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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08291989 - 2.1 O: Board of Supervisors FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator � r- DATE: August 28, 1989 �osrA colo SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON 1989 LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM Specific Request(s) or Recommendations(s) & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATION: Acknowledge receipt of this third status report from the County Administrator on the Board's Legislative Program for 1989 and request the County Administrator to prepare a similar report following the adjournment of the Legislature and final action on all bills by the Governor. BACKGROUND: On December 6, 1988 the Board of Supervisors approved its 1989 Legislative Program. Now that many bills have passed their house of origin and are awaiting final action in the second house,it is timely to report to the Board on the status of those measures which were considered to be the highest priority for adoption in 1989. What follows is a restatement of each of some 23 items from the Board's 1989 legislative program along with the status of each. The current status of each itein is in bold to distinguish it from the original statement included in the Board's legislative program for 1989. 1. Authorize counties to levy an"override"on property taxes to fund the County contribution to the retirement fund as a voter-approved indebtedness. Current law allowed counties to levy an"override"on property taxes only during the 1982-1983 and 1983-1984 fiscal years.In order to give the Board of Supervisors an opportunity to determine whether they wish to impose all or a part of the County's voter-approved retirement costs as an override on the property tax it is necessary to either repeal the sunset date or move it ahead into the future a year or so to provide the Board of Supervisors with a"window" within which to make such a decision. (See R &T 97.65) Continued on attachment: yes Signature: 6AZ4 Recommendation of County Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee _ Approve Other: Signature(s): 2Z",ZZ,ZZ�� Le4e .� Action of Board on: August 29 1989 Approved as Recommended X Other Vote of Supervisors 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN X Unanimous (Absent Z_LZ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Absent: Abstain: ;_9 /,9 ey cc: County Administrator Attested Les Spahnn, JacksonBarish &Associates Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board All Department Heads (via CAO) of Supervisors and County Administrator Legislative Delegation (Via CAO) By � , Deputy Clerk CLVM:eh(legrptbo) • Assemblyman Campbell has introduced this legislation for the Board of Supervisors as AB 1202. The bill has passed the Assembly Floor and the Senate Local Government Committee and is awaiting final action on the Senate Floor. The bill has been placed on the Senate inactive file at the request of the County Administrator until we are able to work out a compromise with the Governor's Office whereby we will stand some chance of getting the bill enacted into law. 2. Repeal Oakland Zoo funding; in Trial Court Funding Act. This provision,which was added to the trial court funding bill the last evening of the 1988 Session,has nothing to do with the Trial Court Funding Program and should not have been included in it. The requirement that the Board of Supervisors provide$50,000 a year to the Oakland Zoo preempts the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors to decide priorities for use of the General Fund money freed up by the Trial Court Funding Act. When combined with the requirement that the County transfer a portion of its property tax revenue to certain cities, the Trial Court Funding Act as it affects this County makes the whole program less attractive. It appears unlikely that the County will be successful in entirely repealing this provision. However,the County is considering other efforts to increase revenue in other areas which will offset the loss of revenue in this area. No specific action has been taken in this regard since our last status report to the Board. 3. Add one Municipal Court Judge to the Delta Municipal Court. Senator Boatwright has introduced SB 468 for this purpose and Assemblyman Isenberg has introduced AB 1908 for this same purpose. SB 468 has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is currently on the Suspense File in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 1908 is being held at this time in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.Assemblyman Isenberg has advised us that there will be no new judges, created in 1989. However,we are well positioned to have the additional Municipal Court Judge created in 1990. 4. Increase tipping fee to pay for solid waste public education programs. The Board of Supervisors has made it clear that this is a priority item in order to provide funding for a solid waste public education program.The intent here is simply to obtain state approval to include public education programs, within those programs which are a legitimate expenditure from the current tipping fee. At present this fee can be used only for the planning and preparation of the solid waste management plan. A separate tipping fee is available for the enforcement actions necessary to insure that sanitary disposal site operators are properly complying with current state and county regulations. (See GC 66784.3) Assemblywoman Eastin has been approached about amending current legislation in order to permit the tipping fee to be used to fund a solid waste public education program. Assemblywoman Eastin has asked for more details regarding the type of public education program the County has in mind in order to determine whether legislation is,in fact,required in order to permit expenditures for this purpose. The Community Development Department staff have drafted an outline of the type of public education program which we have in mind. Based on this outline,County Counsel has concluded that legislation is necessary to allow the current tipping fee to be used for a public education program. Language to accomplish this has been drafted and we will attempt to have it placed in an existing bill dealing with solid waste. 