City of Sacramento
Law and Legislation Committee Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2022-02231 5/16/2023 Consent Item 3.
Legislative Advocacy Correspondence
File ID: 2022-02231
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Contact: Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, (916) 808-7395, [email protected], Office of the City Manager Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Legislative Advocacy Correspondence_April _2023
Date Bill/Subject Author Description of Issue Position Notes 4/11/23 SB 18 McGuire Housing Programs: Tribal Housing Reconstitution and Resiliency Act Support 4/11/23 Budget request to fund 30x30 Support
4/11/23 SB 511 Blakespear Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories Support 4/4/23 AB 735 Berman Workforce Development: Utility Careers Support 3/28/23 AB 285 Luz Rivas Pupil Instruction: Science Requirements: Climate Change Support 3/27/23
Budget request to fund the Local Equitable Access to Food (LEAF) Program Support Coalition letter
3/21/23
Budget request for Continued Assistance for Customer Water and Wastewater Arrearages Accrued During the Pandemic Support Coalition letter 3/21/23 AB 333 Nguyen Abandoned Vehicle Service Authorities Licenses and Permits Support 3/6/23 AB 350 Aguiar-Curry Regional Transportation Plans: SACOG Support Position Letters 2023-2024
March 28, 2023
Assemblymember Ash Kalra
Chair, Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment
1020 N Street, Room 155
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 735 (BERMAN) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: UTILITY CAREERS -
SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Kalra:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write to express our support for AB 735.
The bill will enable the utility sector to have a consistent workforce base to maintain utility projects and operations. Maintaining a workforce is one of the top issues facing utilities in California. Ensuring we can continue providing drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services is crucial to the City and our residents. A steady workforce is needed to serve our customers reliably. This bill will create the much-needed pipeline to guide prospective workers to obtain the training and skillset for employment with the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities.
By way of background, the City Department of Utilities (DOU) delivers about 37 billion gallons of potable water per year. Our one-half million customers are in a 100 square- mile service area located at the confluence of two major rivers, the American and the Sacramento. Our water system includes two water treatment plants, 12 storage reservoirs, over 25 municipal groundwater wells, and approximately 1,700 miles of pipeline. DOU is responsible for conveying all wastewater from our service area to the Regional Sanitation District (outside Elk Grove) for treatment and recycling. Additionally, the City is home to one of two combined systems in the state (other being San
Francisco), where stormwater and wastewater are combined into a single system. This unique system brings its own challenges and needs constant upkeep.
DOU is challenged with finding and attracting a qualified supply of talent. The water industry has very specialized jobs with a scarce supply of qualified applicants. While many jobs in our industry do not require a formal education and degree, candidates are required to have specific knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the industry’s operations, which are critical for our ability to provide water, sewer and drainage services to the community. There are also challenges maintaining the current workforce.
Since COVID, turnover has been high due to a surge in retirements and decisions to make major life changes, including employment decisions.
Meeting California’s clean energy and reliable water goals will not be possible if California utilities are not sufficiently staffed. AB 735 helps utilities to meet the stresses and duties of operating a utility, and therefore, will help the City maintain our highest priority of delivering safe drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services to our residents. Having sufficient and qualified staff not only allows us to maintain our highest priority, but to do so in a way that is environmentally responsible and equitable, while planning for current and future generations by protecting, preserving, and enhancing water resources, the environment and the community. While there are many factors that impact a reliable workforce, having a centralized resource hub as envisioned by AB 735 will allow utilities to keep up with increasing state and regional demands.
For the reasons stated above, the City is pleased to support AB 735. Should you have any questions about our support of this bill, please contact Brian Sanders, Government Affairs Specialist in the City of Sacramento’s Department of Utilities, at (916) 808-1416 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
Cc: California Municipal Utilities Association
April 11, 2023
Senator Nancy Skinner
Chair, Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
1020 N Street, Room 502
Sacramento, CA 95814
Assemblymember Phil Ting
Chair, Budget Committee
1021 O Street, Suite 8230
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: 30X30 FUNDING IN THE FY 23 -24 BUDGET - SUPPORT
Dear Chairs Skinner and Ting:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write in support of maintaining dedicated funding for 30x30 in the state FY 23-24 budget.
I applaud the Governor for making California the first state to adopt as official policy the goal of conserving 30 percent o f our lands and coastal waters by 2030 and commend the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) for starting the ambitious process of implementing the policy. Last year, the legislature demonstrated its commitment to the California 30x30 initiative by supporting AB 2278 (Kalra) and supporting a budget that included historic investments for programs to support capacity building, equitable access to nature, land and water conservation, and climate resilience. It will require additional significant, consistent, and ongoing investments to enhance our state’s biological diversity and combat climate change in ways that increase equity for all communities and provide sustainable access to nature for all.
