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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11081988 - 2.3 a•3 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this rder on _ November 8 , 1988 by the following vote: AYES: Su ervisors Powers, Fanden, McPeak, Torlakson, Schroder NOES: No e ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None ------------- ---------------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Le islative Priorities Th Board received the attached report dated October 31, 1988 from the County Administrator on the status of the Board' s 1988 Legislat ve Priorities. Su ervisor Sunne McPeak referred to Item B. 2 on the. attached repo t relative to long-term care, and requested that the item be inclu ed in the Board' s 1989 Legislative Package. Su ervisor Nancy Fanden commented on the need to pursue legislation tD deal with the problem of abandoned vehicles. She recommended t at other counties be asked to participate in a program to to e pictures of all abandoned vehicles and forward them to the GovernDr to encourage his support of such legislation. Bord members being in agreement, IT IS ORDERED that the following act' ons are APPROVED: 1. AC NOWLEDGED receipt of report from the County A inistrator on the results of the Board' s 1988 Le islative Program; 2. DI ECTED that legislation providing for reimbursement to nu sing homes accepting their fair share of Medi-Cal patients be included in the Board' s 1989 Legislative Pa kage; and 3 . RE UESTED the County Administrator to explore the feasibility of requesting other counties to participate in a Statewide pictorial program to emphasize the ab ndoned vehicle problems in a effort to encourage the Go ernor to sign legislation to resolve the problems. cc: County A inistra tor Jackson/ arish & Associates (via CAO) D. J. Smith Associates (via CAO) Department Heads (via CAO) Legislative Delegation (via CAO) 1 hereby certify that this is a true ancf correct copy of an action taken and entered or U-te minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. of Supervisors and County Ad sinistrator MVMi.(,J By b De-�L"iWy BOARD OF SUPERVISORS . 3 FROM: Phil Batchelor Contra tra County Ad inistrator Costa DATE: October 31 , 1988 Ca.* SUBJECT: Status Report on the Board' s 1988 Legislative Priorities SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RE74;7WENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION : 1 . Acknowledge receipt of the report of the County Administrator on the extent to which the Board' s 1988 prioritie for legislative action were achieved. 2 . Consider Nether any priority items that were not achieved in 1988 should be carried over for inclusion in the Board' s 1989 Legislative Program. BACKGROUND: On January 1 1988, the Board of Supervisors established priorities for the achievement of the Board' s 1988 Legislative Program. A copy of that priority listing is attached. Since the 1988 Session of the Legislature has now adjourned, it is timely , to report back to the Board of Supervisors on the extent to which the Board' s priorities were achieved. The following report reviews each of the 1988 priorities in the same order they are listed in the attached report, lists the specific item as it appeared in the 1988 listing of priorities, and comments on what actions were taken to achieve the priority and the extent to which the Coun y was successful in achieving the priority item. A. High Priority - Substantial Lobbyist Effort Required: 1 . Insure prompt passage of legislation similar to SB 349 of the 1987 Session which would allow a surcharge on non-parking violations to support the Courthouse Construction Fund. These provisions of SB 349 were inadvertently chaptered out by SB 1148 . Senator Bergeson has promised to reintroduce identical provisions as soon as the Legislature reconvenes. Action Taken and Results: This was accomplished by the passage of AB 1406 (Chapter 15, Statutes of 1988) . Senator Bergeson amended the provisions of AB 1406 by Assemblyman Frazee to incorporate the portion of SB 349 which CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _ YES SIGNATURE; &&Z 2!�Z7 . 4 al& "I�_Z � _ 4 RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE //���� X APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ION OF OF BOARD ON November 8 1988 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE _ UNANIMOUS (ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES. AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT; ABSTAIN: O PERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED Jackson/Bari sh & Associates PHIL BATC R. CLERK OF THE BOARD OF D. J. Smith Associates SUPERVISORS A OUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Department Heads (via CAO) Legislative Delegation (via CAO) M382/7-83 BY TY Page 2 1 . Action Taken and Results (continued) had been chaptered out by SB 1148. AB 1406 was signed by the Governor on March 1, 1988 and the Municipal Court began collecting the additional $1. 00 for each $10. 00 of fines collected on all non-parking cases shortly thereafter. 