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| September 26, 2016 PROPOSITIONS Yes on Prop 54 to lift the veil of secrecy (Pleasanton Weekly) Proposition 54, the California "Legislature Transparency Act" Amendment, may not sound nearly as interesting as others. However, this has the potential to transform the way our state legislature operates and gives the press and the public access to information they should have had all along. The amendment would require bills before the legislature, except in cases of public emergency, to be published on the internet in their final form at least 72 hours before a vote. It also requires the legislature to post video of its proceedings online. REVENUE/TAX Tax boosts that target the powerless (Sacramento Bee) A November ballot measure, Proposition 55, would extend that dangerous dependency on the rich for another 12 years, and its strong lead in the polls is a testament to the cynical validity of Brown’s observation about voters’ willingness to approve taxes that they won’t be paying themselves. However, some go even further, seeking taxes on those who have absolutely no power to protest, even at the polls. California has seen a steady increase in local tax bites on non-residents of the taxing jurisdictions. WATER / DROUGHT $4.2M water, storm drain project to begin in Suisun City (Daily Republic) Work on a $4.2 million water pipeline and storm drain along Railroad Avenue in Suisun City is scheduled to begin Tuesday and will affect traffic flow in the area. Construction is expected to take nine months. It is a joint project with the Suisun City and Fairfield public works departments. HOUSING Building a partnership to preserve affordable housing in Marin (Marin Independent Journal) One of the key initiatives that emerged from the workshops was the Landlord Partnership Program, which our board formally approved this summer. This innovative program aims to expand affordable housing opportunities by reworking our local approach to the Housing Choice Voucher Program in Marin, also known as Section 8. In 2015, over 2,000 families and individuals used federally funded Section 8 vouchers to rent homes throughout Marin, bringing in over $29 million in rent payments. However, hundreds more were unable to find opportunities to use their vouchers in Marin. In fact, of the 192 new vouchers issued thus far this year, only 60 are being put to use due to lack of opportunities in the rental market. Fate of rent control could be decided in Santa Rosa City Council election (Press Democrat) Four seats are opening up on the Santa Rosa City Council this year, and with two incumbents bowing out, voters soon will have a significant say in the political priorities for the North Coast’s largest city. Housing, homelessness, roads and cannabis regulation are all on voters’ minds this year, but one issue is dominating the city’s political discourse: rent control. The controversial policy, passed Aug. 29 and set to go into effect Friday, has not only split the City Council down the middle, but it has sharply divided the six candidates, as well. HOMELESSNESS / POVERTY Deal for SF homeless camp: Keep the peace, get a gift certificate (SF Gate) The agreement with the Box City campers is that if they can take good care of the toilet and keep their settlement of a dozen hand-built shacks orderly, they’ll earn gift certificates at local businesses, and in two weeks everyone will have a barbecue together. Nobody’s calling the little spread near the Caltrain tracks at Seventh and Hubbell streets a permanent camp, and no one wants more homeless people to rush in and set up more boxes. It’s just an effort to put a bit of order into an inherently disorderly situation that is replicated daily throughout the city in more than 75 street camps. MARIJUANA Who’s funding marijuana legalization in California? (Lake County Record-Bee) With Proposition 64, there are eight committees supporting the measure and two working to defeat it. That’s double the number of committees working around any of the other 16 measures on the November ballot. When the conflicting campaign totals were reported in early September, the primary Yes on 64 committee had taken in $6.6 million. But when that was combined with all the fundraising reported by the other pro-legalization committees, the total reached nearly $18 million. Some of the biggest PACs backing Proposition 64 also are supporting measures in other states. That makes it tough to determine how much of the money will go to the California effort. In addition, several million dollars have been transferred between independent committees before reaching the official Yes on 64 campaign. In some published reports, that appears to have led to counting the same funds multiple times. Paso marijuana regulation moves forward Council seeking applications for task force (Paso Robles Press) The Paso Robles City Council is seeking applicants to form a five to seven member medical marijuana task force, after it held the first reading Tuesday of a draft ordinance to regulate personal, medical and commercial marijuana preempting Proposition 64. At the Sept. 20 council meeting, the fear of losing local control was the big issue. According to Paso Robles City Manager Tom Frutchey, the League of California Cities said that if local regulation was not in place by Nov. 9 and Proposition 64 were to pass, the City of Paso Robles would be regulated by the the Adult Use of Marijuana Act and lose local control. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Fresno to receive $70 million from state climate program (KFSN-TV Fresno) Governor Jerry Brown announced Friday that Fresno will have at least 50 percent of this year's $140 million appropriation to the state's new Transformational Climate Communities Program. Fresno mayor Ashley Swearengin said the money will be used towards projects that will help clean the city's air and build the economy. Don’t forsake poor people in climate change fight (Sacramento Bee) California’s cap-and-trade program has been key to the state’s strategy for achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a good and noble undertaking. But it may be falling short on helping poor people who live in areas where factories spew pollutants. Under the program, refineries, cement plants and electricity generators, among others, are required to have an allowance for every ton of greenhouse gas they emit. These allowances are bought and sold on the carbon market, which means that companies can meet their emissions reduction targets by paying for others to cut back on pollution. The rationale for cap and trade has been that this is a more economically efficient way to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Environmental justice advocates agree that a reduction in greenhouse gas anywhere is positive for the planet. Governor signs Wolk climate change bill (The Reporter) Governor Jerry Brown Friday signed into law legislation by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Solano, to promote the protection and management of natural and working lands as part of California’s ongoing efforts to meet its climate change goals. Wolk’s Senate Bill 1386 declares it to be state policy that protecting and managing natural and working lands is important to meeting California’s climate change goals. The bill also directs all relevant state agencies to consider this policy when conducting their work. CEQA reform should benefit all (Orange County Register) California is currently in a housing crisis, we are now in the fifth year of a drought with no end in sight and we have more than $59 billion in deferred maintenance for our roadways. However, projects to address these problems are routinely stymied by our burdensome CEQA process. When it comes to creating more affordable housing, the Legislative Analyst’s Office stated in a report earlier this year that, “encouraging more private housing development can provide some relief to low–income households.” One way we can encourage more housing development is to provide CEQA relief to developers. Eighty percent of CEQA lawsuits target infill housing projects that create affordable housing in urban areas. |
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