AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council
From: Cynthia Owens, Municipal Affairs Program Manager
Subject: APPROVAL OF THE BEVERLY HILLS CITY COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE / LOBBY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS TO SUPPORT,
SUPPORT IF AMENDED AND/OR OPPOSE VARIOUS FEDERAL
AND STATE LEGISLATIVE BILLS
Attachment: 1. Bill Summaries
RECOMMENDATION
The Beverly Hills City Council Legislative/Lobby Committee (Vice Mayor Nazarian and Councilmember Mirisch) recommends the City Council:
• Support: S.3236 - Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement for On-Scene Care and Support Act
• Support: Senate Bill 268 (Alvarado) - Crimes: serious and violent felonies • Support: Assembly Bill 3241 (Pacheco) - Law enforcement: police canines • Support: Assembly Bill 3085 (Gipson) - Vehicles: removal and impoundment • Support: Senate Bill 820 (Alvarado-Gil) - Cannabis: enforcement: seizure of property
• Support: Senate Bill 1461 (Allen) - State of emergency and local emergency:
landslide
• Support: Senate Bill 1502 (Ashby) - Controlled Substances: Xylazine • Support: Senate Bill 21 (Umberg) - Controlled Substances • Support: Assembly Bill 1333 (Ward) - Single-family dwelling units: bundled sales • Support: Assembly Bill 817 (Pacheco) - Open meetings: teleconferencing:
subsidiary body
• Support: Assembly Bill 1827 (Papan) - Local government: fees and charges:
water: higher consumptive water parcels
• Support: Senate Bill 972 (Min) - Methane Emissions: Organic Waste Landfills • Support if Amended: Senate Bill 1164 (Newman) - Property Taxation: New Construction Exclusion: Accessory Dwelling Units
• Oppose: Assembly Bill 2023 (Quirk-Silva) Housing Element Substantial Compliance: Rebuttable Presumptions
D-5
Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
• Oppose unless Amended: Senate Bill 584 (Limón) - Laborforce housing: ShortTerm Rental Tax Law • Neutral: Assembly Bill 1820 (Schiavo) - Housing Development Projects:
Applications. Fees And Exactions
INTRODUCTION
This item seeks City Council approval of the Beverly Hills City Council Legislative/Lobby Committee’s (“Committee”) recommendations made at their June 25, 2024 meeting for the position of support, support if amended, oppose, oppose unless amended, and/or remain neutral on various federal and state legislative bills not addressed in the City's adopted 2024 Legislative Platform.
There are three bills, which were presented at the meeting, that do not require City Council concurrence (AB 2797, SB 937, and AB 1893) as the Committee’s recommendation on these bills was consistent with the City’s Legislative Platform; therefore, letters are being drafted for the Mayor to sign. While these bills are not listed under the Recommendation section above, they are provided below such that all items discussed by the Committee appear in this report.
DISCUSSION
Each year, the City establishes a Legislative Platform (“Platform”) that embodies key legislative themes and priorities for the upcoming year. The Platform provides direction for our legislative advocates and City staff as they work to secure clear and strategic initiatives locally as well as in Sacramento, California and Washington, D.C. In May 2024, the City Council adopted the current Legislative Platform.
The objective of the Platform is to outline the City’s position on legislative matters and serve as the foundation for the City to support or oppose various local, state and federal legislation. The Platform seeks to not only secure critical resources for the City, but also outlines policy statements that allow City staff and the City’s legislative lobbyists to more effectively respond to and influence legislation at the local, state and federal levels.
On June 25, 2024, the Committee met to discuss a variety of federal and state legislative bills. A summary of the legislation reviewed by the Committee and their recommendations is listed below, including those bills that align with the City’s Legislative Platform that were presented to the Committee but do not require City Council concurrence as the recommendations were consistent with the City’s Platform.
More details on the bills listed below may be found in Attachment 1 to this report.
1. S.3236 - Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement for On-Scene Care and Support Act
This bill would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of ambulance services that do not include transportation.
