Office of Legislative Affairs - "The Friday Wrap-Up"

The Board of Supervisors met on November 19, 2024, at 9:30 am. Notable actions include the following:

Discussion Items

County Executive Office

28. Approve recommended positions on introduced or amended legislation and/or consider other legislative subject matters - All Districts APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED
    
29. Approve grant applications/awards submitted in 11/19/24 grant report and other actions as recommended - All Districts APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

The next Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for December 3, 2024, at 9:30 am.

Legislative leadership has recently clarified the parameters of Governor Gavin Newsom’s call for a special session following Donald Trump’s election, emphasizing its narrow focus on funding litigation and executive actions that will resist efforts of the federal government to infringe on California’s priorities. Republican legislative leadership has responded to this information by stating they will not be introducing any legislation in the special session. Additionally, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher sent a letter to President-elect Trump requesting partnership and federal support in addressing high-priority California issues, including wildfires, the housing crisis, rising crime, and unaffordable energy and gas prices.

On the state election front, there are still a few races up in the air, although, as anticipated, the legislature will maintain a supermajority in both houses. In the Senate, 31 of the 40 Senate seats are currently held by Democrats, with 20 seats on the ballot. In 2025, Democrats will control at least 30 seats. The two seats that are currently too close to call are SD 35, which is a Dem vs. Dem race - Laura Richardson vs. Michelle Chambers, and SD 37 Josh Newman (D-incumbent) vs. Steve Choi (R), although based on uncounted ballots, it is almost certain that Choi will prevail.

In the state Assembly, Democrats currently hold 62 of the 80 Assembly seats and will continue to control at least 61 seats in 2025. Races that are currently too close to call are AD 58 Clarissa Cervantes (D) vs. Leticia Castillo (R) and AD 74 Laurie Davies (R-incumbent) vs. Chris Duncan (D).

Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform: Housing and Transit Development

The Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform held its third hearing last week in Los Angeles, to discuss infill housing and sustainable transportation investments. Previous hearings focused on the general need for reform and its use as a tool for climate resiliency. The hearing was chaired by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and attended by Assembly Members David Alvarez (D-Chula Vista) and Juan Carrillo (D-Palmdale).

Opening the hearing, Dr. Michael Manville, UCLA Luskin School Department Chair on Housing, gave a history of California’s economic growth and associated housing units built. During the 1950’s California doubled its economy and built 4 million housing units. Its economy doubled again and added another 4 million units between the 1960’s and the 1980’s, primarily along the coast. Between the 1990’s and 2017, the state’s economy again doubled but only added 3 million units largely in inland areas where it was easier to build. Since the 2000’s, Dr. Manville noted that coastal California has been enjoying an economic renaissance, while building as if it were in a recession.

He argued that there is public benefit simply to building new housing. He pushed back against contentions that new housing increases the price of housing in already expensive areas, saying that new housing keeps old housing affordable. Policymakers have layered a lot of conditions onto permitting reform including affordability requirements. These requirements are very difficult to calibrate, increasing the difficulty of the creation of infill development because of unusual lot sizes. He cautioned against increasing subsidized housing for residents over building more housing, instead recommending that they be treated as discrete issues.

In his opinion, advancing laws allowing multi-family housing to be built anywhere and increasing the supply of housing is the best solution to the housing crisis. “The housing problem really is hard enough” he said urging the committee to not use housing policy to attempt to address income inequality. He said that expensive housing makes all other social problems worse and needs to be addressed independently. He additionally argued against inclusionary housing and labor restrictions in housing legislation, stating that it is most important to allow and encourage building housing where rents are already high. When pressed by lawmakers for his ideal solution, he recommended an expanded version of SB 827 (2018), which would have required a local jurisdiction, notwithstanding any local ordinance, general plan element, specific plan, charter, or other local law, to provide an eligible applicant with a transit-rich housing bonus if requested by the developer.  

The next panel addressed permitting reform to facilitate infill housing, included testimony from:

• Nevada Merriman, MidPen Housing
• Dave Rand, Rand Pastor Nelson
• Tom Grable, Tri Pointe Homes
• Jennnifer Ganata, Communities for a Better Environment
• Christopher Ackerman-Avila, City of San Diego

Ms. Merriman from MidPen Housing highlighted the negative impacts that delayed local processes cause builders ,through increased costs, and for the residents who will eventually live there. She noted that high interest rates have made project financing particularly challenging.

Mr. Rand of Rand Pastor Nelson, a land use law firm, advocated for a single standard local housing project application citing the variance between how local jurisdictions process applications and how long it takes them to do it.

