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Meeting Information



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STATE LEGISLATION COMMITTEE

 

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

3PM

City Hall, Room 288

 

MEMBERS:

 

Mayor’s Office (Chair) – Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez

Supervisor Chiu – David Noyola

Supervisor Alioto-Pier – Catherine Stefani

City Attorney’s Office – MaryJane Winslow

Treasurer’s Office – David Augustine

Assessor’s Office – Kevin Matthews

Controller’s Office – Peg Stevenson

 

AGENDA 

I . ROLL CALL 

II. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES

Action Item: the Committee will vote to approve the minutes of the April 26, 2009 meeting of the State Legislation Committee.

 

III. CA STATE BUDGET UPDATE

 

IV. PROPOSED LEGISLATION

Action Items: vote to support, not support, or take no position on the following state legislation affecting the City andCounty of San Francisco

 

Mayor's Office

Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez

 

AB 303 (Beall) – Medi-Cal: designated public hospitals: seismic safety requirements.

This bill would, to the extent federal financial participation is available, extend similar supplemental reimbursement provisions to capital projects of designated public hospitals, as defined,  or nonprofit private hospitals, as defined,  meeting prescribed requirements for which final plans have been submitted to OSHPD after January 1, 2007, and prior to December 31, 2011, provided those projects are related to meeting seismic safety deadlines.

Recommended Action: Support

 

CA State Senator Leland Yee's Office

Jordan Curley

 

SB 218 (Yee)

The bill would expand the definition of the term “state agency” in the California Public Records Act (CPRA) to include entities that receive public funds or which perform a government function on behalf of the University of California, the California State University or the California Community Colleges.

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 219 (Yee)

This bill would correct the oversight in statute and provide UC employees the same whistleblower protections and legal standing as all other state employees.  SB 219 will protect UC workers from unfair retaliation for rightfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse.

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 242 (Yee)

This bill would add language to the list of protected classes within California’s Civil Rights Act. Under SB 242, it would be a violation of state law for an entity to adopt or enforce a policy that limits or prohibits the use of any language in a business establishment, unless the language restriction is justified by a business necessity and notification has been provided of the circumstances at the time when the language restriction is required and of the consequences. 

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 288 (Yee)

The bill would create standard guidelines for the fair use of candidates’ names on ballots in jurisdictions that have Chinese, Korean or Japanese ballot translations. SB 288 will establish statewide guidelines for counties and the Secretary of State’s Office to follow to ensure the integrity of the translated names on ballots in California.

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 399 (Yee)

The bill would require that after ten years or more of incarceration for those who were sentenced as youth to life without parole, the Department of Corrections do a paper review of the person’s crime/s, the sentence received, and their actions and behavior in prison. If the prisoner’s record meets a certain, high threshold, SB 399 grants a resentencing hearing, at which the person could be resentenced to 25-years-to-life.

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 557 (Yee)

The bill would allow any real property used to facilitate human trafficking to be declared a public nuisance and seized by the court until the nuisance is abated, and further subjects the trafficker to the costs of the seizure and a civil fine of up to $25,000.

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 782 (Yee) - Domestic Violence Eviction Protection Act

The bill would allows tenants who are victims of domestic violence to petition the court to stay in their homes if issued an evection notice based primarily on the acts of domestic violence.

Recommended Action: Support

               

                Treasurer/Tax Collector’s Office

Pauline Marx

               

                AB 125 (De Leon) - California Employees’ Savings Program

Creates a voluntary, universal, portable retirement savings account for California workers who do not have access to a retirement savings plan at their workplace. The account supplements the current employer-based system and Social Security.  It promotes expanded retirement security for working Californians by making it easier for them to save through payroll deduction while providing small businesses a basic retirement savings plan to offer their employees. This bill is co-sponsored by AARP California and New America.

Recommended Action: Support

 

                AB 325 (Beall) - California Working Families Economic Stimulus Act

Seeks to draw down millions in unclaimed 100% federally-funded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) dollars for working families by designating the Department of Community Services and Development as the lead agency to administer the (EITC) outreach options specified in the Department of Social Services report due out in the spring of 2009. This bill is co-sponsored by Catholic Charities of California and New America.

