Assemblymember Toni Atkins ~ Majority Floor Leader ~ Representing the 78th District ~ October News 2013
IN THIS ISSUE:
A NOTE FROM TONI
Dear Friends
This issue of my newsletter is focused almost entirely on the outcomes of this past year in the State Legislature, which concluded with Governor Brown's October 13th deadline to sign or veto bills. It has been a busy and very productive year.
Financially, California is on the comeback trail, thanks in large part to the passage of Proposition 30 by the voters last fall. In the State Assembly, our priorities have been maintaining fiscal responsibility; increasing prosperity and opportunity; delivering effective, efficient services; and investing in California's future. The 2013/14 budget was delivered on time for the third year in a row - the first time that has happened in thirty years. The budget established a reserve of $1.1 billion and has begun to pay down what Governor Brown calls our state's "wall of debt", including repayment of $2.2 borrowed from public schools in prior years. The balanced, on-time budget also improved our state's credit rating with a resulting $480 million savings in interest payments.
This year, every public school district received a budget increase. We were also able to invest in our system of public higher education with increases of $467 million for the University of California, $304 million for California State University and $43 million for community colleges.
Some of the most important legislative issues this year focused on improving the business climate in our state, implementing the Affordable Care Act, investing in our middle class and our veterans, and advancing the cause of equality. Please read below for more detail on my own bills, as well as key legislation authored by other members of the Legislature that I was pleased to support.
As always, if you have questions about legislation, please visit my website at http://asmdc.org/members/a78/legislation/legislation or call my San Diego office at 619-645-3090.
Warmly,
TONI
LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP
A report on important legislation that was enacted this past year, including a number of bills I authored and co-authored, and an update on bills vetoed by the Governor (or which are still in process).
IMPROVING THE BUSINESS CLIMATE
Expediting Business Filings: AB 113 permanently reduces the processing time for business filings by the Secretary of State from as long as 60 days to a maximum of five days and also provides funding to reduce the backlog.
Enterprise Zone Reform: AB 93 reforms the current Enterprise Zone program which is designed to encourage business and job growth to improve hiring credits for employers, add incentives for hiring veterans and the long-term unemployed. It also offers a sales tax credit to businesses purchasing manufacturing, biotech, and other equipment.
Coastal Plan Updates: The state budget allocated $4 million to update coastal plans which provide clear, reliable direction for what development is permitted along the coastline.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Middle Class Scholarships: Middle class families are often caught between rising fees and tuition at our public universities and ineligibility for financial aid programs. The Middle Class Scholarship Program, carried by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, reduces fees at the UC and CSU for families making less than $150,000 per year.
Minimum Wage: AB 10 increases the minimum wage to $9 per hour in July 2014 and to $10 per hour in July 2016. When fully in place, this increase will boast the annual income of a minimum wage earner by $4,000, putting $2.6 billion back into our state's economy. This is money that will be spent at neighborhood markets or invested in school supplies.
Protecting Our Cultural Heritage: My bill, AB 482, creates a specialty license plate featuring the likeness of Peanuts character Snoopy. Proceeds from this plate will go to support California museums and cultural institutions.
VETERANS
Preventing Homelessness Among Veterans: : I was proud to be a principle co-author of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez's AB 639, which will ask voters to repurpose a bond to fund supportive housing to prevent homelessness among veterans. Twenty percent of the homeless people in San Diego are veterans. I joined Governor Brown and Speaker Pérez for a bill signing ceremony for AB 639 at San Diego's Veterans Village.
Military Thrift Stores: My bill, AB 163, extended the sales and use tax exemption for thrift stores on military bases, allowing more of the proceeds from these volunteer-run operations to be made available to members of military families for emergency assistance and financial skills programs.
Veterans Services: The 2013-24 budget allocates $6 million for veterans services, including the creation of strike teams (one is here in San Diego) to assist the federal government in reducing the backlog of veterans' benefits claims.
Veterans Treatment Court: I authored ACR 36 which encourages court systems throughout the state to adopt the model of Vets Court created here in San Diego. Vets Court offers a rigorous program of counseling and treatment to veterans with legal problems as an alternative to incarceration. This program has a recidivism rate of only 7.3%, much lower than the rate seen in many other court diversion programs. Veterans Court has saved taxpayers more than $1 million per year in jail-related costs. Only 12 other counties in the state have such a program.
HEALTHCARE
Implementation of the Affordable Care Act: This year California was among the first states to adopt its own health insurance marketplace, called Covered California, in anticipation of the 2014 effective date of the health coverage reform program sometimes known as Obamacare. Covered California will assist the 5.3 million Californians who are currently uninsured or who purchase health insurance on their own. 2.6 million of these will qualify for subsidies. The remaining 2.7 million will not qualify for subsidies, but can now benefit from guaranteed coverage and will be able to choose to enroll through Covered California if they wish. As many as one in five San Diegans is currently without health insurance. In addition, we expanded the Medi-Cal program for low income Californians to cover an additional 1.4 million people in order to receive federal funds to pay for the expansion. Covered California is already enrolling people in affordable private health plans.
Expanding Access to Abortion: California continues to lead the nation in reproductive health for women with the Governor's signature on my bill AB 154. This bill expands the list of trained healthcare professionals who may provide early abortion services to include nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants, and certified nurse-midwives. Over 50% of California's counties have no accessible abortion provider. This bill will reduce travel and wait times for women in need of services.
Ensuring Affordable Housing
Using Housing Resources Wisely: Two of my bills signed by the Governor will ensure the most effective use of taxpayer funded housing resources. AB 952 removes the restriction against using California low income housing tax credits in urban population centers like San Diego. Areas wishing to access these tax credits will be eligible so long as the project serves a special needs population. AB 952 allows us to existing resources to our neediest populations and will allow San Diego to access the nearly $25 million California Low Income Housing Tax Credits that go unused each year.
