BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 91|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 91
Author: Committee on Budget
Amended: 3/24/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUDGET & FISCAL REVIEW COMMITTEE: 13-0, 3/25/15
AYES: Leno, Allen, Anderson, Beall, Block, Hancock, Mitchell,
Monning, Nguyen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nielsen, Morrell, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-27, 3/23/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Budget Act of 2015
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill contains amendments to the 2014 Budget Act to
include new appropriations to address the states urgent drought
needs.
ANALYSIS:
This bill:
1. Accelerates the appropriation of $131.7 million (Proposition
1) for the State Water Resources Control Board's (SWRCB)
building for the existing water recycling grant program.
Potential projects include feasibility studies, demonstration
projects, and larger scale water recycling projects.
2. Accelerates the appropriation of $135.5 million (Proposition
1) for the SWRCB to improve access to clean drinking water
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for disadvantaged communities ($69 million) and help small
communities pay for wastewater treatment ($66 million).
3. Accelerates the appropriation of $14.6 million ($11.4
million General Fund and $3.2 million Fish and Game
Preservation Fund) for the Department of Fish and Wildlife
(DFW) to continue critical state operations related to
drought, such as fish rescues, hatchery operations, fish and
wildlife monitoring, and responding to problems of
human/wildlife conflict from animals seeking food and water.
4. Accelerates the appropriation of $11.6 million (General
Fund) for the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to continue
to assess current surface and groundwater conditions,
expedite water transfers, provide technical guidance to local
water agencies, and provide additional public outreach
through the Save Our Water campaign.
5. Accelerates the appropriation of $6.7 million (General Fund)
and $15.9 million (Cleanup and Abatement Account) for the
SWRCB to continue enforcement of drought-related water rights
and water curtailment actions and provide grants ($15
million) for emergency drinking water projects, including
hauled water, bottled water, design and construction of
connections to adjacent public water systems, new wells and
well rehabilitation.
6. Appropriates $4 million (Cleanup and Abatement Account) for
the SWRCB to provide emergency safe drinking water to
disadvantaged communities affected by the drought.
7. Accelerates the appropriation of $4.4 million (General Fund)
to the Office of Emergency Services for the State Operations
Center to continue to provide local communities with
technical guidance and disaster recovery support related to
the drought.
8. Accelerates the appropriation of $20 million (Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund) to the DWR for state and local water use
efficiency programs which reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions.
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9. Accelerates the appropriation of $10 million (Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund) to the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) for agricultural water efficiency projects
that reduce GHG emissions.
10.Appropriates $17 million and reappropriates $7 million
(General Fund), to the Department of Social Services to
expand food assistance to persons affected by the drought to
include the Counties of Imperial, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Barbara, Ventura, and Coachella Valley in Riverside County.
11.Appropriates $3 million (General Fund) for the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection to address critical
infrastructure deficiencies at remote fire stations that have
run out of water.
12.Appropriates $2 million (General Fund) to the DFW for
maximizing water delivery and efficiency to key endangered
species habitat, endangered species, native fish and Delta
monitoring, and water delivery system projects.
13.Appropriates $7.4 million (General Fund) to the DWR for
additional public outreach through the Save Our Water
campaign, refining the modeling of turbidity flows in the
Delta, and Local Assistance ($5 million) to provide emergency
drinking water support for small communities, including
addressing private well shortages.
14.Authorizes funds for the removal of emergency rock barriers
and actions to minimize impacts of the barriers on affected
aquatic species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, if
necessary.
15.Accelerates the appropriation of $4 million (Harbors and
Watercraft Fund) to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Division of Boating and Waterways for efforts to manage and
control invasive aquatic plants within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta, its tributaries and the Suisun Marsh
which threaten water supply intake structures.
16.Accelerates the appropriation of $200,000 (General Fund) to
the CDFA for economic analysis studies to determine the
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ongoing impacts of California's drought on the state's
agriculture sector and identify potential solutions.
17.Appropriates $4 million (General Fund) for the SWRCB and the
DFW to enhance instream flows in at least five stream systems
that support critical habitat for anadromous fish.
18.Accelerates the appropriation of $660 million (Proposition
1E) for the DWR to support flood protection activities.
Expenditures of these bond funds will be allocated to program
categories that are consistent with the resource allocation
recommendations of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan
for prioritizing flood management projects. Specifies that
funds shall be available for encumbrance and expenditure
until June 30, 2020, and June 30, 2023, respectively.