Recommended Action: Support

 

AB 550 (Lieu) - California Financial Literacy Initiative

Creates a financial literacy program in the office of the Controller funded by a financial literacy fund established in the Office of the Treasurer.  It represents a much-needed commitment by the state to start addressing the root causes of personal financial struggles precipitated by a lack of consumer financial education and codifies the state’s financial interest in reducing consumer debt and bolstering personal savings. This bill is co-sponsored by California State Controller John Chiang and New America.
Recommended Action: Support

 

AB 1058 (Beall & Fuentes) - California Workforce Mobility and Savings Initiative

Repeals the asset limit for CalWORKs recipients and raises the asset limit for applicants to encourage low-income families to build the savings they need to permanently exit CalWORKs.  The eligibility rules currently penalize low-income families for saving with a reduction or loss of benefits, thereby discouraging families from building the personal safety net they so desperately need to climb out of poverty and become self-sufficient.  This bill is sponsored by New America.

Recommended Action: Support

 

SB 323 (Oropeza) - Tax-Time College Savings

Creates an easy way for California families to save for college by amending the state income tax form to allow filers to directly deposit their refund into an existing state-administered tax-advantaged 529 college savings account designed to help children and their families save for postsecondary education. This bill is sponsored by California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer.

Recommended Action: Support

 

Mayor’s Office of Housing

                Doug Shoemaker

 

ACA 9 (Huffman)

This bill would ease Prop 13’s voter thresholds for local taxes three different ways: 1) Add an exception to the 1% cap on real-estate taxes to allow for taxes to pay interest on voter-approved bonded indebtedness accrued to fund facility-related construction work.; 2) Lower the voter-approval threshold for accruing debt to 55% from two-thirds when the debt's proceeds will fund “construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement” of public improvements, public safety agency facilities, affordable housing, the purchase or lease of real property for any of those, or any combination of the above 3) Lower the voter-approval threshold for imposing, extending, or increasing local special taxes from two-thirds to 55%.

Tabled from State Leg Committee Meeting 4/29/09

Recommended action: Support

 

SB 120 (Lowenthal)

This bill extends important protections in existing law that protect tenants from abuses such as utility shut-offs, lock-outs, and having personal property removed from the premises.  It ensures that these protections are offered to tenants residing in property acquired through foreclosure.  This bill is identical to AB 2586 (Torrico, 2008) which was vetoed by the Governor.

Recommended action: Support

 

V. SET REGULAR SCHEDULE FOR FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

 

VI. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

Discussion item:  members of the public may address the Committee on items of interest that are within the Committee’s subject matter jurisdiction.

 

VII. ADJOURNMENT

 

 

Disability Access

 

Room 421 of City Hall is located at 1 Dr. Carton B. Goodlett Place, and is wheelchair accessible.  The closest accessible BART Station is Civic Center, three blocks from City Hall. Accessible Muni lines serving this location are:  #47 Van Ness, and the #71 Haight/Noriega and the F Line to Market and Van Ness, as will as Muni Metro stations at Van Ness and Civic Center.  For more information about Muni accessible services, call 923-6142. There is accessible parking at the Civic Center Plaza garage. 

 

 

Know Your Rights Under the Sunshine Ordinance

 

Government’s duty is to serve the public, reaching its decisions in full view of the public.  Commissions, boards, councils, and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people’s business.  This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people’s review.  For information on your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance (Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code) or to report a violation of the ordinance, contact the Donna Hall at Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244, San Francisco, CA  94102, by phone at 415-554-7724, by fax at 415-554-7854, or email the Sunshine Ordinance Taskforce Administrator at sotf@sfgov.org.  Citizens may obtain a free copy of the Sunshine Ordinance by contacting the Task Force, or by printing Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code on the Internet, at www.sfgov.org/sunshine.htm.

 

 

Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Requirements

 

Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local legislative or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance (San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code Sec. 2.100 –2.160) to register and report lobbying activity.  For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the San Francisco Ethics Commission at 30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA  94102; telephone 415-581-2300, fax 415-581-2317, Internet website: www.sfgov.org/ethics.

 

 

Cell Phones and Pagers

 

The ringing and use of cell phones, pagers, and similar sound-producing electronic devises are prohibited at this meeting.  Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager, or other similar sound-producing electronic devices.

 

 

Public Comment

 

Public Comment will be taken on each item.

 

Document Review

 

Documents that may have been provided to members of the State Legislation Committee in connection with the items on the agenda include proposed state legislation, consultant reports, correspondence and reports from City departments, and public correspondence.  These may be inspected by contacting Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez, Director of Government Affairs, Mayor’s Office at: (415) 554-4846.

 

Health Considerations

 

In order to assist the City’s efforts to accommodate persons with severe allergies, environmental illnesses, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities, attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees may be sensitive to various chemical-based products.  Please help the City accommodate these individuals.