What’s true with California weather is doubly true with California politics: When it rains, it pours. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed or vetoed a torrential number of bills over the weekend — over 450. He then signed approximately 80 bills on Tuesday. So how did cities fare? And what’s left to sign or veto?

Newsom okays conservatorship law changes

California's conservatorship laws are set to change for the first time in over 50 years. SB 43 (Eggman) will expand the definition of "gravely disabled" to include conditions that result in an inability to provide for one’s personal safety or necessary medical care. The current law’s high threshold makes it difficult to provide treatment for people unable to care for themselves.

“The mental health crisis affects us all, and people who need the most help have been too often overlooked,” the Governor stated. “We are working to ensure no one falls through the cracks, and that people get the help they need and the respect they deserve.”

The bill is one of several proposals from Sen. Susan Eggman in recent years aimed at improving patient outcomes. The League of California Cities was a vocal supporter of those measures, including SB 43.

Governor cites costs when vetoing state housing program and homeless shelter grant

Many of the Governor’s veto messages focus on the same things: their cost and necessity. Both came up in his message for AB 309 (Lee), which would have created a state housing program. Cal Cities requested a veto, as the bill would have undermined existing state laws and local zoning standards.

He also cited costs when vetoing the Cal Cities-supported AB 1215 (Carrillo). The measure would have made permanent an existing grant program that enables shelters to provide food, housing, and veterinary services for pets owned by unhoused individuals or people escaping domestic violence.

Per the Governor, the Legislature sent him nearly $19 billion in unaccounted costs. Expect to see these same themes in many of his veto messages.

Brakes pumped on sidewalk cycling

Cal Cities was the lone voice opposed to AB 825 (Bryan). The bill would have removed cities’ authority to prohibit cycling on certain sidewalks at the expense of pedestrian safety.

It was an argument that resonated with the Governor, who vetoed AB 825 after receiving Cal Cities’ opposition letter. "Most sidewalks are not designed for bicyclists to safely use them, and riding on sidewalks would significantly increase the risk of collisions with pedestrians,” Newsom stated. “Increasing the vulnerability of pedestrians is not a solution to addressing the safety needs of bicyclists.”

Stricter sentences for illegal fentanyl signed into law

The Governor signed a handful of fentanyl-related bills, including AB 701 (Villapudua). The measure will add fentanyl to the list of controlled substances for large-scale dealers. However, he vetoed AB 474 (Rodriguez), AB 1060 (Ortega), and SB 641 (Roth) — often citing their costs as motivation for his action.  AB 474 would have required the state to work with local law enforcement to disrupt and dismantle opioid trafficking. AB 1060 and SB 641 would have increased access to naloxone, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.

Cal Cities supported all four measures as part of a broader effort to address the fentanyl crisis.

Cities score major infrastructure financing wins

Cities won some major financing wins with the Governor's signature of SB 706 (Caballero), AB 400 (Rubio, Blanc), and AB 334 (Rubio, Blanca).

SB 706 and AB 400 — both co-sponsored by Cal Cities — will expand the use of design-build and progressive design-build delivery methods for local public work projects. These processes allow earlier and greater collaboration between stakeholders and give contractors greater flexibility, saving cities time and money on critical projects.

AB 334 will allow cities to accept bids from design professionals for subsequent phases of public contracts. State law’s current, unclear language limits the pool of qualified design professionals that cities can accept bids from. Cal Cities’ Public Works Department provided input on the bill’s language.   

Website migration and sea level rise plan mandates coming

Does your agency’s website have a .gov domain? If not, get prepared to have one. AB 1637 (Irwin) will require all local agencies to transition their web services to a .gov domain. Although Cal Cities was unable to stop the measure, it did secure amendments pushing the bill’s implementation date back five years to 2029.

Some funding is available to help cities cover the costs associated with transitioning to a .gov domain and strengthening their public websites, such as the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program.

Cities within the coastal zone and San Francisco Bay will also be required to develop a sea level rise plan by 2034, as defined in SB 272 (Laird). Although Cal Cities had a neutral position on the bill, it worked with Sen. Laird to ensure local jurisdictions along the coast have the flexibility to develop and implement sea level rise plans as part of an existing local coastal program.

Sympathy striking bill vetoed, temporary employee bargaining bill signed  

Cities’ concerns were also front and center when the Governor acted on several labor relations bills, including the now-vetoed AB 504 (Reyes). The measure would have made sympathy striking a human right, allowing nearly any city employee to sympathy strike regardless of their job duties.

“Unfortunately, this bill is overly broad in scope and impact,” he stated. “The bill has the potential to seriously disrupt or even halt the delivery of critical public services, particularly in places where public services are co-located.”

However, he did sign AB 1484 (Zbur), meaning cities will need to start including temporary employees in the same bargaining unit as permanent employees upon request of the union. This will likely have unintended consequences and significantly raise costs for cities. Fortunately, with both AB 504 and SB 799 (Portantino) vetoed, the impact on city services may be less dire than predicted.  

The Governor also vetoed SB 751 (Padilla). In its original form, the bill would have allowed cities to maintain solid waste services during a workforce labor dispute and take administrative action to ensure that such services are maintained. Cal Cities adopted a neutral position after SB 751 was narrowed to focus only on force majeure provisions and expanded to all cities, providing a loophole that allowed for discontinued services in the event of a labor dispute.

The Governor’s veto message reinforced that individual jurisdictions voluntarily enter into these service agreements — which can be negotiated and amended — thus the bill was unnecessary.   

Emergency Brown Act bill flexibility extended

It will be easier for cities to meet remotely the next time there’s a statewide emergency like COVID-19 thanks to a measure co-sponsored by Cal Cities: AB 557 (Hart). The bill will eliminate the sunset provisions in AB 361 (R. Rivas, 2021).

The Rivas measure allows cities to meet remotely during proclaimed states of emergency under modified Brown Act requirements. The Hart bill will also provide greater flexibility for agencies that meet on a fixed date every month by extending the SB 361 renewal period to 45 days.

What’s left?

Gov. Gavin Newsom has acted on most of Cal Cities’ priority bills, with four notable exceptions: SB 326 (Eggman), SB 423 (Wiener), AB 40 (Rodriguez), AB 1448 (Wallis), and AB 1526 (Assembly Committee on Natural Resources).

Both SB 423 and SB 326 are two of the biggest bills this year. The Cal Cities-opposed SB 423 would extend a 2017 streamlined permitting law. SB 326 — supported by Cal Cities — would modernize the Mental Health Services Act to prioritize investments in housing interventions for individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The Governor is expected to sign SB 326 this Thursday.

AB 40 would establish a statewide standard for ambulance patient offload time and require a protocol to reduce ambulance patient offload time if needed. AB 1448 would incentivize cities to take enforcement actions against illicit cannabis operations by providing a 50/50 state-local split of the statutory penalties recovered in actions brought by local jurisdictions.

AB 1526 would require plastic producers to schedule and remit funds owed to a local government to cover collection costs, as outlined in last year’s landmark single-use plastics law.

The Governor has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto any remaining measures.