Senate Committee Hearing Notes - March 20, 2012
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March 20, 2012 The Senate Majority Caucus has compiled the following summaries of oversight hearings conducted March 12 - 16, 2012. Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments and Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation, and Senate Selection Committee on High Speed Rail Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development The Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee held this fact finding meeting to address on-going concerns over three specific boards overseen by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). The Department oversees more than 36 boards, bureaus and committees, as well as one commission. Department of Consumer Affairs The second issue was on the implementation of Uniform Substance Abuse Standards for seven healthcare boards under SB 1441 (Ridley-Thomas, 2008). The regulations are currently in the rule making process. The DCA will approve the standards prior to sending them to the Office of Administrative Law. The third part of Deputy Director Brown's presentation was an update on the live webcasting of board meetings. Currently there are 15 meetings that have either been audio or video streamed. The Acupuncture Board (AB) In addition, the board has faced a number of complaints that meeting materials have not always been available in advance of board meetings. The board now puts its agenda online three to seven days in advance of the meeting. Senate staff have been monitoring meetings and agendas and they felt that while the board caught up on professional issues, consumer issues were still outstanding. The Committee will review the Acupuncture Board's response to the Committee very closely since the functioning of the board has been an area of great concern. The Board of Podiatric Medicine (BPM) The Committee also discussed possible changes in law pertaining to the BPM that could affect the way the board agrees to disciplinary action. Committee staff requested more information from the board on that proposal. And lastly, the committee looked into the issue of fee increases for service on credit card payments for licensing and renewals. Since the board does not receive state general funding and relies on special funds, the fee for service increase was necessary to balance the board's budget. Court Reporters Board (CRB) The CRB does not receive any federal or state funds. In 2010, SB 1181 (Cedillo) authorized a two-year pilot project of the Transcript Reimbursement Fund to allow access for pro se litigants who are indigent. The staff concurred with the CRB that no legislative changes were necessary. The other issue of note was the question on whether or not the CRB should continue to explore continuing education for court reporters. The staff recommended that the CRB continue to monitor this issue. Helpful Links Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee held a public hearing on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 on future plans for the Delta and the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). This hearing continues the Legislature's effort to both understand and work towards a comprehensive water solution for the state that features the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta - a critical California ecosystem, as well as an important freshwater diversion point for the State Water Project. The first set of speakers featured representatives from some of the largest interests in the Delta's future-use and governance, including the Delta Counties Coalition, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Westlands Water District and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The second part of the meeting allowed for public comment from members of the public who had packed the committee hearing room to address the Committee and express their concerns about the Delta's future. Many of these speakers were residents of Delta communities. The third and final part of the meeting allowed for response from two state entities responsible for managing the Delta and state water flows: the Delta Stewardship Council and the Department of Water Resources. One of the central issues of contention during the hearing was over the volume of water that will be taken out of the Delta and where that water will end up. Other policy questions included: Will the volume be the same as it is currently? Will it increase, justifying capital investment in new conveyance infrastructure or decrease, allowing habitat stability/restoration for endangered or threaten species throughout the Delta ecosystem? The answers to these questions are as varied as the Delta's stakeholders - Northern San Joaquin farm interests, Southern Central Valley farm interests, Southern California residents and environmentalists - and will be weighed throughout the Legislature's effort to forge a statewide water solution. Helpful Links Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments and Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting The Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments and the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting held a joint oversight hearing on the possible impact of proposed United States Postal Service (USPS) facility closures on voters and elections. Prior to the Presidential Election in November of this year, the USPS is planning to close 15 mail processing centers in California, potentially slowing the delivery time of mail in some communities, and increasing the number of days needed to ensure a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot is received by a county registrar and/or clerk. In November 2008, 5.7 million voters cast a VBM ballot and that number will