5. Include Contra Costa County in AB 55812ilots to test the value of using foster care funds to prevent placements. Current law enacted in 1988 allows three counties,including Solano County,to use a portion of their foster care funds to provide an intensified social work program designed to prevent the need to place a child in out-of-home care. If these efforts are successful there should be sufficient savings in foster care funds to offset the cost of the additional staff. The Social Service and Probation Departments hope to design a multi-agency, interdisciplinary team which can provide the same type of intensified support services for a family, but using a variety of professional staff from the Social Service,Probation,Schools and Mental Health Departments. The intent here is to have Contra Costa designated as a pilot county to test this concept, similar to that provided for in AB 558, but broadened to include staff from other disciplines. - 2 . • Assemblyman Campbell has introduced AB 899 for this purpose. AB 899 has passed the Assembly Floor and the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 30, 1989. Conversations with the State Department of Social Services have resulted in compromises which are acceptable to the County and have removed any apparent opposition from the State Department of Social Services. AB 899 will allow this County to extend its Family Preservation Program county-wide,using foster care funds to finance the additional intensive and inter-disciplinary staff efforts which are required to eliminate the need to place a child in foster care or reduce the amount of time a child remains in foster care. 6. Reintroduce"Buy-America"Legislation similar to SB2185 of 1988. In 1988 legislation was introduced at the request of the Board of Supervisors to allow local governments and the state to require the use of domestic products in major construction projects like highways,bridges and the West County Justice Center. The bill ran into trouble with opposition from a number of domestic firms that purchase semi-finished products from foreign suppliers and then finish it locally. SB 2185 was not drafted carefully enough to permit such situations to be included within the definition of"domestic"products. If the language is more carefully drawn to permit this type of situation we believe we have a reasonable chance of getting it passed. Each member of this County's legislative delegation has been approached about introducing this legislation. Each has declined to carry the legislation. While we will continue to pursue legislation in this area,it does not appear likely that we will be successful this year. No further activity is planned in this area during 1989. 7. Provide Funding for an Abandoned Vehicle Program. The County,and most other cities and counties in the state,are caught in a bind in terms of obtaining state funding for an abandoned vehicle program. The Legislature is apparently.willing to pass a statewide,mandated$1.00 surcharge on vehicle registrations to pay for an abandoned vehicle program. However,it appears likely that the Governor will veto such legislation on the basis that it is a tax increase. The Governor is more likely to sign legislation which authorizes each county to impose such a surcharge. However,such an optional"tax"requires approval of the voters. Since it seems unlikely that the Governor will sign any surcharge on vehicle registrations which does not require a vote of the people it is recommended that the County press for legislation which provides for such an option,either sponsoring such legislation or providing substantial support to CSAC or other counties and cities who may sponsor such legislation. Assemblyman Steve Clute has introduced AB 1441 at our request for this purpose. AB 1441 has passed the Assembly Floor,the Senate Transportation Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 1441 is now on the Senate Floor for a vote,following which it will have to be returned to the Assembly Floor for a final vote on concurrence in the Senate amendments. AB 1441 allows the County and cities to establish an authority which would have the responsibility to impose the additional $1 surcharge on vehicle registrations for a five year period and operate the abandoned vehicle abatement program. We are continuing to attempt to determine exactly what type of measure has the best chance of being signed by the Governor. However,we are hopeful that the Governor will sign AB 1441 since it is patterned on the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies which is responsible for freeway call boxes and which is also funded by a$1 surcharge on vehicle registrations. 