BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1422
Page 1
( Without Reference to File )
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1422 (Perea)
As Amended June 28, 2012
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 16, 2011) |SENATE: |34-2 |(July 5, 2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: REV. & TAX.
SUMMARY : Moves the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water
Supply Act, which would provide $11.14 billion in general
obligation bonds (Water Bond), from the November 2012 general
election to the November 2014 general election.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of the bill, and
instead:
1)Change submission of the Water Bond from the November 6, 2012,
statewide election to the November 4, 2014, statewide election
and make conforming changes throughout the Water Bond to reflect
the 2014 date.
2)Declare that this bill shall take effect immediately as an
urgency statute in order to enable the Secretary of State to
make the changes required by this act at the earliest possible
date.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates a nine-member California Water Commission (CWC) within
the Department of Water Resources with each member appointed by
the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and serving
four-year staggered terms.
2)Enacts the Water Bond which, if approved by the voters in
November 2012, authorizes $11.14 billion in general obligation
bonds to fund various water resources programs and projects.
The funding by chapter is as follows (in billions):
AB 1422
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$ .455 Chapter 5 Drought Relief
$ 1.4 Chapter 6 Water Supply Reliability
$ 2.25 Chapter 7 Delta Sustainability
$ 3.0 Chapter 8 Statewide Water System
Operational Improvement
$ 1.785 Chapter 9 Conservation and
Watershed Protection
$ 1.0 Chapter 10 Groundwater Protection
and Water Quality
$ 1.25 Chapter 11 Water Recycling Program
$11.14 TOTAL
3)Continuously appropriates $3 billion in general obligation bond
funds for the CWC to allocate to surface water and groundwater
projects based on a determination of the public benefits
provided by those project, pursuant to criteria specified in the
Water Bond, and requires as a prerequisite that eligible
projects measurably improve the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
(Delta) ecosystem or tributaries to the Delta.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill made several
non-controversial changes to California's property tax law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : On October 11, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger issued a
proclamation convening the Legislature to meet in extraordinary
session to address water issues that had remained outstanding at
the end of the regular session including Delta governance, water
supply reliability, ecosystem improvements, water conveyance,
water storage, water conservation and the need for a general
obligation bond. The Seventh Extraordinary Session culminated, in
November 2009, with the signing into law of an historic five-bill
package.
SB 2 X7 (Cogdill), Chapter 3, Statutes of the 2009-10 Seventh
Extraordinary Session, was part of that package and would have
placed the Water Bond on the November 2010 ballot. SB 2 X7 called
for the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of
$11.14 billion for a wide range of projects and purposes including
water conservation and efficiency, groundwater protection and
cleanup, integrated regional water management, ecosystem and
watershed protection and restoration, water recycling, and water
storage. With respect to water storage, Chapter 8 of SB 2 X7
stated that $3 billion would be continuously appropriated to the
CWC to determine, and provide funding for, the public benefits
AB 1422
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associated with surface and groundwater storage projects according
to criteria such as: ecosystem improvements that benefit native
fish and wildlife; water quality improvements; flood control
benefits; emergency response; and, recreational purposes.
Déjà vu all over again? As amended in the Senate, this bill would
delay the Water Bond by placing it on the 2014 ballot instead of
the 2012 ballot. If it passes, that will be the second time the
Water Bond vote is delayed. AB 1265 (Caballero), Chapter 126,
Statutes of 2010, moved the Water Bond from the November 2010
general election to the November 2012 general election. AB 1265
also deleted language in SB 2 X7 that would have allowed
for-profit entities to be included among the members of joint
powers authorities receiving Chapter 8 public funds.
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted. Although
a bill moving the Water Bond from 2012 to 2014 was not discussed
this legislative session, the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife
Committee did hear AB 157 (Jeffries). AB 157 recognized that, due
to current fiscal and political realities, the voters were
unlikely to pass an $11.14 billion bond this year. But instead of
moving the bond, AB 157 proposed to trim 25% across-the-board from
every title and reduce the Water Bond to $8.36 billion.
Opposition to AB 157 ranged from those who maintained that the
Water Bond should be left untouched as it reflected a bipartisan
consensus around the state's infrastructure needs and priorities,
to those who claimed that the bond language was now three years
old and our understanding of what is needed and how it can be
financed has changed, particularly for the Delta. AB 157 failed
passage in Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0004342