California Republicans decry constitutional amendment aimed at increasing affordable housing

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LEGISLATIVE REPUBLICANS RAIL AGAINST PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

California legislative Republicans and anti-tax activists came to the Capitol steps Wednesday morning to decry ACA 1, a proposed constitutional amendment that they argue is an end run around Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot measure that limits governments’ ability to raise property taxes.

Jon Coupal, of the conservative Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, called the amendment “a direct attack on Proposition 13.”

“Make no mistake, ACA 1 is a tax increase,” Coupal said.

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, said that the measure “chips away at the critical taxpayer protections” offered by Prop. 13 and makes it easier for politicians to raise taxes.

So what does the proposed amendment, which would have to be approved not only by the Legislature but also by California voters before becoming law, actually do?

The amendment lowers the vote threshold for approval of local general obligation bonds and special taxes from two-thirds majority to 55%, a much easier political lift. But there’s a catch — it only applies to funding for affordable housing and public infrastructure projects.

Currently, only school bonds have a 55% vote threshold for passage.

Republicans are concerned that the amendment could foreshadow an attempt to completely undo Prop. 13.

Supporters, including amendment sponsor California Professional Firefighters, argue that it doesn’t raise a single tax, but merely asks voters “to decide whether 55% is a proper voter approval threshold” for generating extra revenue or bond funding for critical public needs.

Amendment author Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, said in a statement of support that “Local governments and local voters know best what their communities need.”

The measure is currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Aguiar-Curry will host her own press conference and rally for the amendment on the west Capitol steps Thursday at 11 a.m.

TICK TOCK FOR TIKTOK, WHOSE TIME IN CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT MAY BE DRAWING SHORT

Via Grace Scullion...

The legislature is on its way to prohibiting state employees from downloading social media apps owned by “a country of concern” on their state-issued phones and computers.

That country would, of course be China, and the app would be TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

Thirty-four states and the U.S. military have already banned the use of TikTok on government-issued devices. Montana is the only state to ban the app entirely, prohibiting app stores from offering it for download to residents. The FBI raised national security concerns about the app last December.

The Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee approved an amended version of SB 74 on Wednesday afternoon 6-0. It now heads to the Assembly floor for vote.

The bipartisan measure, introduced by Sens. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and Brian Jones, R-Santee, passed the Senate in May.

Multiple state agencies use TikTok to communicate, including the governor’s office, California State Parks and the California Energy Commission. An amendment to the bill passed on Wednesday stipulates an exception from the ban if the app is being used for official communication purposes.

More than twice as many Americans support a complete U.S. ban on TikTok — meaning even on private citizens’ devices — than oppose it, according to a Pew Research Center survey from March. Seven in 10 Republicans favored the ban, compared to just over five in 10 Democrats.

Dodd said he was focusing on government devices because of recent data breaches the state has experienced. Most recently, a breach of the California Public Employee and Retirement System exposed nearly 1.2 million Social Security numbers, birth dates and other personal information.

This bill will notably not affect staffers in the Legislature, according to one of Dodd’s legislative aides. They are regulated by separate rules than state employees.

SB 14 PLACED ON SUSPENSE

A bill to make child sex trafficking a three strikes offense in California is, at least temporarily, on ice.

SB 14, by Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, was moved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee to the suspense file.

Democrats on the committee were quick to clarify that this move was due to the fiscal impact of the bill and not policy considerations.

“Is it every bill that costs $150,000 or more automatically, in most cases, goes to suspense and this is a very normal process for every piece of legislation? It’s not a policy committee but a fiscal committee, is that right?” Assembly Majority Leader Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, asked committee Chair Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, who answered in the affirmative.

In a statement released after the decision, Grove said that she hopes that while the committee considers the fiscal impact of her proposed law, they also take into account the impact of human trafficking on people’s lives.

“There is no price tag that can be placed on a victim of human trafficking, especially a child,” she said.

The bill will remain on suspense until Sept. 1, when the committee will announce whether it is approved or killed.

Grace Scullion contributed to this story.

CALIFORNIA LIKELY WON’T SEE MAJOR CUTS IN COLORADO RIVER WATER...YET

Via Gillian Brassil...

California will likely get away without serious cuts to its Colorado River intake in 2024 as the federal government reviews states’ conservation plans for its overused and drought-stricken water supply.

A wet winter means less serious water reductions from the river’s system of dams and reservoirs, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said in its projections of water allocations for the coming year.

But the agency, which oversees federal water issues, warned that long-term conservation measures are still needed to address dangerously declining levels in the nation’s largest reservoirs.

“The above-average precipitation this year was a welcome relief, and coupled with our hard work for system conservation, we have the time to focus on the long-term sustainability solutions needed in the Colorado River Basin,” Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said in a statement Tuesday.

Still, Lake Mead and Lake Powell “remain at historically low levels.”

The reservoirs are at a third of their capacity. In addition to strains on farms and families who need the water, shrinking river supplies threaten hydrologic power systems that produce electricity.

The Colorado River, home to the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams, supports 40 million people, almost 6 million acres of agriculture and tribal communities across seven states and portions of Mexico. Almost half of those who rely on the river reside in Southern California. California is the Colorado River’s largest beneficiary and has senior water rights to it, helping the state avoid the same cuts that Arizona and Nevada face this year.

The predicted allocations fall in line with 2007 guidelines that govern use of the river’s resources. The guidelines will expire at the end of 2026. However, the federal government forced states to amend its plan for the interim given concerns about the river’s sustainability.

California, Arizona and Nevada agreed to conserve about 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water over the next three years. The agreement announced in May came after nearly a year of contentious negotiation over which states should face greatest cuts.

An acre-foot is about what two average houses use in a year. The reductions would surpass 10% of the total water use in the lower Colorado River basin, according to the plan announced by the three lower basin states. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, which sit on the upper basin, supported their new plan.

Before it can be put into place, the federal government must conduct an environmental review. For now, Reclamation must operate consistent with the 2007 guidelines.

California has reduced Colorado River intake before. The state cut about a fifth of its river water use in 2003 to accommodate rising populations in Arizona and Nevada and again through the Bureau of Reclamation’s 2019 Drought Contingency Plan.

California changes would most affect people in Southern California. Yet repercussions could expand north as localities figure out how to operate with less water.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Californians might be numb to this, but we can’t let it become normal. #CALeg employees are assaulted and threatened with alarming frequency at and near the Capitol. It’s a failure of multiple levels of government that the situation has become this bad.”

- Assembly Republicans spokesman Jim Stanley, discussing an incident where a man threatened journalists at the Capitol, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• At least eight people — including three prominent labor supporters — were detained Wednesday after members and supporters of one of California’s largest state workers’ union refused to leave the Capitol swing space, shutting down a prominent government office building in downtown Sacramento, via Maya Miller.

• A controversial proposal aimed to create more affordable housing in the City of Sacramento has taken a step forward, but may be two votes too short to pass, via Theresa Clift.

• Many of the Latin American migrants who arrived in Sacramento via Florida-chartered planes could soon be responsible for paying rent while they still cannot legally work, via Mathew Miranda.

• Cannabis got Mike Snell kicked out of the Air Force. It is also leading the Sacramento man to a potential big financial payout as the owner of Sacramento’s newest cannabis dispensary, via Randy Diamond.