BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 1532


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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          1532 (Committee on Local Government)


          As Introduced  March 23, 2015


          Majority vote


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                |Noes                |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |Local           |9-0   |Maienschein,        |                    |
          |Government      |      |Gonzalez, Alejo,    |                    |
          |                |      |Chiu, Cooley,       |                    |
          |                |      |Gordon, Holden,     |                    |
          |                |      |Linder, Waldron     |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          SUMMARY:  Makes several non-controversial changes to the laws  
          affecting local government organization and reorganization.  


          EXISTING LAW establishes the procedures for the organization and  
          reorganization of cities, counties, and special districts under  
          the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Reorganization Act of 2000.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:  None









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          COMMENTS:  


          1)Background.  As statutes go into effect, local officials and  
            others often discover problems or inconsistencies in the  
            language of the law and approach the Legislature to correct  
            them.  These minor problems do not warrant separate bills, so  
            the Assembly Local Government Committee (Committee) has found  
            that it is expeditious and relatively inexpensive to respond to  
            multiple minor, non-controversial requests on related issues by  
            combining them into an annual "omnibus bill."  Since the major  
            rewrite of the law governing local agency organization and  
            reorganization [AB 2838 (Hertzberg), Chapter 761, Statutes of  
            2000], the Committee has focused its omnibus bill efforts on  
            Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) related issues, most  
            recently with AB 2795, Chapter 47, Statutes of 2010; AB 1430,  
            Chapter 300, Statutes of 2011; AB 2698, Chapter 62, Statutes of  
            2012; AB 1427, Chapter 87, Statutes of 2013; and, AB 2672,  
            Chapter 112, Statutes of 2014.  


            This bill reflects the concerns of LAFCOs and others who have  
            brought proposals and issues to the Committee.  All proposals  
            are vetted by a large number of stakeholders.  Any proposal that  
            provokes any controversy or opposition is rejected for  
            inclusion.  


          2)Bill Summary.  This bill makes several technical changes to the  
            Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Reorganization Act.  


            Current law establishes the composition of Santa Clara LAFCO.   
            As authorized by current law, Santa Clara LAFCO added two  
            special district members to their commission in 2013.   
            Therefore, the composition of Santa Clara LAFCO is now a seven  
            member commission, including one public member.  This bill  
            updates current law which states that the public member is  








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            appointed by the other four members of Santa Clara LAFCO to  
            reflect its current composition.  


            Current law authorizes LAFCOs to appoint alternate legal counsel  
            if there is a financial conflict of interest as defined in the  
            Political Reform Act.  The current definition of "conflict of  
            interest" does not include instances when legal counsel  
            represents clients with potentially adverse interests.  This  
            bill expands the definition of "conflict of interest" to  
            authorize the commission to appoint alternate legal costs and  
            recover their costs for doing so.  The definition of "conflict  
            of interest" in Rule 3-310, which is one of California's Rules  
            of Professional Conduct governing members of the State Bar, is  
            currently used in statute in instances when county counsel or a  
            district attorney may have a conflict of interest in  
            representing an assessor or sheriff.  


            Current law requires an applicant proposing a change of  
            organization or reorganization to submit a plan for providing  
            services within the affected territory.  That plan must include  
            a description of the services and an indication of when services  
            can be extended to the affected territory.  However, current law  
            allows LAFCOs to approve the extension of services prior to  
            annexation in anticipation of the annexation of that territory  
            at a later date.   Due to existing law an application for the  
            annexation of territory already provided with services would be  
            invalid.  This bill makes changes to recognize that services may  
            be currently provided.  


            This bill updates the "State Department of Health Services" to  
            its current name the "State Department of Health Care Services"  
            and deletes the "California Medical Assistance Commission" which  
            was eliminated in 2012.  


            This bill is sponsored by the California Association of Local  








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            Agency Formation Commissions.  


          3)Arguments in Support.  Supporters argue that the  
            non-controversial changes included in this bill are necessary as  
            LAFCOs implement the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government  
            Reorganization Act of 2000.  


          4)Arguments in Opposition.  None on file.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                               
                          Misa Lennox / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958  FN:  
          0000384