2 . Amendments to the no- and low-property tax city provisions of SB 709 to repeal or substantially modify, the provisions. Action Taken and Results: As we have already reported to the Board, the Legislature did substantially modify the no- and low-property tax city provisions of SB 709 in AB 1197 (W.Brown) . The bill passed the Legislature on the last night of the Session and was signed by the Governor on September 16, 1988. It is now Chapter 944, Statutes of 1988 . AB 1197 reduces the property tax transfer from loo phased in over 10 years to 70, phased in over 7 years. With the other changes that were made, we feel pleased with the results of this item and believe that we achieved as much as was possible. 3 . Ame:unds dment to and passage of AB 145 and AB 558 regarding thehomeless and pilot projects on more effective use of for foster care designed to keep children in their own homes. Action Taken and Results: While AB 558 was amended, it still provided for only three pilot projects and three counties were already designated as pilot counties. We anticipate that the Social Services Director will include in his reco endations for legislative initiatives in 1989 legislation to increase the number of pilot projects to four and specifically designate Contra Costa as one of the projects. AB 558 was signed by the Governor on May 11, 1988 and is now Chapter 105, Statutes of 1988. AB 145 was substantially amended to authorize taxpayers to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount of their tax refund, or a specific amount in addition to their tax liability, be designated for emergency or temporary shelter for homeless families. The Governor vetoed AB 145 . 4 . Oppose any efforts to include existing fire districts in procedures enacted pursuant to SB 515 of 1987 which makes it easier to change the governing board of a fire district. Action Taken and Results: No �ubstantial efforts were made by the proponents of such changes to introduce such legislation in 1988. As a result, other than simply monitoring legislation as it was introduced and amended, no special efforts were required in this direction. The Board' s position was sustained in this regard. Page 3 5. Legilation to exempt from the two-year limit on proc ssing assessment appeals those where the amount at issue exceeds $10 million. Action Taken and Results: Legislation to accomplish this objective was introduced. It quickly became clear that there would be substantial opposition from the oil companies and othe industries that have specialized property asse;sment issues with the County. Once Tosco Oil Comp ny settled its assessment appeal with the County to the County' s satisfaction, this legislation was dropped because of the effort that would have been requ}' red to achieve its passage and because passage was of less immediate importance to the County. This is still an issue which the Board may wish to include in its 1989 Legislative Program in order to avoid the possibility that in the future the County could effetively lose an assessment appeal simply because of the �ime required to process it. 6 . Working with all of the members of the Bay Area Legislative Delegation, and the Deukmejian Admi I istration, to seek a consensus on toll bridge legi lation that would: o Authorize bonding for the second span of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge; o Authorize bonding for replacement of the old span of the Carquinez Bridge; o Work to maximize the amount of highway bridge approaches that can be funded by the toll authorization bill in the I-680 corridor on both sides of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge; o Develop some funding base for efforts on transportation system management activities, high occupancy vehicle (HOV) activities, and transit capital expenditures related to the various bridge corridors that Contra Costa County residents commute on daily. Acti n Taken and Results: SB 45 was successfully passed and signed by the Gove nor. This is now Regional Measure 1 on the November 8 ballot which would raise tolls on all of the brid es in the Bay Area except the Golden Gate Bridge to $1 .00 to fund transportation improvements (road, rail, and bridge structures) . A majority of the voters in the seven counties mentioned in the legislation (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mate , Santa Clara and Solano) must vote in favor in order to pass the legislation. For Contra Costa County, the passage of Regional Measure 1 would authorize the following: A. evenue bonding for all the bridges. B. idening the existing Benicia-Martinez Bridge and construction of an additional span parallel to the existing bridge (and prohibit any construction which would result in the net loss of any wetlands) . Page 4 C. Replace the existing western span of the- Carquinez Bridge. D. Consider rail transit on the Benicia and Carquinez Bridges when the plans for the new structures are developed. E. Up to three percent of the revenues derived from the toll increases on all bridges in the northern unit may be used to reduce vehicular traffic congestion. F. The bridge and approach limits will be determined in a detailed traffic engineering study to be performed by CALTRANS. 