Mr. Grable of Tri Pointe Homes simply advocated for building more housing. He highlighted that over a 7-year period, California built only 22% of the houses it had prioritized. He also noted an outflow of investment from California to states with more reliable permitting processes. He asked for more accountability from cities around their housing elements and Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers, emphasizing the need for a more reliable and transparent process.

Ms. Ganata of Communities for a Better Environment, speaking on behalf of the environmental justice community, advocated for housing policy to consider its intersectionality with other issues including health. She encouraged environmental remediation in advance of infill development and emphasized the need for community oversight and input for major development projects.

Mr. Ackerman-Avail from the City of San Diego, highlighted the city’s efforts to streamline their permitting process including executive orders pushing the city to approve permits in a more timely pace. He cited CEQA lawsuits as a source of delays for many projects and an area in need of reform.

The second panel, permitting reform needed to mode shift to sustainable transportation included panelists:

• Juan Matute, UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies
• Laura Tolkoff, SPUR
• Carter Rubin, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Rose Casey, Orange County Transportation Authority

Mr. Matute from the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies talked about how permitting affects transit ridership. He gave the example of how difficult it was in the City of L.A. just to permit a bus stop and cited how far behind the city lags from other major U.S. cities in installing new bus stops.

He also discussed the value of bus only lanes in increasing bus reliability and frequency, but cited the difficulty in permitting them in L.A. Falling transit ridership throughout the state only serves to increase traffic and congestion, creating a vicious cycle leading to increasingly high service costs for transit providers. He joked that the movie “Speed,” featuring the plotline that an L.A. city bus could not go below 50 mph during rush hour traffic, was even less plausible in today’s congestion than it was then.

He highlighted the positive climate, and affordability impacts that transit-oriented development can have on residents and encouraged policies that supported them. Matute mentioned the recent election and indicated that there was likely to be less federal funding for transit in the next few years. He recommended “by right” permitting transit routes and transit-oriented infrastructure.

Ms. Tolkoff of SPUR recommended more transparency around local government processes, and standardizing processes where possible. She recommended legislation to remove the threat of CEQA from transit developments, and to speed up the process.

Ms. Casey the Executive Director of Planning at OCTA detailed the agency's challenges with utilities and permit processing. Specifically, she talked about the Orange County electric streetcar project, which is planned to connect downtown Santa Ana with Garden Grove. Pioneered by a local sales tax measure, it is funded through a combination of local, state, and federal resources. She cited a year-long delay due to utility concerns. She also cited a lawsuit being brought by Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas attempting to establish legal precedent over the liability for relocation costs. The utilities argue that existing utilities within the public right of way under franchise agreement, should be considered as valuable real property and afforded all rights including relocation costs to be borne by the public agency. The case is now on appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Casey next discussed the example of the LOSSAN rail corridor and the challenges that OCTA faces with obtaining permits for measures to deal with imminent threats to maintain operations along the corridor. The corridor faces bluff erosion, beach loss, revetment loss, and bluff failures.

OCTA is in the process of executing a study to identify short- and long-term projects needed to stabilize the bluffs. Ahead of winter storms, OCTA proposes to reinforce the failing slopes below the rail line. She emphasized the need for transit to be reliable to attract riders. While OCTA was able to obtain emergency permits to deal with emergency fixes, the regular process which they are now required to go through is expected to take a year and includes complete environmental studies before a coastal permit can be obtained, despite having funding and design for construction all set to go. She advocated for improved coordination amongst agencies to process permits to reduce processing time and eliminate redundancies. She suggested the use of the “one federal decision” style process to streamline the review of transportation projects involving multiple agencies.

Finally, Mr. Rubin of NRDC applauded the state’s current efforts at streamlining. He also highlighted the need to speed up transit projects to give more residents access and cautioned against any projects that involve freeway expansion over investment in multi-modal transportation.

Chair Wicks asked panelists where they thought the opposition was. Ms. Casey, speaking on the LOSSAN rail project, expressed her surprise over how people can disagree over rock and sand. She also cited a reliance by agencies on the current regulatory process.

Public comment at the hearing was robust, with many commenting about the need for permit streamlining to enable more housing and transit development in a state desperate for it.

The committee held another hearing on November 20 in Palm Desert to discuss permitting reform to facilitate the transition to clean energy. We will include a report on this hearing in the next weekly update.