Recommendation: Support
2. Senate Bill 268 (Alvarado) - Crimes: serious and violent felonies This bill makes rape of an intoxicated person a “violent” felony where it is pleaded and proved that the defendant caused the intoxication by administering a controlled substance to the victim without their consent and with the intent to sexually assault them.
Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
Recommendation: Support.
3. Assembly Bill 3241 (Pacheco) - Law enforcement: police canines This bill establishes minimum standards for the use of a canine by law enforcement to search for and/or apprehend a suspect; and requires each law enforcement agency to publish on its website a report on the use of canines by the agency.
Recommendation: Support.
4. Assembly Bill 3085 (Gipson) - Vehicles: removal and impoundment This item is a request by the Beverly Hills Police Department for the City to consider taking a position on AB 3085. This bill would expand the list of offenses for which a peace officer may impound a vehicle pursuant to a warrant or order issued by a magistrate.
Recommendation: Support.
5. Senate Bill 820 (Alvarado-Gil) - Cannabis: enforcement: seizure of property This bill establishes a process for the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) or a local jurisdiction to seize specified property where commercial cannabis activity is conducted without a license.
Recommendation: Support.
6. Senate Bill 1461 (Allen) - State of emergency and local emergency:
landslide
This bill adds “landslide” to the conditions constituting a state of emergency or a local emergency.
Recommendation: Support.
7. Senate Bill 1502 (Ashby) - Controlled Substances: Xylazine Comment: This bill makes xylazine, also known as “tranq,” a Schedule III drug under California’s Uniform Controlled Substances Act (UCSA).
Recommendation: Support.
8. Senate Bill 21 (Umberg) - Controlled Substances
This bill would require a person who is convicted of fentanyl-related drug offenses to receive a written advisory of the danger of manufacturing or distribution of controlled substances and that, if a person dies because of that action, the manufacturer or distributor can be charged with voluntary manslaughter or murder.
Recommendation: Support.
9. Assembly Bill 2797 (McKinnor) - Telephone corporations: carriers of last resort: tariffs
This bill would no longer require a telephone corporation seeking relief from carrier of last resort obligations to be a carrier of last resort or to have any carrier of last resort obligations if the telephone corporation submits a notice containing Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
certain information to the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) and modifies and removes CPUC tariffs.
Recommendation: Oppose.
10. Assembly Bill 1820 (Schiavo) - Housing Development Projects:
Applications. Fees And Exactions
This bill requires local agencies to provide more information on fees and exactions at various stages of the housing development approval process to developers.
Recommendation: Neutral.
11. Senate Bill 937 (Wiener) - Development Projects: Permits And Other Entitlements: Fees And Charges
This bill extends development entitlements for certain housing development projects by two years and places certain restrictions on the fees and charges a local agency may impose on these projects.
Recommendation: Oppose.
12. Assembly Bill 1893 (Wicks) - Housing Accountability Act: Housing Disapprovals: Required Local Findings
This bill would revise the “builder’s remedy” to set parameters around the density, affordability, and objective standards that apply to a housing development project, and makes other changes.
Recommendation: Oppose.
13. Assembly Bill 2023 (Quirk-Silva) Housing Element Substantial Compliance:
Rebuttable Presumptions
This bill creates a rebuttable presumption of invalidity in any legal action challenging a local government’s action or failure to act if the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) finds that the action or failure to act does not substantially comply with the local government’s adopted housing element or housing element obligations. The bill also sets stricter timelines for rezoning in relation to housing element adoption for the seventh and subsequent revisions.
Recommendation: Oppose.
14. Senate Bill 1164 (Newman) - Property Taxation: New Construction Exclusion: Accessory Dwelling Units
This bill enacts a new construction exclusion for the addition or construction of an Accessory Dwelling Unit, where construction is completed between January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2030, that remains in effect until (1) ten years have passed since the construction of the ADU was completed, or (2) the ADU changes ownership.
Recommendation: Support if Amended to add language whereby the state of California would provide funding to local jurisdictions, special districts, and school districts equivalent to the loss in property tax revenue.
Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
15. Senate Bill 584 (Limón) - Laborforce housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law This bill requires a 15 percent state short-term rental (“STR”) occupancy tax to be collected, as specified, and allocates the funds for the construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of affordable housing and renter protection programs, as specified.
