the regulatory oversight of children’s camps Status: This bill went through numerous iterations of amendments. Ultimately, the Author decided to place the bill on the inactive file. It did not progress out of the Legislature. AB 1944 (Lee) Local government: open and public meetings City Position: Support Allows, until January 1, 2030, members of a legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing without noticing their teleconference locations and making them publicly accessible under certain conditions. Status: This bill did not progress out of the Legislature. This bill was held in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. AB 2181 (Berman) Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority: board of directors City Position: Oppose unless amended (amendments suggested) Makes changes to the Board of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The major provisions include 1) Revising the membership of the VTA board to consist of the following: a) Two county representatives who are community members and appointed by the president of the board of supervisors of Santa Clara County. b) Five representatives of the City of San Jose, including at least two city council members or the mayor and two community members, appointed by the mayor with city council approval. c) Five representatives of the other cities in the county, including at least two community members and two city council members or mayors of those cities, elected through a ranked choice voting process by the city councils of those cities, as specified. 2) Authorizes the VTA board to include ex officio nonvoting members from regional transportation or governmental bodies and increases the terms of the board members to four years. Status: This bill did not progress out of the Legislature. It was held in the Senate Transportation Committee. AB 2259 (Berman) Foster youth: substance use disorders City Position: Support Focus of the legislation: This bill would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in collaboration with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a grant program to fund the development and implementation of evidence-based models and promising practices to serve foster youth with substance use disorders who are residing in family-based settings. Status: This bill did not progress out of the Legislature. It was held in the Appropriations Committee. AB 2449 (Rubio) Open meetings: local agencies: teleconferences Page 8 City Position: Support with comments This bill allows, until January 1, 2026, members of a legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing without noticing their teleconference locations and making them publicly accessible under certain conditions. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/8/22 clarify the process for members of legislative bodies to participate via teleconference in cases of emergency circumstances and refine provisions regarding compliance with applicable civil rights and nondiscrimination laws. Status: Signed into law AB 2647 (Levine) Local government: open meetings City Position: Support This bill exempts local agencies from making materials available for public inspection at the time they distribute them to members of the legislative body less than 72 hours before the meeting, if the agency meets certain requirements. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/4/22 clarify that public meeting agendas are disclosable public records that must be made available without delay and in compliance with the Brown Act. Status: Signed into law. Looking ahead In addition to the onset of new laws, next year will mark massive changes in the State Legislature. The decennial redistricting process caused numerous lawmakers to move, battle for new district spots, or retire. This, coupled with the onset of another graduating class of legislators under the new term limit requirements established by Prop. 140 (1990), has prompted many legislators to not seek reelection. As such, 2023 will bring forward a new class of freshman legislators – specifically, 10 new Senators and 19 new Assembly Members. This is likely to spark new leadership changes, bill ideas, and shift the makeup of factions within the Democratic Caucus. For instance, Assembly Member Robert Rivas has already signaled his intentions of battling Incumbent Speaker Anthony Rendon for the coveted Assembly Speakership. If he succeeds, it is likely he will appoint new committee chairs and internal leadership positions. What does this mean for the City of Palo Alto? We will continue to remain focused on our legislative strategies and will need to brief new Senators, new Assembly Members, and staff on our priorities, our hallmark projects, our areas of expertise, and to help support some of the new legislative proposals introduced in 2023.