8. Increase Excise Tax on Alcoholic Beverages. The Board of Supervisors has clearly indicated its intent to try for legislation in 1989 that will provide for at least a modest increase in the excise tax on alcoholic beverages. It is believed that such legislation has a reasonable chance of passage only with the support of the alcoholic beverage industry. Their opposition will more than likely doom the County's efforts. The Board of Supervisors has,therefore,directed the County Administrator to seek a meeting with representatives of the alcoholic beverage industry in an effort to reach a compromise on legislation. If such a compromise proves not to be possible the Board of Supervisors may wish to consider pursuing an initiative campaign in 1990. This item is listed here primarily for the purpose of attempting to reach such a compromise. A major effort probably cannot be successfully mounted in the Legislature without such a compromise. - 3 - This item,which is currently on referral to the Internal Operations Committee,is being pursued along the lines of either legislation this year or an initiative campaign in 1990. Assemblyman Connelly is leading the initiative effort. We will continue to track activity in this area and will report regularly to the Internal Operations Committee. There are currently several pieces of legislation pending which would increase the excise tax on alcoholic beverages. The only bill which is moving at this time is SB 1597 (Alquist). As amended May 11, 1989 the bill would increase the tax on wine from one cent per gallon to ten cents per gallon. SB 1597 has passed the Senate Floor and is currently on referral to the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee. It seems increasingly likely that an initiative effort will be required in order to produce the level of excise tax increase which is desired by the sponsors of such a tax increase. 9. Increase amount of liability for causing unnecessary emergency response. Under current law, an individual who causes an emergency response by fire, medical or law enforcement personnel because of the abuse of alcoholic beverages while operating an automobile or boat can be billed for the actual cost of the response up to$1000 for incident. It has been suggested that$1000 may not bean adequate figure. It is therefore recommended that the Board of Supervisors seek an increase to$1000 per emergency response agency up to a total not to exceed $5000 per incident. (See GC 53155). Senator Royce,who authored the original emergency response liability legislation,has introduced SB 318 for this purpose. The bill is still in the Senate Judiciary Committee and probably will not receive further consideration until next year. 10. Increase small claims certified mailing fee to reflect actual cost of mailing.. Under current law a court often mails documents for the plaintiff or defendant using certified mail. The fee which can be charged for this purpose is currently$3.00. This does not cover the actual mailing cost and administrative costs of the court staff. Therefore,it is recommended that this fee be increased to.a figure which will reimburse the court for actual mailing costs,rounded to the next higher dollar figure and then indexed for future increases in mailing costs. (See CCP 117.14) Assemblyman Elihu Harris amended this provision into his AB 9,which has now passed and been signed into law as Chapter 15, Statutes of 1989. The bill contained an urgency clause and therefore became effective May 10, 1989 when it was signed by the Governor. 11. Allow administrative fee on dismissal of financial responsibility to see if it reduces caseload. Under current law, a driver is required to carry proof of insurance in his or her vehicle at all times. If a driver is found by a law enforcement officer to not have appropriate proof of insurance in the vehicle when the driver is stopped for any other reason the driver can be cited. However,if the driver has insurance but simply did not have it available in the vehicle the driver need only produce proof of the fact that he or she has insurance and the citation is normally dismissed. This causes a great deal of work for the court personnel and the entire procedure produces no revenue for the court. It is therefore suggested that a $10.00 administrative fee be authorized for cases where the citation is dismissed to see whether the knowledge that a driver will at least have to pay a $10.00 fee even if the citation is dismissed would be a deterrent to failure to carry proper proof of insurance coverage and thereby reduce the burden on the courts. It is suggested that this might even be a pilot project with Contra Costa County serving as the pilot to see whether the administrative fee reduces the number of citations that are issued. Assemblyman Campbell has introduced AB 2488 on behalf of this County for this purpose. In addition, Assemblyman Frizzelle has amended his AB 1358. AB 1358 would now allow the County to impose an administrative fee of$35 on each dismissal of a citation for failure to have proof of financial responsibility available in the vehicle. AB 1358 has passed the Assembly and was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 22, 1989. One issue which has to be resolved is that the entire financial responsibility program sunsets as of January 1,1990. If the program is not going to be continued then there is no need for our administrative fee. If the sunset date is eliminated or extended then AB 1358 will provide the administrative fee we have sought. Assemblyman Willie Brown is carrying AB 1363 and AB 2315,both of which repeal the sunset on the financial responsibility laws. In addition both bills impose an additional penalty assessment of$50 for each month that the driver did not comply with the financial responsibility law. AB 1363 is in the Assembly Transportation Committee. AB 2315 has passed the Assembly Floor and is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee. - 4 - 12. Allow County to recover costs of