BILL ANALYSIS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BILL NO: AB 1788 HEARING DATE: June 29, 2010
AUTHOR: Yamada URGENCY: No
VERSION: As Introduced CONSULTANT: Dennis O'Connor
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Water development projects: state financial assistance.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1.Under the State Water Resources Law of 1945, the state may
participate in funding local flood control projects that are
authorized by the Legislature and that meet specified
criteria. State authorization for funding of a flood control
project is contingent upon preceding federal statutory
authorization of the project.
For projects authorized on or after 1/1/2002, the state
portion is generally 50% of the nonfederal share. However,
the state portion may be as much as 70% of the nonfederal
share if a project will result in a "significant contribution"
to any of a list of specific objects.
Protects, creates, enhances, or provides opportunities
for enhancement of habitats.
Protects or enhances open space.
Develops or enhances recreational opportunities.
Increases the level of flood protection for state
transportation facilities or state water supply facilities.
Increases the level of flood protection within the
benefitted area of the project if that area has a median
household income that is less than 120 percent of the
poverty level, as defined by the Department of Finance, for
the year in which the project would be authorized.
1.Under current law, the Demographic Research Unit of the
California Department of Finance is designated as the single
official source of demographic data for state planning and
1
budgeting.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would change the criteria for the 70% matching low
income areas to a household poverty rate that is more than 150
percent of the household poverty rate of the state, as defined
by the United States Census Bureau, for the year in which the
project would be authorized.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the sponsors, "the current statutory provisions and
guidelines require a direct comparison of a specific population
subset's median income in California to a federally designated
poverty level. Because of this direct comparison, California
communities are at a disadvantage because the state tends to
have higher income levels than most other states. The Federal
Poverty Level [FPL] is so low that there are few, if any,
California communities with a median income below 120% of the
federal level."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
"The Department of Finance opposes this bill for the following
reasons:
This bill would reduce the total number of flood control
projects that could be funded from limited bond fund
resources.
This bill would result in increased General Fund expenditures
once available bond funds have been exhausted.
There are some technical issues with the change from the FPL
to the state household poverty rate. The state household
poverty rate is obtained from the US Census Bureau and is only
updated every ten years. Finance believes more recent data
would provide greater accuracy."
COMMENTS
Disadvantaged Communities . If the current criteria identifying
low income communities are inappropriate, instead of inventing
another set of criteria, it might make more sense to use the
definition of disadvantaged community. Since first added to the
Water Code in 2003, disadvantaged communities have been made
eligible to receive reduce matching rates for numerous bond
funded programs. The water code defines "disadvantaged
community" as "a community with an annual median household
2
income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual
median household income."
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
On page 3, line 3, delete "within the", delete lines 4
through 8 inclusive, and insert:
to disadvantaged communities as defined in Section 79505.5
SUPPORT
California Central Valley Flood Control Association (Sponsor)
Association of California Water Agencies
Contra Costa County
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Sacramento County
Sierra Club California
Yolo County
OPPOSITION
Department of Finance
3