Recommendation: Oppose unless Amended to direct the additional 15 percent in short-term rental occupancy tax back to the local jurisdiction where the tax was collected from.
16. Assembly Bill 1333 (Ward) - Single-family dwelling units: bundled sales This bill would prohibit a homebuilder of a new single-family dwelling unit, as defined, from conducting a bundled sale of two or more parcels of real property containing one to four single-family dwelling units, inclusive, under a single assessor’s parcel number, in a single transaction to an institutional investor.
Recommendation: Support.
17. Assembly Bill 817 (Pacheco) - Open meetings: teleconferencing: subsidiary body
This bill allows subsidiary bodies of a local agency to teleconference meetings without having to notice and make publicly accessible each teleconference location, or have at least a quorum participate from locations within the boundaries of the agency.
Recommendation: Support. While this bill is dead for this legislative cycle, both Liaisons felt it was important to still support this bill as the author intends to reintroduce the bill in 2025. Staff will add language to the 2025 Legislative Platform for the City Council’s consideration that would state the City supports teleconference meetings for non-decision making subsidiary bodies of local agencies.
18. Assembly Bill 1827 (Papan) - Local government: fees and charges: water:
higher consumptive water parcels
This bill provides that the fees or charges for property-related water service imposed or increase pursuant to the California Constitution may include the incrementally higher costs of water service due to any of the following: a) The higher water usage demand of parcels, b) The maximum potential water use, c) Projected peak water usage, or d) Any combination of a) through c) above.
Recommendation: Support.
19. Senate Bill 972 (Min) - Methane Emissions: Organic Waste Landfills This bill would require CalRecycle to bolster their technical assistance to local jurisdictions and to develop several reports back to the Legislature in future years on progress towards organic waste diversion.
Recommendation: Support.
Of the 19 bills listed above, AB 2797, SB 937, and AB 1893 do not require City Council concurrence as the Committee’s recommendation on these bills was consistent with the City’s Legislative Platform; therefore, letters are being drafted for the Mayor to sign.
Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact to the City for each piece of legislation under consideration for a position by the City Council is listed in the table below.
Legislative Bill Anticipated Fiscal Impact
S.3236 - Emergency Medical Services
Reimbursement for On-Scene Care and
Support Act
The City could potentially see an increase in
revenue as the City could seek reimbursement
for services provided by its community
paramedicine program.
Senate Bill 268 (Alvarado) - Crimes:
serious and violent felonies
No anticipated fiscal impact
Assembly Bill 3241 (Pacheco) - Law
enforcement: police canines
Unknown. Potentially little to no anticipated
fiscal impact as the City may already be in
compliance with any POST standards
established should this bill pass for police
canines.
Assembly Bill 3085 (Gipson) - Vehicles:
removal and impoundment
No anticipated fiscal impact
Senate Bill 820 (Alvarado-Gil) -
Cannabis: enforcement: seizure of
property
Unknown
Senate Bill 1461 (Allen) - State of
emergency and local emergency:
landslide
Unknown. Landslides are not currently
recognized as a disaster that can be declared
as a state of emergency. This could potentially
allow the City to recover up to 80% of costs
associate with a landslide disaster should the
local emergency become recognized as a
state and federal emergency.
Senate Bill 1502 (Ashby) - Controlled
Substances: Xylazine
Little to no anticipated fiscal impact
Senate Bill 21 (Umberg) - Controlled
Substances
Little to no anticipated fiscal impact
Assembly Bill 2797 (McKinnor) -
Telephone corporations: carriers of last
resort: tariffs
Little to no anticipated fiscal impact
Assembly Bill 1820 (Schiavo) - Housing
Development Projects: Applications.
Fees And Exactions
Unknown. Potential costs may be incurred in
developing statements listing fees for
development projects and/or producing such
statements.
