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City Council Hears Legislative Update
Riv City Council

In a presentation during a Riverbank City Council meeting earlier this month, Josiah Young, a Legislative Advocate and associate with Churchwell White, gave council members and the public a brief overview of some legislative actions that occurred in 2017 and are currently in effect. This is an additional service that is available to the City Council through the City Attorney, officials said.

The first bill that Young mentioned was Senate Bill 1 (Beall) a Transportation Bill that addressed deferred road maintenance. The bill would help fund road improvements on the state highways and the local streets. This bill included a $0.12 per gallon gas tax increase to help pay for the improvements and an increased fee between $25 and $175 on vehicle registration fees based on the value of your vehicle.

Not in effect yet, but ready to go before the voters, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 (Frazier) Transportation Funding is a companion measure to SB1 and it requires the money that is collected for road improvements to only be used for road improvements. This has been qualified to be on the June primary ballot this year. If this passes the money collected will only be used for the roads.

Affordable housing is a reaction due to the issue of homelessness across the state that is affecting both the big cities and the small towns. SB2 (Atkins) is the Building Homes and Jobs Act that establishes the need for ongoing funding dedicated to affordable housing development. There is a $75 recording fee, with a cap of $225 based on the number of documents and titles on mortgage refinances and other real estate transactions. Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 known as SB3 (Beall) will be on the November ballot which will authorize issuance of a $4 billion dollar bond. There are funds that have been set aside in SB2 and a ballot initiative for voter approval that will add money for existing housing programs, infrastructure and affordable housing matching grant programs.

A great concern for many people whether you are for it or against it has been the sanctuary state issue and the following laws discussed were passed in 2017. Law Enforcement: Sharing Data SB54 (De Leon) repeals requirements for law enforcement data sharing and limits officers’ ability to inquire about immigration status when interacting with potentially undocumented immigrants. It is set to protect those people from police interference or interaction in typical police detainment situations. SB29 is a companion bill and although Young only listed two bills he explained that there is a large list of bills that encompasses the entire sanctuary state law. SB29 (Lara) prohibits local law enforcement agencies that do not already have a contract with the federal government or any federal agency from entering into a contract to house or detain noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration custody.

Another topic of interest last year was the Cannabis: Medicinal and Adult Use SB94 which merged the recreational and medicinal cannabis laws. Young added that the key highlight of this bill is that the locals have retained control.

Assembly Bill 168 (Eggman) was passed and is in effect where employers can no longer ask for salary information from another employer.

AB1127 (Calderon) states that there must be a diaper changing station in both men’s and women’s restrooms.

AB424 does not allow the Superintendent of Schools to allow teachers to have guns on campus. Previously Superintendents were able to decide and allow teachers to carry guns.

In 2006 a bill was created where high school students had to take an exit exam, but AB830 repeals that bill and students will no longer have to take an exit exam to get out of high school.

There were several other bills that Young updated the council on and expressed to them that these were just a few and that there are many more bills that were passed. For more information the video of the city council meeting is posted on www.riverbank.org as well as the agenda with this presentation.