California Department of Insurance Submits Final Wildfire Catastrophe Modeling Regulation

Last week, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) submitted a final wildfire catastrophe modeling regulation to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for approval. The regulation includes coverage commitments from insurance companies, aimed at stabilizing the insurance market and expanding options for homeowners and business owners in high wildfire-risk areas. The submission follows several months of extensive public input, expert consultations, and multiple public hearings and workshops held by CDI.

“Consumers want solutions to our state’s insurance crisis. My new regulation will make insurance more available across the state,” said Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “As California experiences more intense climate impacts, technology will tell us where the risks truly are and accurately price rates that reflect mitigation and hardening investments.”

This new wildfire catastrophe modeling regulation, as part of the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, introduces a requirement for insurers to increase their policy offerings in underserved areas as a condition of incorporating catastrophe modeling into ratemaking. The hope is that by allowing insurers to use catastrophe modeling to better assess risk, they can more accurately price insurance and make coverage more available to homeowners and businesses in wildfire-prone areas.

Home hardening, property mitigation, and other fire-resistant modification programs intended to align insurance practices with the state’s overall wildfire mitigation efforts and investments, will also be incorporated into catastrophe models as part of the regulation.

Key highlights of the wildfire catastrophe modeling regulation include:

Increased coverage in high-risk areas: Insurance companies must increase the writing of comprehensive policies in wildfire distressed areas equivalent to no less than 85% of their statewide market share.

Incorporation of wildfire mitigation efforts: Building on the “Safer from Wildfires” program, the regulation requires catastrophe models to account for mitigation efforts by homeowners, businesses, and communities.

Enhanced model integrity: CDI is hiring a model advisor to examine model integrity, and ensure public review and compliance with Prop. 103.

CDI is also working with Cal Poly Humboldt to develop the nation’s first public wildfire catastrophe model. The partnership is designed to create an accessible, science-based model for predicting wildfire risks, ultimately supporting fair and accurate insurance rates.

The OAL is now reviewing the regulation for compliance and, once approved, it is expected to become effective by the end of December 2024. CDI is on track to complete the regulatory reforms under the Sustainable Insurance Strategy by the end of 2024.

Behavioral Health Services Act Manual

Last week, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released a draft of the county Behavioral Health Transformation (BHT) Policy Manual for public comment through December 2, 2024. The manual, referred to as a module by DHCS, is intended to be a living document, and will be updated on a continual basis to provide the guidance necessary to implement the reforms enacted through Proposition 1 (2024). The second module will be released next month, and the final module in early 2025.

The new Integrated Plans for Behavioral Health Services and Outcomes (Integrated Plans (IPs)), required by the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) are broader than the requirements under the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). They are intended to serve as a three-year prospective global spending plan that describes how counties plan to use all available behavioral health funding to meet statewide and local outcome measures, reduce disparities, and address the unmet need in their community. In accordance with the BHSA, the IP provides a description of how counties will plan expenditures across a range of behavioral health funding sources and deliver high-quality, culturally responsive, and timely care along the Behavioral Health Care Continuum for the plan period. DHCS is developing an IP template which will include the required elements for each county to submit in their IPs, and counties will submit the IP through a DHCS web-based portal.

The IP Template requires counties to report planned activities and projected expenditures for all county behavioral health services provided under the following funding sources, services, and programs:

• Bronzan-McCorquodale Act (1991 Realignment)
• 2011 Realignment
• Medi-Cal behavioral health programs, including:
• Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS)
• Drug Medi-Cal (DMC)
• Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS)
• Federal block grants, including:
• Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG)
• Substance Use Prevention Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (SUBG)
• Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) grant
• BHSA funds
• Any other federal, state, or local funding directed towards behavioral health services, including:
• Commercial/private insurance
• Opioid settlement funding
• County general fund
• Grant revenue
• Other

The IP Template will include required sections on the following topics:

• County Demographics and Behavioral Health Needs
• Plan Goals and Objectives
• Community Planning Process
• Comment Period and Public Hearing
• County Behavioral Health Care Continuum Capacity
• Services by Funding Source
• Behavioral Health Services Fund Programs
• Workforce Strategy
• Budget and Prudent Reserve

Counties will be required to update their IP through annual updates and may prepare intermittent updates, allowing counties to be responsive to changes at the local level during the plan period and will focus on changes to county capacity, goals, and planned activities. Annual and intermittent updates are not subject to the stakeholder engagement requirements outlined in the community planning process section of this policy manual.

Counties will report on planned service delivery and expenditures in the IP and budget template, and actual service delivery and expenditures in the Behavioral Health Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency Report (BHOATR) and expenditure template, disaggregated by child/youth under 21 and adults aged 21 and older, within the Behavioral Health Care Continuum service categories.