7 . Work with our State legislative delegation to leverage BART and other entities in the Bay Area toward the funding of extension projects in the County. Based on the inadequate compromise developed by BART in relation to San Mateo County extensions, we will be working hard to ut the North Concord Station, and other Contra Costa County BART priorities, into a higher priority position .relative to Federal and State funds than is now the case apparent in the San Mateo proposal. Action Taken and Results: SB 1715 was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor (Chapter 1259 , Statutes of 1988) . The bill provides for a contribution by BART of at least $34 million for the extension. Construction must begin by March, 1991. The bill generally follows the successful renegotiation of the BART-San Mateo agreement, in which your Board took the lead. BART money, San Mateo County money, bridge tolls, existing and Regional Measure 1 funds, in combination with State funds and sales tax funds will create a financial prog am for a rail extension as far as $425 million will go in Eastern Contra Costa County. Implementation of he program requires the passage of both Regional Measure 1 and Measure C. 8. Contrinue to work toward a workable program for the early design and construction of State Route 4 over the Willow Pass into a full freeway segment. We were successful this year in getting State Route 4 into the State Transportation Improvement Program, allowing CALT�ANS and the County to begin necessary environmental clearances for lowering the Willow Pass, widening the highway, and including a transit right.-of-way for the eventual BART extension. Action Taken and Results: The third westbound lane over the Willow Pass is finally funded and construction is underway. The ultimate project work is also underway, funded by $2 million in BART funds. We are currently in negotiation for the transit share of the construction project. Actual committed dollars will be in the $26 million range after accounting for funds that have already been expe;ded in support of the extension. The total commitment is the $34 million allocated in MTC' s regional rail program and SB 1715 . Page 5 9. In regard to the North Richmond Bypass, continue to work to insure timely completion of the Atlas Road Inte change, and consideration for State Route 93 as soon as possible for inclusion in the State Tran portation Improvement Program. Action Taken and Results: The North Richmond Bypass is mentioned in SB 45 (Regional Measure 1) as a part of the Richmond-San Rafal Bridge where a new easterly approach to the brid e between the toll plaza and. Interstate 80 near Pino e will be developed. Funding is anticipated at $38 million. B. High Priority - No Lobbyist Involvement Anticipated: 1. Municipal Court Pay and Staffing Bill including cons lidation of the Administration of the Municipal CouNs and the Marshal/Sheriff consolidation. Action Taken and Results: It was decided, after discussing the matter with pote tial authors, to split the Municipal Court Pay and Staffing and Marshal/Sheriff consolidation into two separate bills. Senator Boatwright carried the Municipal Court Pay and Staffing in SB 1974 while Assemblyman Baker carried the Marshal/Sheriff consolidation in AB 3014. SB 1974 passed and was signd by the Governor without any opposition. It is now 7Chapter 1116, Statutes of 1988. While AB 3014 initially had some opposition in the Assembly Judiciary Committee because of active lobbying by the statewide Depu�y Marshals ' Association, amendments were eventually worked out which .removed the opposition of the Deputy Marshals ' Association and were acceptable to the Contra Costa Municipal Court Bench. AB 3014 pass d, was signed by the Governor and is now Chapter 444, Statutes of 1988. The Board has already impl mented the consolidation. 2. Pack ge of Long-Term Care legislation ( items 22-31 of 1988 Legislative Program) . Action Taken and Results: A separate report will be forthcoming from the Health Serv' ces Director on this item in the near future. C. High Prio ity - CSAC Will be Expected to Take _lead: 1 . Amendments to SB 709 to clarify the Trial Court Funding provisions of the law. Action Taken and Results: CSAC,, . supported by this County' s lobbyists and those of many other counties, was successful in achieving a "net block grant" , a cost-of-living increase on the block grant, retention by the counties of all fines and forfeitures, and many other features which were sought by counties. These provisions were incorporated in SB 612 (Presley) which was passed and signed into law. This bill is now Chapter 945, .Statutes of 1988. Page 6 2. Legislation to restore the Board of Supervisors ' ability to place special tax measures on the ballot. Action Taken and Results: CSAC took no action on this proposal. It will be included in the proposed Legislative Program for 1989 for assistance from our lobbyist. 