But now all of this important momentum is being jeopardized. The Governor’s proposed FY 23 - 34 budget includes troubling cuts to coastal resilience, tribal partnerships, conservancies, urban greening, nature -based solutions and vegetation mapping. California is faced with historic drought, atmospheric rivers, wildfires, and pollution burdens and substantial cuts to nature- based solutions, climate resilience, and improved access to the benefits of nature would delay urgently needed progress to combat the eff ects of climate change and support climate vulnerable communities.
To demonstrate its ongoing commitment to 30x30 and improving climate resilience, California needs to adequately fund 30x30, coastal protection programs, and efforts to expand equitable access to nature. Unfortunately, the Governor’s January budget proposal does not do that.
As you work to finalize the FY 23-24 Budget, the City requests that you prioritize the following:
● Fund land and water conservation , including restoration and ongoing management through State Coastal Conservancy, other regional conservancies, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. ● Fund internal and external capacity building to ensure CNRA and other agencies have staff to support imple mentation of 30x30, and to support Tribes, land trusts, resource conservation districts, community -based organizations and agencies who are critical partners in this effort.
● Ensure equity is addressed. Biodiversity and conservation actions must focus on climate vulnerable communities and support Tribal stewardship and management to ensure equity remains a cornerstone of California’s 30x30 initiative. ● Fund science, monitoring and management. The decisions of where to invest funding for acquisition, restorat ion and management of lands and waters to further the 30x30 goal must be based on good science and data, with a strong focus on biodiversity.
For the reasons stated above, the City requests your support of 30X30 funding in the FY 23 -24 budget. Should you have any questions about our support , please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916 -808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
April 11, 2023
Senator Scott Wiener
Chair, Senate Committee on Housing
1021 O Street, Room 1200
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 18 (MCGUIRE) HOUSING PROGRAMS: TRIBAL HOUSING RECONSTITUTION AND
RESILIENCY ACT - SUPPORT
Dear Senator Wiener:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write in support of SB 18, which would enact the Tribal Housing Reconstitution and Resiliency Act and would create the Tribal Housing Grant Program Trust Fund. This new California Tribal Housing Grant Program was designed by and for California’s 109 federal ly-recognized Tribes .
Despite the passage of legislation of AB 1010 in 2019 making Tribes eligible for most state housing programs, and the Governor’s proclamation recognizing the legacy of State-sponsored discrimination, marginalization, displacement, and genocide against its Native peoples, it has become clear these programs simply do not work well in Indian Country. According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, since 2019, the Dep artment has availed about $130 million in Tribal set-asides in existing programs and awarded only about $30 million. The are several reasons for the under-subscription, including the complexities of these programs which were written through a non -native lens, the need for time -consuming waiver requests from program rules, and conflicts with Tribal sovereignty, laws, and cultural practices.
The overwhelming majority of California Tribes have not to date, and will likely not ever, be able and willing to access these programs if they aren’t amended. SB 18 seeks to address these issues through the Califo rnia Tribal Housing Grant Program. Although not a substitute of the current tribal set asides, the Tribal Housing Grant Programs will help leverage tribal set asides and other housing funding programs.
The City fully supports efforts to create all types of ho using, especially affordable housing for those most in need. In fact, the City was the first to receive the State’s pro-housing designation.
SB 18 would help create much needed housing for California’s federally recognized Indian reservations or rancheria, including the Wilton Rancheria, the City’s only Federally recognized Tribe.
For the reasons stated above, the City requests your support of SB 18. Should you have any questions about our support , please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
April 11, 2023
Senator Benjamin Allen
Chair, Senate Committee on Environmental Quality
1021 O Street, Room 3230
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 511 (BLAKESPEAR) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORIES - SUPPORT
Dear Senator Allen:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write in support of SB 511. SB 511 would direct the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to prepare inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for use by cities and counties to use in the preparation of Climate Action Plans (CAPs) and to prioritize the use of funding and resources to achieve optimal reductions of GHG emissions in local communities.
SB 511 will fill a significant gap in the work done by local governments to address climate change. While important actions have been taken and resources allocated at the state level, it is local communities that are on the front line of meeting the climate change challenge. This bill, in directing CARB to assemble and share GHG emission inventories with local governments, will provide critical data essential to the task of drafting the best CAPs possible and making the best decisions on the application of available resources to benefit communities. The bill would have four major benefits: 1) comprehensive coverage across the state, 2) data and methodology consistency, 3) visibility into patterns and progress, and 4) reduced cost in generating GHG emission profiles.
Previous legislation, SB 379 (Jackson) from 2015, requires cities and counties to update the safety elements of their general plans to address climate adaptation and resilience strategies.
By taking a statewide approach, SB 511 could alleviate the burden on individual agencies to do the analytics or hire consultants. Many cities have indicated that they would welcome assistance with this work. If the state were to take on this role, it would allow the City and other cities and counties more time for implementation of their GHG reduction efforts.
For the reasons stated above, the City requests your support of SB 511. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee