BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 746|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 746
Author: Ting (D)
Amended: 6/22/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-2, 6/17/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley
NOES: Nguyen, Moorlach
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-24, 5/18/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes several changes to statutes relating
to the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority's governing board
and financing powers.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Creates the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (SFBRA) as
a regional entity with jurisdiction extending throughout the
San Francisco Bay Area (AB 2954, Lieber, Chapter 690, Statutes
of 2008). The SFBRA's purpose is to raise and allocate
resources for the restoration, enhancement, protection, and
enjoyment of wetlands and wildlife habitats in the San
Francisco Bay and along its shoreline.
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2)Allows the SFBRA to issue revenues bonds.
3)Allows the SFBRA to incur bonded indebtedness subject to a
requirement that the it must comply with specified statutes
that allow recreation and park districts' boards of directors,
with 2/3 voter approval, to issue general obligation bonds to
pay for acquiring or improving real property.
4)Establishes and defines annual appropriation limits on each
local government based on an annual appropriation for the
prior fiscal year and requires adjustments for changes in the
cost of living, changes in population, and other specified
factors.
5)Prohibits the SFBRA from levying a benefit assessment, special
tax, or property-related fee after December 31, 2028.
6)Requires that the SFBRA must reimburse counties only for the
incremental costs incurred by the county elections official
related to submitting a ballot measure proposed by the SFBRA
to the voters.
7)Repeals the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Act on
January 1, 2029.
8)Requires that the SFBRA's governing board must be comprised of
seven members, including a Chair, who must be a resident of
the San Francisco Bay Area and have expertise in the
implementation of the California Coastal Conservancy's San
Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program.
This bill:
1) Specifies that the SFBRA may incur a general obligation
bonded indebtedness for the acquisition or improvement of
real property or for funding or refunding of any outstanding
indebtedness.
2) Requires that the total amount of bonded indebtedness that
the SFBRA may incur pursuant to both its revenue bond and
general obligation bond authority must not exceed $1.5
billion.
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3) Contains a legislative finding and declaration that the
changes this bill makes to specified provisions in existing
law explicitly affirm the SFBRA's authority to incur general
obligation bond indebtedness so as to implement the
Legislature's intent when those provisions were first
enacted.
4) Contains a legislative finding and declaration that the
SFBRA has no associated appropriations limit as of this
bill's effective date because the SFBRA has not assumed any
existing duties from another local or state government entity
and has received no state or local government revenues not
counted toward another entity's appropriations limit.
5) Requires that the appropriations limit for the SFBRA must be
originally established based on receipts from the initial
measure that would generate revenues for the authority, and
that establishment of an appropriations limit must not be
deemed a change in an appropriations limit for purposes of
the California Constitution.
6) Extends the period of time during which the SFBRA can levy a
benefit assessment, special tax, or property-related fee by
20 years, through December 31, 2048.
7) Extends by two years, from January 1, 2017 to January 1,
2019, the sunset date on the election cost reimbursement
requirements.
8) Extends the sunset date on the statutes governing the SFBRA
by 20 years, until January 1, 2049
9) Requires that the Chair of the SFBRA's governing board must
be an elected official of a bayside county, city, or special
district who has expertise in the implementation of the
California Coastal Conservancy's San Francisco Bay Area
Conservancy Program.
10)Makes additional technical and conforming changes to the
statutes governing the SFBRA.
Background
Since 2009, the SFBRA has been planning to submit a ballot
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measure to voters in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties
seeking approval of revenues to fund the Authority's restoration
activities. In recent years, the Legislature has amended the
SFBRA's enabling act to:
1)Specify requirements that apply to a regional ballot measure
submitted to voters by the SFBRA (AB 2103, Hill, Chapter 373,
Statutes of 2010).
2)Revise the SFBRA's boundaries and revise the definition of
eligible projects (AB 1656, Fong, Chapter 535, Statutes of
2012).
3)Specify procedures for conducting a multi-county election to
approve a special tax measure proposed by the SFBRA (SB 279,
Hancock, Chapter 514, Statutes of 2013).
The SFBRA's governing board is now preparing to submit a ballot
measure to voters in 2016 seeking approval either of parcel
taxes or general obligation bonds to finance restoration
projects around the San Francisco Bay. In anticipation of
submitting a ballot measure to voters, SFBRA officials want to
amend the statutes that govern the SFBRA to:
1)Clarify the SFBRA's powers to incur general obligation bonded
indebtedness.
2)Define the manner in which the SFBRA's appropriations limit is
to be established.
3)Extend statutory sunset dates in the SFBRA's enabling act.
4)Modify the qualifications that apply to the Chair of the
SFBRA's governing board.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified7/7/15)
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority
Audubon California
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Bay Area Council
California League of Conservation Voters
City of Redwood City
Ducks Unlimited
East Bay Regional Park District
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Santa Clara County Open Space Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Save the Bay
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Sonoma Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Sonoma Land Trust
The Nature Conservancy
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/7/15)
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-24, 5/18/15
AYES: Alejo, Baker, 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, Gray, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Irwin, Jones,
Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mayes, Obernolte, Olsen,
Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gallagher, Kim, Mathis, Melendez, Wilk
Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
7/7/15 15:01:37
**** END ****
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