3 . Provide a stable source of revenue for local governments. Actiop Taken and Results: While a number of proposals were introduced and pushed actively by CSAC and this County, none other than the Trial Court Block Grant passed the Legislature. We will (continue to cooperate with CSAC and other counties on both legislation and efforts to introduce and qualify an initiative for the ballot which would transfer a portion of the State sales tax to counties, guarantee that counties would not lose any current revenue sources and which would tighten up on the requirements that the State fully reimburse counties for the cost of State-mandated programs. 4. Provide for a transfer of State revenue to meet local government needs prior to rebating further revenue to the taxpayers. Action Taken and Results: With the State' s budget deficit which was discovered during the 1987-88 fiscal year, it became clear that there would be no surplus to worry about. As a result, little attention was given to this proposal. However, Proposition 98 on the November 8 , 1988 ballot would, if passed, make this issue largely moot since all revenue above the State' s "Gann" appropriations limit would be dedicated to the schools. If Proposition 98 fails to pass �nie will review this matter again in light of the CSAC tiative effort discussed above. 5 . Strengthen the requirement that the State fully fund mandaes it places on local government. Action Taken and Results: While a number of helpful pieces of legislation were introduced, none was given any serious consideration by the Legislature. This remains an issue that needs to be dealt with in the future. It is addressed in the CSAC Initiative which is discussed above. D. Medium Pri,orit - Lobbyist Effort Involved: 1. Redevelopment Agency pass-through to other taxing districts, particularly fire services. (Legislation unlikely in 1988, but Senate Local Government Committee will undertake a major study of this and related distribution of the property tax anticipating possible legislation in 1989) . Action Taken and Results: As was anticipated, no legislation surfaced during 1988 to address this problem. However, the Chair of the Senate Local Government Committee, Senator Marian Bergeson, will hold hearings this fall and fully intedn s to introduce major legislation on this subject in 1969. Page 7 2 . Legislation to clarify that when a previously "dependent" special district becomes "independent" its contribution to the SDAF is frozen at the level of contribution made during the last full fiscal year the "depe dent" district was in existence rather than being froze? at the 1983-84 level. Action Taken and Results: The County was successful in accomplishing much of this objec ive via the introduction of AB 4162 (Baker) . We eventually had to compromise to base the contribution of the special district on the average of the past three fiscal years rather than on the last fiscal year. Howey r' this is a vast improvement over the prior law. AB 41162 was passed and signed by the Governor. It is now Chapter 1492, Statutes of 1988. 3 . Legislation to establish a pilot project in Contra Costal County to intensify the enforcement of vehicle registration laws, focusing on out-of-state vehicles, but including expired California registrations. Actio Taken and Results: This specific proposal was abandoned after the California Highway Patrol made it clear that they would opposethe proposal on the basis that it was not necesary for them to intensify their enforcement of the vehicle registration laws in this particular instance since the Foreign Vehicle Registration Unit in the Department of Motor Vehicles is fully capable of handling and following up on any referrals that are made to it. As an alternative, the local Highway Patrol Office did intensify their enforcement of the vehicle registration laws as they pertain to out-of-state vehicles. In addition, with the active support of the Highway Patrol and the Department of Motor Vehicles, this County amended AB 4044 (Katz) to allow a peace officer who stops a vehicle for any other reason to cite a driver who possesses a California driver' s license, but owns and is driving a vehicle that is registered out-of-state for violating the vehicle registration laws without any further investigation. This situation now, becomes a rebuttable presumption that a driver in this situation has violated the vehicle registration laws. This will save a great deal of time in that peace officers and the DMV will not have to provide evidence which has been independently gathered that the driver is a resident of California. Now the driver who has a� California driver ' s license and a car which is regis Bred out-of-state must establish, to the court' s satisfaction that they are, in fact, not a California resident for the purposes of the vehicle registration laws. AB 4044 passed the Legislature and has been signed by the Governor. It is now Chapter 1008, Statutes of 1988. In addition, we were able to obtain a commitment from the D�V that they would amend their drivers ' handbook to .include a reminder to all persons who take the driver' s license test that they must also have their vehicles registered in California as they are now a California resident. This change was achieved admin' stratively, without the need for legislation. Page 8 4 . Legislation to insure that if the IT facility in Martinez is modernized it will still be required to pay the 0% hazardous waste tax. Action Taken and Results: Even s during the year made it look extremely unlikely that IT would even be modernized on the Martinez site by IT Corporation. As a result, it was determined that this was a much lower priority than it had appeared at the beginning of the year. As a result, no further effort was put into seeking such legislation. 