Timeline for Implementation

• County Board of Supervisors Approve Fiscal Year 2026-2029 County Integrated Plan: June 30, 2026
• Counties Submit Fiscal Year 2026-2029 County Integrated Plan to the Department of Health Care Services for Review and Approval: No later than June 30, 2026
• County Integrated Plans Are Effective: July 1, 2026
• County Board of Supervisors Approve Fiscal Year 2027-2028 County Annual Update: June 30, 2027
• Submit Fiscal Year 2026-2027 County Behavioral Health Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency Report (BHOATR): January 30, 2029

October Revenues

The Department of Finance (DOF) and State Controller released reports on October's General Fund revenues as compared to the 2024-25 Budget Act.

Governor’s Press Releases

Below is a list of the governor’s press releases beginning November 13.

November 20: During National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, Governor Newsom announces major milestones

November 20: Governor Newsom proclaims Transgender Day of Remembrance 2024

November 20: California’s fentanyl task force helps seize over 1.7 million fentanyl pills in October

November 17: Governor Newsom proclaims Apprenticeship Week 2024

November 16: PHOTOS: CHP graduation realizes multiyear administration goal of hiring 1,000 new officers

November 16: The California Weekly

November 15: Governor Newsom announces appointments 11.15.24

• Robert “Bob” Myers, of Santa Monica, has been appointed to the University of California Board of Regents
• Brian Haynes, of Rancho Cucamonga, has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission
• Patrick Day, of Alhambra, has been reappointed to the California Student Aid Commission

November 15: Governor Newsom announces appointments 11.15.24

• Tiffani Alvidrez, of Elk Grove, has been reappointed to the California Lottery Commission
• Hernan Hernandez, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the State Board of Food and Agriculture
• Rolston St. Hilaire, of Clovis, has been appointed to the State Board of Food and Agriculture
• Anthony M. Bertram, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
• Josef Preciado, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Contractors State Licensing Board
• Justin Fichelson, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the California Council for the Humanities, Board of Director
• Adam Noah, of Antioch, has been appointed to the 23rd District Agricultural Association Contra Costa County Fair Board

November 15: California communities impacted by the 2018 wildfires to receive over $40 million in federal funding

November 15: Governor Newsom congratulates CHP’s largest graduating class in two years, marking successful completion of push to hire 1,000 new officers

November 15: Three years in, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has unleashed investment across California

November 14: Governor Newsom announces appointments 11.14.24

• Monica Hunter, of Los Osos, has been reappointed to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Celeste Cantú, of Temecula, has been reappointed to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Letitia Clark, of Tustin, has been reappointed to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Hamid “David” Nahai, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Jayne Battey, of Half Moon Bay, has been reappointed to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Vivian Perez, of Holtville, has been reappointed to the Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board

November 14: California launches new rebates to help cut home energy costs

November 14: Hundreds of California nonprofits to receive funding to help safeguard against hate-based violence

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH ACTIVITY 

House GOP Leadership Begins Policy Discussions for Next Year 

On November 19, House Republican leaders discussed their legislative priorities for next year in a closed-door conference meeting. The priorities include funding the U.S.-Mexico border wall, cutting various spending programs enacted under President Joe Biden, and extending President-elect Donald Trump’s tax cuts that were enacted in 2017.  

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise initiated discussions regarding the conference’s priorities, which they intend to advance through a reconciliation bill. These priorities include alleviating energy costs for consumers by reducing regulations and streamlining the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy. A reconciliation bill is a procedural mechanism that allows one party to pass legislation without the support of the other when it holds majorities in both the Senate and the House.

Congressional Republicans are indicating that action on their proposed tax bill will be the top agenda item during the first 100 days of the incoming administration.

County Relevance

• With majorities in the House, Senate, and President-elect Trump set to return to the White House on January 20, 2025 the agenda discussions of House Republicans previews what Congress will work on early next year.

Bill to Establish an Exclusive ZIP Code for North Tustin Advances

This week the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, the committee with jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service approved a bill directing the U.S. Postal Service to establish a unique ZIP code for several communities across the country, including North Tustin in Orange County. Rep. Young Kim worked with the committee to include North Tustin in the legislation which now heads to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

County Relevance

• As Rep. Kim described in a press release, North Tustin is an unincorporated census designated place in Orange County that shares a ZIP code with neighboring communities. This has led to occasional confusion. The goal of establishing a unique ZIP code for the community is to provide certainty for tax purposes that residents of North Tustin are not residents of neighboring communities.

