BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 1260 HEARING DATE: August 9, 2010
AUTHOR: Fuller URGENCY: No
VERSION: August 5, 2010 CONSULTANT: Dennis O'Connor
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: No
SUBJECT: California Water Commission: terms of office
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1.Under current law The California Water Commission consists of
nine members who are appointed by the Governor subject to the
confirmation of the Senate.
Commissioners serve staggered 4 year terms. The law governing
terms is a bit convoluted. The terms of the 7 members that
were in office on January 1, 1958, expire as follows: one
member on January 15, 1958, 2 members on January 15, 1959, and
2 members on January 15, 1960. The terms of the 2 members
added to the commission after January 1, 1959, expire as
follows: one member on January 15, 1962, and one member on
January 15, 1963. Thereafter, the successors to the members of
the commission are required to be appointed for terms of 4
years. This means that the terms of the nine current
commissioners expire as follows:
--------------------------------
| Date | Number of Terms |
| | Expiring |
|------------+-------------------|
|January 15, | 3 |
| 2011 | |
|------------+-------------------|
|January 15, | 2 |
| 2012 | |
|------------+-------------------|
|January 15, | 2 |
| 2013 | |
1
|------------+-------------------|
|January 15, |2 |
| 2014 | |
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2.The original purpose of the Water Commission was to advise the
director of the Department of Water Resources (DWR) regarding
the design, construction, and operation of the State Water
Project (SWP). Consequently, under current law:
For the purpose of fixing responsibility to the Governor
and to the Legislature, in the event of disagreement
between the director and the commission upon such matters,
the views of the director shall prevail.
All rules and regulations of DWR, other than those
relating exclusively to the internal administration and
management of the department, must be first presented by
the director to the Water Commission and become effective
only upon approval thereof by the Water Commission .
The Water Commission has the power to name all
facilities of the SWP.
The Water Commission must conduct an annual review of
the progress of construction and operation of the State
Water Project, and make a report on its findings to the
department and to the Legislature, together with whatever
recommendations it deems appropriate.
1.If the voters ratify the water bond authorized by SBX7 2
(Cogdill), $3 billion would be continuously appropriated from
Chapter 8, without regard to fiscal years, to the Water
Commission for public benefits associated with water storage
projects. In implementing those bond provisions, the Water
Commission would also:
Be authorized to make the determinations, findings, and
recommendations required of it by this the bond independent
of the views of the director.
By December 15, 2012, develop and adopt regulations
regarding methods for quantification and management of
public benefits of water storage projects, including the
priorities and relative environmental value of ecosystem
benefits and water quality benefits.
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Be required to make specific finding regarding projects
funded through Chapter 8:
1.The Water Commission has been dormant for the last 4-5 years.
On May 15, 2010, the governor appointed 9 new members to the
Water Commission (one commissioner's appointment, current
Senator Dave Cogdill, would become effective December 6,
2010). It is not clear from the governor's press release
announcing the appointments which appointees were appointed to
which terms.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would extend the term of any member of the California
Water Commission, whose appointment has been confirmed by the
Senate and who is serving a term that is unexpired as of January
1, 2011, to May 14, 2014.
Commencing May 14, 2014, members would be resume being appointed
under the rules governing staggering of terms..
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
None received
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
Why Is This Important? After ignoring the lack of members to
the Water Commission for most of his tenure and not filling
vacancies as they occurred, this bill would allow the Governor
to pack the Water Commission with his appointees well beyond the
terms established under current law. If it were somehow
necessary for this Governor to establish the character of the
water commission for the next four years in order to ensure the
appropriate implementation of the proposed water bond or some
other aspect of the recently enacted water package, one might
have thought that this bill would have been a part of that water
package. The fact that this proposal has only recently come to
light raises the questions "What happened?" and "Why now?"
Related Bills. AB 1265 (Caballero) would amend SBX7 2 to delay
the placement of a water bond before voters to the November 6,
2012 general election, and would make conforming changes
throughout the measure.
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In the analysis of that bill, this Committee's analysis suggests
amendments extending to December 15, 2014 the deadline for the
Water Commission to adopt regulations to implement the bond. If
this Committee adopts those amendments, one might argue that it
might make sense to align the adoption date of those regulations
to the extension terms as proposed by this bill (See Amendment
1).
Technical Amendment. As drafted, this bill addresses the post
May 15, 2014 staggered terms of only of 7 of the 9
commissioners. (See Amendment 2).
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1: On page 3, line 24, strike "May 14" and
insert "December 15"
AMENDMENT 2: On page 3, line 26, strike "subdivision (a)"
SUPPORT
None Received
OPPOSITION
None Received
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