5 . Legislation to permit the release of AIDS test results to the Probation Department and Superior Court where the minor is a ward of the court. Action Taken and Results: Whil� a number of bills were introduced, some of which would have helped to resolve this issue, none passed which specifically dealt with this issue. We will include this provision in our proposed 1989 Legislative Program. 6 . Exem t the Contra Costa Health Plan from the provisions of the Knox-Keene Health Care Services Plan Act of 1975 sine it is already regulated by the State Department of H7alth Services. Action Taken and Results: It was determined that the Director of the State Depatment of Health Services already had statutory authority to waive the separate audit requirements which are created by having the CCHP regulated by both the Department of Corporations and the Department of Health Services. The mere threat that we would intrduce legislation to require such a waiver was appa eptly sufficient. The State Department of Health Services has indicated to our Health Plan that it would agree to waive the double audit requirements. As a result, the Executive Director of the CCHP dropped his requst for this legislation. In effect the problem was 7solved satisfactorily without the need for legislation. 7. Research legislation recently passed for Orange County that allows the use of developer fees for planning and administration purposes in order to see if such legislation would be suitable for Contra Costa County to sponsor. Action Taken and Results: Due to the press of other business, no action was taken on this item. We can review this again to determine whet YIer it is still appropriate to include in the 1989 Legi lative Program. 8. Continue to coordinate with other concerned cities and counties about a possible solution to the funding of the pickup and disposal of abandoned vehicles. Page 9 8 . (con inued) Action Taken and Results: While a great amount of effort was not put into this subject this year, one bill did pass. AB 3132 (Harris) would have transferred $11 million from the Motor Vehi ,le Account to the Abandoned Vehicle Trust Fund and made that money available to cities and counties for the purpose of funding abandoned vehicle programs. AB 3132 was vetoed by the Governor. Attention may need to be given to this subject again in 1989. - Involvement Anticipated: E. Medium Priority No Lobbyist Invol a An p 1 . Support legislation designed to increase funding to Veterans Service Officers (AB 148) . Action Taken and Results: A variety of efforts have been made over the past several years to obtain additional State funding for Veterans Service Offices. In 1988, an augmentation of $1,150,000 was placed in SB 2172 for this purpose. SB 2172 passed the Legislature, but the Governor vetoed all put $250,000 of the funding with the explanation that the Veterans Service Officer function was essentially a local program and, therefore, the State should not have to fund it. While this additional $250 , 000 will be of some assistance to this County, our new Veterans Service Officer wants to mount another effort in 1988 to obtain additional funding for his programs. We will include such an effort in our proposed Legislative program for 1989. 2. Provide rate increases for community living facilities for evelopmentally disabled persons similar to AB 150 whic was vetoed in 1987. Action Taken and Results: A separate report on this subject will be made by the Health Services Director in the near future. F. Low Priorit : 1 . Change the split of sales tax revenue and fines and forfeitures between the cities and the County in cases of n,w incorporations unless SB 709 is amended to relieve the County of the transfer of property taxes. Action Taken and Results: As has already been noted under item A2 above, the size of the property tax transfer to the cities was reduced substantially. In addition, while there was talk of changing the split of fines and forfeitures between the cities and the County, no one seemed to seriously consider this item. SB 612 (Presley) does contain a provision that allows the county to keep 1000 of the increase in fines and forfeitures due to an increase in the bail schedule up to $100, 000 per year for a period of foiur years. Page 10 2 . Authlrize the Board of Supervisors to order an audit of a special district at the special district' s expense when complaints appear to justify such action. Action Taken and Results: No action was taken on this item due to the pressure of other legislation and the total opposition which was being generated by the special districts. It is possible that a modified proposal could be pursued in 1989 if the Board wishes to do so.