House and Senate are Split on Farm Bill Future

On November 18, the Senate Committee on Agriculture released legislative text of a five-year farm bill. A full committee markup has not been scheduled, but Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow expressed hope that the bill’s public release would jump start negotiations with the House on a full reauthorization of the nation’s agriculture and nutrition programs. However, House Republicans have rejected the proposal and are instead preparing a one-year extension of current program authorities, with just over a month before major programs start to expire. 

The Senate draft is an attempt to pass the long-delayed $1.5 trillion Farm Bill before Republicans’ unified control of Congress begins in January. A full lame-duck farm bill faces long odds with just a few weeks of session before lawmakers leave Washington for the holidays. House Republicans advanced their own farm bill out of committee in the spring (H.R. 8467) with a handful of moderate Democratic votes. 

House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson stated that he is preparing temporary extension language before dairy programs start expiring at the end of this year and revert to outdated underlying law. 

County Relevance

• The Farm Bill authorizes national nutrition programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as CalFresh in California. The County’s delivery of these services is impacted by any changes made through the reauthorization.

House Passes Veteran Care Support Package Legislation 

On November 19, the House passed H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21^st Century Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, a comprehensive veteran care support package. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that implementing the measure would reduce mandatory spending by about $1 billion from FY2025-2034. 

Private health care for veterans, in-home services, and caregiver support would be expanded under H.R. 8371. The bill would also expand Veterans Affairs Department (VA) education benefits and support for homeless veterans, waive pay limitations for health-care providers, and increase penalties for employers who discriminate against service members. 

H.R. 8371 extends higher fees that the VA charges veterans to provide them with loan guarantees, which helps veterans secure better loan terms to buy or build a home. Under current law, those fees are set to decrease on Nov. 29, 2031, and H.R. 8371 would extend the deadline until June 9, 2034. The fees are regularly used as an offset in veterans’ legislation. 

County Relevance

• Orange County Representative Mike Levin, a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, had three bills included in the larger package passed by the House this week. They included:
  • The Get Rewarding Outdoor Work for our Veterans (GROW) Act, which establishes a pilot program to employ veterans in federal jobs that relate to conservation, resource management, and environmental protection.
  • The Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach (CVSO) Act, which authorizes federal funding to expand the work of county veterans service officers (CVSOs), who are often the best resource on the ground to assist veterans in securing the benefits they have earned.
  • The VA E-Notification Enhancement Act, which requires VA to provide eligibility and award documents related to VA educational assistance programs in an electronic format.

House Passes Rep. Young Kim’s Geothermal Legislation 

On November 14, the House passed H.R. 7409 the Harnessing Energy at Thermal Sources Act (HEATS Act), bipartisan legislation authored by Rep. Young Kim. The legislation passed 225-181. Geothermal energy projects on private land would not need to obtain drilling permits from the Interior Department if the project is already covered by a state permit under H.R. 7409.  

The HEATS Act would exempt geothermal wells from federal permitting requirements in cases where the US government owns less than 50% of the subsurface mineral rights in an area covered by a geothermal project and the operator submits a state-issued permit to the Bureau of Land Management.  

Geothermal power plants in seven states produced less than 1 percent of all the electricity generated in the US in 2023. New enhanced geothermal systems have the potential to expand geothermal power production to a wider geographic area. 

This Week’s Committee Activity 

Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Below is relevant legislation that the committee reviewed in their markup this week. 

• 5005 A bill to authorize additional funding for the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act. (Padilla)
• 5012 Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program Amendment Act of 2024 - A bill to establish an interest-bearing account for the non-Federal contributions to the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, and for other purposes. (Padilla)
• 4242 Drought Preparedness Act - A bill to extend the authorization of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991, and for other purposes.
• 1764 Western Wildfire Support Act of 2023 - The bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to establish spatial fire management plans before the end of FY2026.
• Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2023 - The bill directs the Forest Service to establish a pilot program to implement treatments and conduct related fire-suppression activities in areas of the National Forest System that are west of the 100th meridian and near communities that may benefit from such treatments and activities.

House Oversight Committee Markup 

Below is relevant legislation that the committee reviewed in their markup this week. 

• R. 8753 - To direct the United States Postal Service to designate single, unique ZIP Codes for certain communities, and for other purposes. North Tustin, California would be designated a new zip code. 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH ACTIVITY 

White House Requests $98.6 Billion in Emergency Disaster Aid Funds 

On November 18, the White House requested $98.6 billion in emergency disaster relief funding from Congress to begin recovery from Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene. Short-term federal response funding for Helene and Milton has been supported through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, but that account is running low and does not cover costs for long-term recovery.  

