BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1417
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 2, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                SB 1417 (Jackson) - As Introduced:  February 21, 2014

          Policy Committee:                              Governmental  
          Organization Vote:                            16-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends the inoperative date for the Emergency  
          Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from March 1, 2015 to March  
          1, 2018, and extends the repeal date for the EMAC from January  
          1, 2016 to January 1, 2019. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor and absorbable costs to the Office of Emergency Services.

           COMMENTS  

          1)  Purpose.   According to the author, continuation of the EMAC  
            allows uninterrupted sharing of emergency management resources  
            between California and the other states.  Without the EMAC,  
            California would be forced to establish ad hoc state-to-state  
            agreements to facilitate the sharing of those resources,  
            adversely affecting emergency management and response.

          2)  EMAC.  The Emergency Management Assistance Compact was  
            established in 1996 and allows states to request and send  
            personnel, equipment, and commodities to help with disaster  
            relief during governor-declared states of emergency.  Every  
            state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US  
            Virgin Islands have enacted legislation to become EMAC  
            members.

            California frequently sends firefighting equipment, rescue  
            aircraft, search teams, emergency managers, and other  
            specialized personnel and equipment, to assist other states  
            during disasters.  California has also received emergency  








                                                                  SB 1417
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            assistance from other states during disasters such as  
            earthquakes and forest fires.  The EMAC mutual aid system has  
            worked successfully and has benefitted both California and  
            other states in several disaster situations.

            States that receive assistance from other states under the  
            EMAC are responsible for the costs of the assistance provided  
            by those states.  California is therefore not responsible for  
            the costs of any assistance it provides to other states, but  
            must cover the costs of any states providing assistance to it.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081