Senate Bill 937 (Wiener) - Development
Projects: Permits And Other
Entitlements: Fees And Charges
Unknown
Assembly Bill 1893 (Wicks) - Housing
Accountability Act: Housing
Disapprovals: Required Local Findings
Unknown
Assembly Bill 2023 (Quirk-Silva)
Housing Element Substantial
Compliance: Rebuttable Presumptions
Unknown
Meeting Date: July 2, 2024
Legislative Bill Anticipated Fiscal Impact
Senate Bill 1164 (Newman) - Property
Taxation: New Construction Exclusion:
Accessory Dwelling Units
Potentially significant if the state does not
reimburse the City for the loss in increase
property taxes should a homeowner add an
Accessor Dwelling Unit as the homeowner
would be exempt from an increase in property
taxes for ten years or until the property is sold,
whichever occurs first.
Senate Bill 584 (Limón) - Laborforce
housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law
Unknown
Assembly Bill 1333 (Ward) - Singlefamily dwelling units: bundled sales Little to no anticipated fiscal impact
Assembly Bill 817 (Pacheco) - Open
meetings: teleconferencing: subsidiary
body
Little to no anticipated fiscal impact
Assembly Bill 1827 (Papan) - Local
government: fees and charges: water:
higher consumptive water parcels
Unknown
Senate Bill 972 (Min) - Methane
Emissions: Organic Waste Landfills
Unknown. Potential cost savings as
CalRecycle would provide more technical
assistance to the City.
Keith Sterling,
Deputy City Manager
Approved By
Attachment 1
TO: Cindy Owens, Municipal Affairs Program Manager
City of Beverly Hills
FROM: Jamie Jones
[email protected]
202-543-3744
DATE: June 18, 2024
RE: S.3236 – Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement for On-Scene Care and Support Act
The Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement for On-Scene Care and Support Act was introduced in the fall of 2023 by Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. This bill would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of ambulance services that do not include transportation. Currently, Medicare does not reimburse Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers unless the patient is transported to a hospital. Nevertheless, EMS providers are obligated to respond to 911 calls and to deliver vital services on-scene to persons who do not always require or who refuse to be transported to a hospital. For instance, many people rely on EMS to provide healthcare services for minor medical emergencies that do not result in a hospital visit.
It has been estimated that Medicare beneficiaries make up about 40% of patients treated by EMS.
Moreover, it has been reported that about 16% of 911 calls to EMS involve medical conditions that do not require transport to a hospital and, therefore, are not eligible for Medicare payments. The bill under review resolves this issue by ensuring Medicare payments for medical treatment rendered onsite. The sponsors/supporters of the legislation argue that it will benefit Medicare beneficiaries who rely on EMS by aligning the reimbursement model with the services performed and provide crucial reimbursement for EMS providers for their integral role in bringing essential medical treatment to where people need it most – onsite. S.3236 would allow local communities, EMS leaders and Medical Directors to develop and implement patient-centric clinical care protocols that facilitate patients receiving the right care, in the right setting, at the right time, without being financially penalized for doing so.
S.3236 is pending before the Senate Committee on Finance. Representative Becca Balint of Vermont introduced a companion bill, H.R. 6257, in the House of Representatives. The House measure has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.
SUPPORT:
• The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) -- the only national association representing the professional interests of paramedics, advanced emergency medical technicians, emergency medical technicians, emergency medical responders and other professionals providing prehospital and out-of-hospital emergent, urgent or preventive medical care.
• American Ambulance Association
• The International Association of Firefighters
• The International Association of Fire Chiefs
OPPOSITION:
• I have not identified outright opposition to the bill. However, I would expect the American Hospital Association to have concerns with the bill on the basis that enactment of the legislation will reduce hospital patient intake/visits. • The American Medical Association (AMA) has not explicitly stated its position on the measure but, in the past, the Association has expressed concerns with initiatives that are perceived as encroaching on traditional physician/patient relationships. •••••••
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Public access. Article I, Section Three of the California Constitution guarantees “the people have the right to instruct their representatives, petition government for redress of grievances, and assemble freely to consult for the common good.” This includes a right to access information concerning the meetings and writings of public officials. To ensure the right to openly scrutinize public agencies is maintained, the Constitution requires local agencies to comply with certain state laws that outline the basic requirements for public access to meetings and public records. If a subsequent bill modifies these laws, it must include findings demonstrating how it furthers the public’s access to local agencies and their officials.
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