19.Approves side agreement recently entered into by the
Administration and state Bargaining Unit 19, represented by
the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, Health and Social Services/Professional. The
addendum would compensate Senior Psychologists,
Psychologists, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers working
at the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation institutions for certain standby and call back
duties. These agreements amend existing Memoranda of
Understandings (MOUs) but do not constitute new MOUs. The
department is absorbing costs in the current year and no
additional appropriation authority is being requested at this
time.
Comments: California is experiencing its fourth dry year in a
row -- the worst drought in modern U.S. history and driest
January since the state began keeping records in 1895. The
Sierra Nevada snowpack, which Californians rely on heavily
during the dry summer months for their water needs, is at a near
record low. Only in 1991 has the water content of the snow been
lower.
California's drought conditions have resulted in dangerously low
levels of water in our reservoirs and groundwater aquifers and
have impacted every aspect of our environment and economy. The
drought has imperiled drinking water supplies, our agricultural
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sector, sensitive habitats, and greatly increased our risk of
wildfire. Some have estimated the state has only about one year
of water left in its reservoirs.
Since last February, the state has pledged over $870 million to
support drought relief, including money for food to workers
directly impacted by the drought, funding to secure emergency
drinking water supplies for drought impacted communities and
bond funds for projects that will help local communities save
water and make their water systems more resilient to drought.
Last fall, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed
legislation requiring local, sustainable groundwater management
as well as legislation to put a $7.5 billion water bond before
voters, which won bipartisan approval in the Legislature and was
approved overwhelmingly at the polls.
The purpose of this urgency drought relief package is to provide
immediate funding to help communities deal with the devastating
dry conditions affecting the state and to increase local water
supplies. This bill accelerates many drought-related proposals
in the Governor's Budget and other Water Action Plan proposals
aimed at improving the state's water supply and storage through
infrastructure investments, improving the management of
groundwater, and addressing water quality issues, particularly
in disadvantaged communities. This bill also includes
additional emergency funding for drinking water supplies for
disadvantaged communities, food assistance, conservation
education and outreach activities, and urgent fish and stream
needs related to the drought.
This bill includes more than $1 billion for local drought relief
and infrastructure projects to make the state's water
infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather events.
Specifically, this bill does the following:
1. Accelerates $267 million from Proposition 1 Water Bond
funding for safe drinking water and water recycling from the
Governor's January budget proposal.
2. Accelerates drought-related expenditures from the Governor's
January budget proposal augmented by $31 million in targeted
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additional expenditures ($132 million total), including
efforts to implement the Water Action Plan and provide direct
assistance to workers and communities impacted by drought.
3. The additional $31 million in new targeted expenditure items
which were not included in the Governor's January budget
proposal include the following:
$17 million in additional funding to support emergency
food aid to 29 counties most impacted by the drought;
$4 million for emergency drinking water in
disadvantaged communities;
$5 million to the DWR to provide emergency drinking
water support for small communities, including addressing
private wells;
$1.4 million to the DWR to increase advertising and
public relations related to the Save Our Water campaign;
$2.8 million to the DWR and DFW for additional
modeling support and species tracking in the Delta and
greater Central Valley to support efficient management of
the state's water system; and
$1 million to address critical infrastructure
deficiencies at remote fire stations that have run out of
water.
1. Accelerates $660 million from the Governor's January budget
proposal of Proposition 1E bond monies for flood protection
in urban and rural areas to make the state's infrastructure
more resilient to climate change and flood events.
2. Accelerates $30 million from the Governor's January budget
proposal of cap-and-trade auction revenue to DWR ($20
million) and CDFA ($10 million) for programs that provide a
reduction of GHG emissions and also deliver state and local
water use efficiency and agricultural water use efficiency.
Both proposals were part of last year's agreement on
cap-and-trade expenditures.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
This bill, along with the companion trailer bill, AB 92
(Committee on Budget, 2015), proposes expenditures of $1,059
million for drought-related activities.
SUPPORT: (Verified3/24/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified3/24/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-27, 3/23/15
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Chang, Chávez,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones,
Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez,
Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Gray
Prepared by:Catherine Freeman / B. & F.R. / (916) 651-4103
3/25/15 16:13:51
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