BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 746| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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. AB 746 Page 2 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. AB 746 Page 3 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 AB 746 Page 4 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 AB 746 Page 5 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 **** AB 746 Page 6