AB 637 authorizes the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) to issue loans for low and moderate-income multi-family housing developments through the California Homebuyer Downpayment Assistance Program (CHDAP). By doing so, we are making money available for affordable, multifamily housing projects and fill the funding gap for some projects that were formerly provided by redevelopment agencies.
California Home and Jobs Act: SB 391, a bill by Senator DeSaulnier and of which I am principal co-author, was approved by the State Senate last year and will be taken up by the State Assembly next year. It creates a permanent stream of funding for affordable low and middle income housing through a small fee on recordable real estate documents, other than the sale or transfer of a home or business. It will create over 100,000 homes and 29,000 jobs each year.
Inclusionary Housing Policies: I was very disappointed that the Governor vetoed my bill AB 1229, which would have restored local government discretion to require affordable rental housing as part of new housing developments. Affordable housing does not seem to be a priority for the Governor, but I will continue to work to find ways to ensure adequate housing for all.
SAN DIEGO MEASURES
Del Mar Race Track: My bill AB 1074 makes the Del Mar Racetrack eligible to extend its racing season by picking up some of the dates currently assigned to Hollywood Park, which will close at the end of this year. This includes the opportunity to compete for the coveted Breeders' Cup event, one of thoroughbred horseracing's most prestigious which brings as much as $60 million into the local economy of the host racetrack.
Expanding Old Town State Park: Through the budget process and related legislation I was able to secure the transfer of the former CalTrans headquarters near Old Town State Park to the state parks system. This move will ensure the preservation of historic structures and artifacts known to be under the building's foundation and that the site will remain in the public's hands.
EQUALITY AND DIGNITY
LGBT Equality: My bill AB 1121 will streamline the process for transgender people to obtain name changes and birth certificates that are consistent with their gender identity. Before, this process was lengthy and expensive and a requirement that a proposed name change be published in the newspaper put transgender people at risk of harassment and violence.
Another transgender equality bill signed by the Governor was Assemblymember Ammiano's AB 1266 requires that transgender students be permitted to participate in school activities and facilities consistent with their gender identity. I was pleased to be a co-author of this bill.
AB 633 by Assemblymember Gomez will help ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors get respectful and competent elder care by integrating LGBT cultural competency instruction in to the training received by residential care facility administrators.
Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Californians: AB 60 will enable undocumented residents to obtain driver's licenses, driver training, and auto insurance, making the roads safer for everyone. This bill also enables these drivers to get to work and school without fear of being detained because they lack a driver's license.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Eliminating Water Pollution: My bill AB 425 will move us closer to reducing water pollution by directing the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to complete by February 1, 2014 its work to evaluate and make recommendations regarding whether the paint should be subject to increased state oversight and how best to mitigate its potentially harmful effects. Copper-based paint is effective in keeping boat hulls free from damaging organisms like barnacles and algae but it also poses a threat to aquatic animal and plant life when it leaches into water where recreational boats are moored.
Regulating Fracking: SB 4 addresses concerns about hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, acidizing, and other oil extraction techniques by requiring an independent scientific study of these processes. Under this new law, oil companies will not be allowed to frack or acidize in California unless they test the groundwater, notify neighbors and list each and every chemical on the Internet. More regulation of fracking is needed, but this is a first step toward greater transparency, accountability and protection of the public and the environment. I will continue to work on this issue in the next session of the Legislature.
Strengthening Enhancement of the Coastal Act: My bill AB 976 to give the Coastal Commission the same authority as other environmental enforcement agencies to fine those who block public access to the beach or commit other violations of the Coastal Act, was, unfortunately, stalled at the very end of the legislative session. I am currently assessing the best strategy for ensuring that violators will be subject to a fair and effective enforcement of the law to protect one of California's most cherished assets – our beaches, ocean, and wetlands.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Prison Reform: California is under a federal court order to either expand our prison capacity by January of next year or release as many as 10,000 prisoners, due to overcrowding. Under the Governor's 2009 realignment program, most non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offender prisoners have already been transferred to local custody at the county level. The Assembly has refused to release any serious offenders onto the streets of our community and instead has taken a two-step alternative approach.
The first step is to secure additional capacity through 2017. In the meantime, we allocated $100 million to the state's probation departments to develop plans for evidence-based alternatives to incarceration. Speaker Pérez has also appointed a Select Committee on Prison Overcrowding to develop recommendations for long-term solutions. In addition, the state continues to work with the parties to develop a more workable immediate approach.
Gun Safety: The Aurora and Newtown mass shootings prompted legislators to introduce a number of gun safety bills. Of these, the Governor signed AB 711 which will gradually phase out the use of lead ammunition for hunting in California, a known hazard to wildlife and the environment. The Governor also signed legislation ensuring that .50 caliber sniper rifles are kept off of California streets, as well as AB 1131 and SB 127, which restrict the ability of mentally unstable people to purchase or possess guns.
Governor Brown also vetoed several gun-related bills, including Senator Steinberg's SB 347 which would have banned all semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine, and SB 299 which would have penalized gun owners when they fail to report a lost or stolen firearm.
This is only a selection of the bills considered by the Legislature this past year. The Legislature reconvenes on January 6 for the second year of the 2013-14 session. Please don't hesitate to contact my office if you have questions about state law.
Until then, I am happy to have be home and I am spending this time visiting community groups and attending events in my district. I hope to see you at one of these soon!
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Website: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/Atkins
Email: Assemblymember Atkins
Capitol Office:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0078
Tel: (916) 319-2078
Fax: (916) 319-2178
District Office:
1350 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: (619) 645-3090
Fax: (619) 645-3094
1350 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: (619) 645-3090
Fax: (619) 645-3094
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