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News Archive
July 7, 2014 -
Mandate Repayment Announced - Last week, the
Department of Finance sent a memo to both budget chairs
and to the counties notifying them of the instructions
for the $100 million mandate repayment authorized in the
2014-15 Budget. The schedule was derived by allocating
funds proportional to the amount of total outstanding
pre-2004 mandate claims approved for payment. The memo
notes that the payment shall be made by the Controller
no sooner than 30 days from the date of the memo.
See the
attached memo and chart for the specific allocations
to counties, cities and special districts. The total
amount allocated to urban counties is $54 million.
June 20, 2014 -
Governor Signs State Budget - This afternoon
the Governor signed the state budget. Attached is the
summary along with the veto messages. Please click
here
to view.
June 16, 2014 -
Budget Conference Committee Meets - The Budget
Conference Committee met and closed out items last
night.
Attached is a spreadsheet with the final actions
as we understand them. Major actions include:
- Cap and Trade Plan - 35% to
transportation, sustainable communities; 25% to high
speed rail; and 40% to energy and resources.
- CalWORKS - 5% grant increase, $20
million for housing and homeless.
- CSEC (Human Trafficking): Reduced
allocation to $5 million this year and $14 million
on-going for training (CWDA proposal). This was
originally $50 million.
- IHSS Overtime – Approved overtime
to IHSS workers with language to avoid excessive
overtime payments.
- IHSS 7% reduction – Compromise to
reject the restoration by both houses –
Administration indicated that there would be a
legislative solution soon.
- Solar Tax Exemption – Approved 8
year extension on program.
- Transportation – Adopted 70/30
allocation of transportation loan repayments to
local government with additional $142 million to
cities and counties.
May 19, 2014 - May Revise – The
Governor’s May Revise was released on May 13, 2014, with
state revenues forecast to increase by $2.4 billion.
However, the Governor noted that the costs of health
care, drought and other programs have increased by
essentially the same amount. The May Revise also
maintains the Governor’s principle of paying down debt,
reducing long-term liabilities, including a plan to
shore up the teacher pension system.
Some of the major proposals include:
For more details, click
here for UCC’s Summary of the May Revise.
February 10, 2014 -
3 Judge Panel Update - Today, the 3-Judge Panel
extended the deadline to fix the prison overcrowding
issue to two years, (February 2016), agreeing with
Governor Brown's request for more time to resolve the
inmate population cap. With this extension comes strict
guidelines from the federal judges on compliance,
including limits on the number of inmates that can be
moved to out-of-state prisons. Per the Administration,
this two year extension will help put into place the
proper reforms that will provide a permanent solution to
the prison overcrowding problem.
The 3 Judge Panel has instructed the
state to immediately carry out a series of measures to
either release or move inmates from state prisons, which
include:
-
Increasing credits for
non-violent second-strike offenders and minimum
custody inmates.
-
Set earlier parole eligibility
for some nonviolent offenders.
-
Determine suitability parole for
inmates who are older than 60 who have already
served 25 years in prison.
-
Expand alternative custody
programs for female inmates.
The panel also appointed a compliance
officer to ensure that California is on track with the
population cap and also barred prison officials from
exceeding the current 8,900 inmates in out-of-state
prisons.
February 11, 2014 -
Proposition 41 – Support – APPROVED - On
February 5, 2014, the UCC Board of Directors voted to
support Proposition 41. UCC had been asked by the
proponents of Proposition 41 to support and be listed as
support in campaign materials.
Background Information:
Last year, UCC took a position of support on AB 639
(Perez), which would restructure the $600 million of
existing Proposition 12 bond to construct and
rehabilitate multifamily veterans’ housing. AB 639 would
allow California voters to amend the Veterans Bond Act
of 2008 to better respond to the housing needs and
changing demographics of the current California veteran
population.
The full $900 million remains unspent from Proposition
12 due to the fact that it is restricted to single
family housing. Funds that were approved by Proposition
12 have not been utilized and this bill would allow the
funds to be used.
See
attachment for more background material on
Proposition 41.
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