BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1417 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 2, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair SB 1417 (Jackson) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014 Policy Committee: Governmental Organization Vote: 16-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill extends the inoperative date for the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from March 1, 2015 to March 1, 2018, and extends the repeal date for the EMAC from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2019. FISCAL EFFECT Minor and absorbable costs to the Office of Emergency Services. COMMENTS 1) Purpose. According to the author, continuation of the EMAC allows uninterrupted sharing of emergency management resources between California and the other states. Without the EMAC, California would be forced to establish ad hoc state-to-state agreements to facilitate the sharing of those resources, adversely affecting emergency management and response. 2) EMAC. The Emergency Management Assistance Compact was established in 1996 and allows states to request and send personnel, equipment, and commodities to help with disaster relief during governor-declared states of emergency. Every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands have enacted legislation to become EMAC members. California frequently sends firefighting equipment, rescue aircraft, search teams, emergency managers, and other specialized personnel and equipment, to assist other states during disasters. California has also received emergency SB 1417 Page 2 assistance from other states during disasters such as earthquakes and forest fires. The EMAC mutual aid system has worked successfully and has benefitted both California and other states in several disaster situations. States that receive assistance from other states under the EMAC are responsible for the costs of the assistance provided by those states. California is therefore not responsible for the costs of any assistance it provides to other states, but must cover the costs of any states providing assistance to it. Analysis Prepared by : Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081