successfully prosecuting a civil or criminal violation of nuisances. Under current law if an individual repeatedly violates nuisance ordinances County Counsel can take the individual to court on civil or criminal charges. However, if the County is successful there is no way for the County to recover from these deliberate,repeat violators the often extensive administrative and legal costs which are sustained by the County. These costs can discourage the County from prosecuting such cases. It is,therefore, suggested that counties (and cities, if they wish) be authorized to recover their reasonable administrative and legal costs when they successfully prosecute such a case. (Add GC 25845.5) Senator Boatwright introduced SB 618 for this purpose. The bill has been amended to allow the County to recover three times the cost of the abatement. In this form the bill has passed the Legislature and has been signed into law. It is now Chapter 114, Statutes of 1989. 13. Waive 2-year time limit on complex assessment appeals During the 1988 legislative session the County had legislation introduced which would have allowed a waiver of the two-year time limit within which assessment appeals must be processed where the amount of the assessment which is in dispute exceeds$10 million. This legislation grew out of a concern that the County would be unable to complete processing of the assessment appeals filed by Tosco Oil Co. within the current two-year time limit. This time limit helps to protect residential homeowners from the sometimes slow process of government. Eventually the assessment appeals were settled to the County's satisfaction.The issue still remains unresolved,however. While a two-year limit is appropriate for residential and most commercial property there are difficult and highly technical assessment issues facing such property as oil refineries and other large industrial firms which often cannot be resolved within the two-year statutory period. It is therefore suggested that the County seek authority to waive the two-year limit where the amount of the assessment in dispute exceeds $10 million. This will exclude all but the largest and most complex of such appeals. Since the Tosco assessment appeal has been resolved successfully most legislators are unwilling to carry this legislation at this time. We are currently continuing to work on this item,but it appears unlikely that we will be successful this year. No further action on this item is anticipated during 1989. 14. Allow public member on parole board to have an alternate Undercurrent law the membership of a County Board of Patrol Commissioners consists of the Sheriff,the County Probation Officer and a public member selected by the Presiding Judge. The Sheriff and the County Probation Officer have the opportunity under the law to appoint alternates from their offices to represent them at meetings . of the County Parole Board. No such authority exists for the public member. While this has not been a problem in the past,the inception of the maximum supervision parole program in 1987 has increased the number of parole applications and thereby the number and length of meetings which have to be held. It is therefore recommended that the Presiding Judge be authorized to select not only the public member but an alternate for him or her as well. This would relieve the burden on public members who have other responsibilities and cannot necessarily dedicate several half days a month to this task. (See PC 3085). This is seen as a non-controversial measure which Senator Mello has amended into his SB 1062 which has passed the Senate and the Assembly Ways & Means Committee.The bill is currently pending a vote on the Assembly Floor,following which it will have to go back for a final vote on the Senate Floor to concur in the Assembly's amendments. 15. Partial Block Grant for Temporary Court Commissioners Under current law only two counties have authority to appoiat temporary court commissioners under a tightly supervised and structured program. These counties are Contra Costa and Napa. Under the Trial Court Funding Act counties are entitled to a block grant of$212,000 for each judicial position which is authorized by the Legislature. However, Contra Costa and Napa Counties are not entitled to any reimbursement for the temporary court commissioner positions which are authorized by the Legislature for those counties. It is recommended that these two counties be authorized a partial block grant payment based on the proportion of a full-time position which is represented by the actual number of hours which the temporary court commissioners work in a year. (See GC 73362.1). - 5 - e Senator Robert Presley has amended his SB 1669 to include our temporary court commissioners as eligible positions to be counted toward the Trial Court Block Grant. SB 1669 has passed the Senate and the Assembly Judiciary Committee and is now on referral to the Assembly Ways & Means Committee. 