The $98 billion request includes $12 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, $8 billion for the Transportation Department, $4 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency for water-system upgrades, and $3 billion for Health and Human Services. In addition, the administration is seeking $24 billion for the Department of Agriculture to aid farmers who experienced crop or livestock losses.  

The White House’s requested number may not be what is ultimately passed. House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that there was bipartisan interest in passing a disaster aid measure, but Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray said in a statement that Congress had waited too long to pass legislation. The package would more than likely be attached to a continuing resolution that Congress is expected to pass prior to December 20.  

County Relevance

• While the disasters prompting the need for supplemental appropriations occurred in the Southeast, the increased funding would benefit all communities receiving assistance from FEMA. This includes areas of Orange County impacted by wildfires and other natural disasters.

President-Elect Trump will Target Auto Mileage Rules  

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration is looking to reduce fuel-efficiency requirements for new cars and light trucks. President Trump’s advisors plan to reexamine fuel economy requirements that were finalized in June. Team Trump plans to target related standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that limit tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and smog-forming compounds. 

The efficiency rules require carmakers to make their vehicles run on less fuel, with annual improvements toward a fleet average of about 50 miles per gallon by the early 2030s. The related EPA rule sets yearly limits on pollutants from cars and light trucks, with a cap on carbon dioxide emissions in model year 2032 that’s just half of what’s allowed in 2027. 

The plan takes aim at a signature collection of President Biden’s policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and push the auto industry toward electrification. Although the policies do not explicitly order electric vehicles, their critics argue that the rules are so strict that they act as a de facto requirement to sell electric vehicles in large numbers. 

LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY ORANGE COUNTY DELEGATION 

There was no legislation introduced by members of the Orange County Delegation this week.

Friday 11/22

Women make up nearly half of the California Legislature, setting a new record in Sacramento -- Even in a state known for crafting first-in-the-nation progressive laws and leading on reproductive rights, men have long outnumbered women in the California Legislature. Mackenzie Mays in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/24

Whooping cough -- Highly contagious whooping cough rises in California to highest level in years -- Across California, there were fewer than 300 reported cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, all of last year. This year, there were 1,744 reported cases statewide as of the end of September, according to the California Department of Public Health. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/22/24

Thursday 11/21

Nearly half of L.A.’s record homelessness budget went unspent, city controller finds -- Los Angeles city Controller Kenneth Mejia reported that the city failed to spend nearly half of the $1.3 billion budgeted for homelessness in 2023-24. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/21/24

L.A. City Council postpones vote on wage hike for hotel and airport workers over tourism concerns -- The minimum wage for workers at larger hotels and LAX would rise to $30 an hour by 2028 under a proposal to be voted on by the L.A. City Council. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/21/24

Wednesday 11/20

California’s drug task force halts entry of an estimated $11.9 million in fentanyl, governor says -- Amid an ongoing opioid crisis, a special task force of the California National Guard helped seize 1,542 pounds of fentanyl last month, with a street value of about $11.9 million, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday. Jasmine Mendez in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/24

What the bomb cyclone looks like from space, as California preps for intense storm -- Thanksgiving is just over a week away, but something big is being cooked up off the coast of the Pacific Northwest right now. Greg Porter in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/24

Tuesday 11/19

A California Republican won a seat he didn’t want. Now taxpayers are paying for a new election -- Kern and Tulare county taxpayers are on the hook for a special election after Republican Vince Fong won his Congressional seat along with an Assembly seat he no longer wanted. Ryan Sabalow CalMatters -- 11/19/24

Weekend (11/17-11/16)

First U.S. case of mpox variant reported in San Mateo County -- The first case in the U.S. of a more severe mpox variant has been confirmed in a person who had recently traveled to East Africa and was treated in San Mateo County, the California Department of Public Health announced Saturday. Jenny Gold in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/24

O.C. firefighter who feared he was paralyzed in freeway crash walks out of rehab -- O.C. firefighter Andrew Brown, who was injured when his firetruck rolled over on the way home from the Airport fire, spent nearly two months at a Colorado hospital. Harriet Ryan in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/24

Firefighters faced low water pressure when battling Mountain fire. Here’s what happened -- Firefighters battling the devastating Mountain fire faced issues with water availability and pressure. Officials confirmed two water pumps went out. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/16/24