BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2011-2012 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 1422 HEARING DATE: July 2, 2012
AUTHOR: Perea URGENCY: Yes
VERSION: June 28, 2012 CONSULTANT: Dennis O'Connor
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: 2012 Water Bond
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1.SBX7 2 (Cogdill) was part of the water package passed in the
2009/10 7th Extraordinary Session. That bill proposed to
place before the voters in November 2010, the Safe, Clean, and
Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010, which would
authorize $11.14 billion in general obligation bonds to fund
various water resources programs and project. The funding is
as follows:
$455 M Chapter 5. Drought Relief
$1,050 Chapter 6.Water Supply Reliability
$2,250 Chapter 7.Delta Sustainability
$3,000 Chapter 8.Statewide Water System
Operational Improvement
$1,785 Chapter 9.Conservation And Watershed
Protection
$1,000 Chapter 10.Groundwater Protection And Water
Quality
$1,250 Chapter 11.Water Recycling Program
$11,140 M Total
SBX7 2 also specified the label, title, and summary to be
included in the ballot pamphlet.
2.Provisions of the proposed water bond were amended twice in
2010:
AB 153 (Hernandez) - amended the provisions governing
allowable uses of funds for the San Gabriel Valley
groundwater clean-up program.
AB 1265 (Caballero) - delayed the placement of the water
bond before voters to the November 6, 2012 general
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election, changed the title of the bond to the Safe, Clean,
and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012, and made
conforming changes throughout the measure. The bill also
amended the provisions governing JPA participation in
surface storage projects.
Both bills also included provisions regarding how the
Secretary of State was to incorporate the amendments made by
those bills into the measure placed before the voters.
1.In January 2011, the Court of Appeal of the State of
California, in Jarvis v Bowen, wrote: "The question posed is
whether, in enacting the 'Safe, Reliable, High-Speed Passenger
Train Bond Act for the 21st Century' to submit the measure to
voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008 general
election, the Legislature acted lawfully when it specified the
ballot label, title and summary to be used and precluded the
Attorney General from revising the language other than to
include a financial impact statement. The answer is 'No.'"
"Simply stated, the Legislature cannot dictate the ballot
label, title and official summary for a statewide measure ?"
2.Article IV, Section 8, Subdivision (c), Paragraph (3) of the
California Constitution states, "Statutes calling elections,
statutes providing for tax levies or appropriations for the
usual current expenses of the State, and urgency statutes
shall go into effect immediately upon their enactment."
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would:
Amend the chaptered versions of SBX7 2 (Cogdill), AB 153
(Hernandez), and AB 1265 (Caballero) to delay the water bond
to the November 4, 2014 ballot.
Delete the provisions specifying the label, title, and summary
to be included in the ballot pamphlet.
State that the bill calls an election within the meaning of
Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.
State that the bill is an urgency statute necessary, the facts
constituting the necessity being: "In order to ensure that
the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of
2012 is submitted to the voters at the November 4, 2014,
statewide general election, it is necessary that this act take
effect immediately."
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to a coalition of water and business interests,
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"Although voters do agree that investments in water
infrastructure and environmental restoration enhancements are
needed, 2012 is not the year to pass a water bond. This is in
part because of the current state of the economy. The key is to
pass a simple bill to delay the bond to 2014.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION None Received
COMMENTS
Delaying The Day Of Reckoning. It seems inevitable that some
changes to the water bond will ultimately need to be made (see
next comment), and reaching the necessary two-thirds vote
threshold to make substantive changes to the bond will likely be
a challenge. When the water bond was first authorized in 2010,
press was full of reports of one group or another asserting that
the bond included too much pork, was tilted too much towards
environmental programs, included too much money for traditional
water projects, included too many carve outs, or was simply too
large. Those debates are likely to reemerge and new issues may
similarly arise. It remains to be seen whether the next
legislature will determine that additional amendments to the
bond will be necessary or desirable to address some issue or
another. However, by simply delaying the bond, this bill
virtually guarantees that the next legislature will have to
revisit all those issues.
Some Changes Will Be Necessary. While the bill proposes to move
the water bond to the 2014 ballot, it does not change any of the
dates within the bond itself. It seems quite likely that at
least some of the dates will need to be changed, though it is
not clear if all of them do. A few of the more noteworthy dates
are:
1.Title. It would be awkward at best to have the Safe, Clean,
and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012 on the November
2014 ballot.
2.Promulgating Regulations. Chapter 8, in §79744, requires that
the Water Commission, by December 15, 2012, develop and adopt
regulations establishing methods for quantifying and managing
public benefits associated with the water storage projects.
That requirement does not become operative until ratified by
the voters.
3.Early Allocations. Chapter 8, in §79745, prohibits the Water
Commission from allocating funds provided by that chapter
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before December 15, 2012, unless specific requirements have
been met. These requirements include promulgating regulations
(see 2. above). After that date, the more general
requirements that must be met by January 1, 2018 are the only
restrictions on the Water Commission's ability to allocate the
funds continuously appropriated to them through Chapter 8.
4.Staged Release of Funds. The fiscal provisions of SBX7 2, in
§79824, prohibit the Treasurer from selling more than half of
the bonds authorized by SBX7 2 before July 1, 2015.
Belt and Suspenders? This bill both explicitly calls for an
election (simple majority, takes effect immediately) and is an
urgency measure (2/3 vote, takes effect immediately). It is not
clear why it is not simply one or the other.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None
SUPPORT
Association of California Water Agencies
Audubon California
Calaveras County Water District
California Alliance for Jobs
California Conference of Carpenters
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
California Chamber of Commerce
California Building Industry Association
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Water Association
Calleguas Municipal Water District
Castaic Lake Water Agency
CH2M HILL
Cucamonga Valley Water District
Dublin San Ramon Services District
Eastern Municipal Water District
Glendale Water and Power
Kern County Water Agency
Imperial Irrigation District
Inland Empire Utilities Agency
Latino Water Coalition
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Friant Water Authority
Kern County Water Agency
Imperial Irrigation District
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Las Virgenes Municipal Water District
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Mojave Water Agency
Municipal Water District of Orange County
Northern California Water Association
Orange County Water District
San Diego County Water Authority
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sonoma County Water Agency
The Nature Conservancy
Three Valleys Municipal Water District
United Water Conservation District
Upper San Gabriel Valley
Municipal Water District
WateReuse California
Western Growers Association
Western Municipal Water District
Westlands Water District
OPPOSITION
None Received
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