16. Extend Courthouse Construction fee of$2 per$10 of filing fee to small claims and civil cases. Undercurrent law persons found guilty of vehicle code violations pay most of the penalty assessments for the courthouse construction fund. And yet, these individuals often use the courthouse the least of all violators, particularly in the municipal court. Many such violators never appear in court but nevertheless pay a penalty assessment to assist with the construction of the courthouse facilities for the County. Current law places no such assessment on civil claimants and small claims claimants all of whom,by definition,use the courthouse facilities regularly. It is therefore suggested that the current courthouse construction penalty assessment of$2.00 for each $10.00 of fine be imposed on civil and small claims claimants by charging them$2.00 for each$10.00 of filing fees they pay. Senator Alquist has amended his SB 430 to provide that if either of the proposed Courthouse Construction Bond Issues passes the Legislature and is approved by the voters, those counties which receive funds pursuant to the bond issue may collect a surcharge of up to $25 on all civil matters except domestic relations proceedings and matters which are within the monetary jurisdiction of the small claims court. These funds would have to be used as matching funds for any Courthouse Construction bond funds the County might receive. SB 430 has passed the Senate Floor and the Assembly Judiciary Committee.It now goes to the Assembly Floor for a vote and then back to the Senate Floor for a final vote on concurrence in the Assembly's amendments.While SB 430 excludes small claims cases and ties the imposition of the assessment to the need to provide matching funds for the bond proceeds, it will provide the County a substantially improved flow of revenue with which to finance new courthouse construction. 17. Re-introduce SB 458 to allow administrative fee on certain vehicle code actions in Contra Costa County. In 1986 legislation was introduced to allow Alameda County to impose a municipal court administrative assessment of not to exceed$10.00 to cover the cost of recording and maintaining a record of convictions for vehicle code violations and the cost of notifying the DMV. In addition this legislation authorized Alameda County to establish a fee in both the Municipal Court and Superior Court for the processing of accounts receivable for fines owed in criminal cases,not to exceed$30.00 Contra Costa asked to be added to this legislation. The author agreed. However, so many counties asked to be added that the author eventually allowed the bill to be made applicable statewide. It,thereby,lost some critical support in the Legislature and in order to get it passed the author amended the bill back to include only Alameda County,although the author had agreed to leave Contra Costa County in the bill.The legislation was eventually enacted with only Alameda County included. In an effort to correct this oversight the author introduced SB 458 in 1987. This legislation never went anywhere and the County still needs to have the authority,currently granted only to San Diego and Alameda Counties,to impose these assessments. (See GC 72062). Senator Petris introduced SB 358 for this purpose.This bill has passed the Legislature and has been signed into law by the Governor. SB 358,which is now Chapter 49,Statutes of 1989,authorizes any county to impose these additional administrative assessments. 18. Amend 1463 PC dealing with Kensington to allow for local agreement to alter percentage of split in fines and forfeitures. Under current law the percentage of fees,fines and forfeitures that go to cities and counties are specified. Local jurisdictions are able to alter these percentages by mutual agreement. No such authority exists to alter the percentage split that goes to a special district like the Kensington Community Services District that provides law enforcement services. Authority exists to adjust these percentages with BARTD and the Municipal Court Administrator requests authority to adjust these percentages with the Kensington Community Services District. (See PC 1463 (1)(c)). This provision,which we do not think is controversial,will be amended into another bill at some point this session if at all possible. - 6 - 19. Require DMV to accept Holds on all traffic offenses for failure to pay fine. Under current law DMV accepts Drivers' License holds on the more serious vehicle code offenses for failure to pay a fine or otherwise to comply with a court order. The only alternative a Judge has under current law for less serious offenses is to issue a bench warrant, a much more serious action than simply refusing to renew a Drivers' License until all fines are cleared. This leaves us with a situation where a Judge may have to issue a bench warrant for a muffler violation whereas a speeding ticket which is not paid results only in a hold on the Drivers' License. We would like to determine the willingness of DMV to accept holds on all vehicle code violations,thereby eliminating the need for many bench warrants and establishing a more consistent penalty for failure to pay a fine. If DMV is willing we would like them to join us in sponsoring legislation to require DMV to accept holds on all vehicle code violations. Senator Beverly introduced SB 1002 for this purpose.While SB 1002 exempts some vehicle code violations such as parking,pedestrian,bicycle,off-highway and open alcoholic container violations,the substance of what was included in the Board's legislative program for this item is included in SB 1002. SB 1002 passed the Legislature and has been signed into law by the Governor as Chapter 126;Statutes of 1989. 