likely be higher this year due to an increase in VBM requests. Current law states that ballots must be received by the county elections office by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Secretary of State Debra Bowen stated that the USPS closure could increase delivery time by up to four additional days, which would result in ballots taking 6-8 days to reach the county elections office. County elections officers discussed mitigation practices they already have in place to ensure timely ballot collection. For example, Placer County implements a ballot trapping program to pick up ballots before 8:00 p.m. on Election Day from large processing centers. The committees also heard from Congressman John Garamendi and election officials from Sacramento, Monterey, Shasta, Humboldt and Placer counties. Helpful Links Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation, and Senate Selection Committee on High Speed Rail The Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 and the Select Committee on High-Speed Rail held a lengthy informational hearing in Mountain View on March 13. Representatives from the High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), the Peer Review Group, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and approximately 600 members of the public joined Budget Subcommittee 2 chair Senator Joe Simitian, Senator Alan Lowenthal, Senator Mark DeSaulnier, and Senator Lou Correa for a thorough vetting of the current state of the High Speed Rail project. Since the passage of Prop 1A in 2008, the High Speed Rail Authority has worked to complete the project level environmental documents and initial design work. From its creation through 2011-12, the HSRA will have spent about $630 million from Prop 1A bond funds, federal funds and various state special funds. The hearing's agenda contains a history of the Authority and the project's funding. Dan Richards, Chair of the HSRA, testified that the final business plan for 2012 would be released to the public this spring. In that plan, HSRA will respond to concerns raised by the Peer Review Group, the Legislature and the public. He specifically noted that the cost for the full project cited in the draft plan released in November ($98 billion), was higher than the costs under the final plan. He did not offer an exact amount or give an exact date on the release of the final plan. Additionally, he noted that the Authority's staff has been negotiating Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the Southern California Association of Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the Bay Area. The MOUs suggest financial investment in Caltrain and Metrolink corridors of $1.3 billion and $2.0 billion respectively. This would allow for earlier, shorter-term investments in existing rail service and be valuable infrastructure investments for a "blended" operation of local commuter rail with high speed rail. Will Kempton, chair of the Peer Review Group, noted that although the Group raised many questions with the original draft plan, the HSRA has done significant work in addressing those concerns. However, he raised an issue of concern, shared by many in the audience, regarding the plan's provision to begin work in the Central Valley. He indicated his support for beginning work in high-traffic commuter rail areas, so that if no future funding materializes for the completion of the high speed rail project, the infrastructure improvements that will have been made will be useful to existing commuters. The Legislative Analyst's Office noted its concerns with the lack of long-term funding for the project and the lack of improvement to existing rail in the Bay Area and Southern California. Helpful Links Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions The Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions held this informational hearing to examine the creation of two new, separate corporate forms - flexible purpose corporations and benefit corporations - and their impact on the public good and public wealth. Two separate pieces of legislation, respectively - SB 201 (DeSaulnier) and AB 361 (Huffman) were signed into law in 2011, authorizing the creation of flexible purpose corporations and benefit corporations. Both flexible purpose corporations and benefit corporations authorize "blended corporations" - companies that are charged with the simultaneous pursuit of public good and private wealth, with the blessing of their shareholders. Both bills, however, were opposed throughout the legislative process in 2011 by the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) and the California Society of Association Executives (CalSAE). The two associations were concerned about a number of issues relating to the two measures, in particular whether or not the two new corporate forms would take some pressure off of already over-burdened non-profits to meet the public's needs or just "dilute" the funds already available to meet the needs; will they be self-sustaining or compete with previously-existing nonprofits, or will their presence as competitors make the philanthropic/nonprofit marketplace more innovative, efficient and effective? Another issue of concern by CAN and CalSAE was the potential external accountability of these new corporate forms, and if they would be encouraged to partner with nonprofits for the benefit of the public, rather than compete with them. At the request of organizations such as CAN and CalSAE, this informational hearing was convened to further assess the impact of the bills. Among the speakers at the Stanford hearing were Stanford University experts on philanthropy, legal experts in the field of nonprofit law, and heads of non-profit and executive associations. Helpful Links
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