20. Increase civil automation and micrographics fee from$1.00 to an amount acceptable to the Legislature Under law in effect until August of 1988 the Board of Supervisors was able to increase the fee which is charged on civil filings to pay for micrographics conversion and automation of court records. Some counties apparently abused this right and pushed up the fee to unacceptable levels. As a result,at the end of the last session of the Legislature, a bill was passed which removed this authority from the Board of Supervisors. In Contra Costa County this fee was at$8.00. The change in law returned this fee to the statutory maximum of$1.00. This fee is inadequate to finance the micrographics and automation which is required in the courts. It is, therefore, suggested that the County sponsor legislation which will increase this fee under legislative control to whatever level the Legislature is willing to accept, hopefully to about $8.00. We have had Assemblyman Cortese amend AB 1638 to provide for increases in the micrographics and civil automation fees. Final amendments are still being made to the bill,which is currently pending in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. If we are unsuccessful in getting this bill out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee,as seems likely at this point,arrangements are being discussed with another author to increase the micrographics and civil automation.fee by$4 in both Superior and Municipal Court for a period of six years. While this will not generate as much revenue as AB 1638,it is certainly better than the current$1 fee which we are authorized to collect. If we are unsuccessful in obtaining an increase in the micrographics and civil automation fee this year we will continue to pursue this issue in 1990. 21. Request a study of the whole problem of how to properly dispose of recycled motor oil and request that recommendations be made to the Legislature for future action The Board had originally requested that legislation be sponsored to impose a surcharge on the sale of motor oil to pay for recycling programs designed to properly dispose of used motor oil. The County's lobbyist has indicated that this proposal will generate substantial opposition from the petroleum industry and is therefore unlikely to be passed by the Legislature. An alternative which has been suggested is to have the Legislature request a study by the Legislative Analyst or other appropriate body to determine the extent of the problem and develop recommendations for future legislative action. This appears to be the action which is most likely to receive legislative support and is therefore recommended as an interim measure, leading to further legislation in a year or so after adequate documentation of the extent of the problem is gathered. We are preparing a Resolution requesting a study as suggested above. Senator Petris has also introduced 'legislation(SB 1200)authorizing a grant program for used oil recycling programs which the Board is now on record as supporting.SB 1200 is currently on referral to the Senate Appropriations Committee,but has been held in Senate Appropriations under submission,which generally means the Committee refuses to vote the bill out. - 7 = 2f : Relieve small school districts of cost of special education students placed by another district particularly transportation costs. As requested by the Board of Supervisors,the County Administrator's Office set up a meeting between Assemblyman Campbell, Supervisor Torlakson and the superintendents of the East County school districts. Assemblyman Campbell indicated that AB 300 had been introduced at the request of this County in order to address this situation. At the conclusion of the meeting the superintendents agreed that they would provide Assemblyman Campbell's staff with additional data to support their need for additional transportation funding for special education children. There does not appears to be anything further for the Board of Supervisors or the County Administrator's Office to do on this issue at this time, although we will continue to follow AB 300. AB 300 has passed the Assembly Floor and is currently on referral to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it is being held in the Suspense File. 29. Clean-Up to SB 1974 of 1988 (1988 Muni Court Pay & Staffing Bill) to remove references to the Marshal. When the Marshal/Sheriff consolidation legislation was enacted earlier this year it left in statute the determination of the pay and staffing for classifications in the Marshal's Office. Now that the consolidation has been completed under the Sheriff there is no need for the state law to fix the pay and staffing for those positions that were previously in the Marshal's Office. A fairly simple change in legislation will be pursued that will clean- up this issue. 30. Municipal Court Pay & Staffing Bill. Each year the Board of Supervisors must sponsor a Municipal Court Pay and Staffing Bill that allows the Legislature to fix the staffing and pay for employees in the Municipal Court. This Legislation is generally not controversial and the County Administrator will again prepare such legislation for introduction by a member of this County's delegation. This Legislation will probably be combined with the clean-up to the Marshal/Sheriff consolidation discussed above so that all of the changes to the staffing and pay for the Municipal Courts can be handled in a single piece of legislation. Senator Boatwright has introduced SB 305 to address both the changes to remove the references to the Marshal's office and to make other changes to the Municipal Court Pay and Staffing legislation to reflect decisions already made by the Board of Supervisors as well as the terms of the agreement with the Courts over the Trial Court Funding Act legislation. Final amendments for this bill have been forwarded to Senator Boatwright. SB 305 has passed the Senate Floor and is currently on referral to the Assembly Judiciary Committee where it is scheduled for a hearing on August 23,1989. This office will provide the Board of Supervisors will a further status report on this subject early in October, 1989 after the Legislature adjourns for the year and after the Governor has had an opportunity to act on all legislation sent to him. - 8 -