12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY january 2-8, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com On Dec. 2, California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, addressed his fellow Assembly members, informing them of a new rule he was implementing for the 2025-26 legislative session: The number of bills each member will be allowed to introduce will be limited to 35, down from 50, over the two-year period. In a statement quoting his remarks to his colleagues explaining the purpose for the new rule, he says, in part, “We want every leader in this room to have the greatest possible bandwidth to focus on laws that uplift affordability and prosperity.” It wasn’t a new law, but it was notable, and indicative of Rivas’ role since becoming speaker—not so much carrying bills, but helping to guide and shape the legislative process in the Assembly. State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, also made a substantive impact on Monterey County that didn’t involve a law he passed—he lent his substantial influence to help persuade the California Coastal Commission to hammer out a compromise to approve Monterey-Salinas Transit’s SURF! Busway project, which the Coastal Commission ultimately approved in September, despite an initial report stating they could not approve it. (The compromise was to pave over the Monterey Branch Line rail tracks, which the Transportation Agency for Monterey County acquired in 2003, as opposed to building a busway parallel to the tracks—sometimes east, sometimes west—in order to reduce the impacts on dune habitat.) Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay—who had 12 bills she authored this year signed into law—is the third state legislator who represents Monterey County constituents, and like both Rivas and Laird, her district stretches beyond the county’s borders. That said, while state laws apply to everyone, here’s a roundup of some of the most notable, in terms of their impact in Monterey County, the three lawmakers authored in 2024 that were signed into law. AB 1147 (Addis) There are more than 450,000 Californians with developmental disabilities, and the state contracts with 21 privately owned regional centers to support them to the tune of over $15 billion annually. This bill provides that these centers be subject to the California Public Records Act, providing transparency for the public to see how they’re spending all the money. AB 1960 (Rivas) This bill was introduced in response to the surge of retail theft in some parts of the state, and enhances the sentencing for those committing felony theft—thefts exceeding $50,000, $200,000, $1 million and $3 million will, respectively, now have an additional one-year, two-year, three-year and four-year term added to the sentence. A statement Rivas sent out following the signing of the bill reads, in part, “I authored this new law to hold appropriately responsible those who damage stores and property, because our business owners and workers should not have to live in fear that these crimes will come to their doorstep.” He visited Salinas, along with other lawmakers, retail industry leaders and law enforcement officers, to announce this legislation as part of a 10-bill legislative package meant to address retail theft. AB 2240 (Rivas, co-authored with Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno) This bill, among other things, calls for the state to produce a study, to be submitted to the legislature by July 1, 2027, about the feasibility of transitioning state-funded farmworker housing units—like those in King City—into permanent ones. The hope is to be able to offer workers and their families more stability, like not having to have their kids constantly switch schools. AB 2830 (Rivas) Rivas, a foster parent, introduced this bill to streamline the process for would-be foster parents to take into their care children they are related to. It also requires the state to track whether the placement of children or youth with relatives increases, decreases, or remains the same over time, after Jan. 1, 2023. “I understand that children in foster care live their best lives when they stay with family,” Rivas said in a statement following the bill’s signing in September, “and research shows keeping kids with relatives or loved ones also improves behavioral and mental health outcomes, not to mention greater academic success, stability and a stronger sense of belonging.” AB 3233 (Addis) In 2016, Monterey County voters approved Measure Z, a ballot initiative that called for banning fracking, new oil wells and ending wastewater injection in the county. The measure was subsequently struck down by the courts, which ruled that the regulatory authority over oil and gas development were solely under authority of the state and federal governments, not a local municipality. This bill changes that, and establishes the right of local control over oil and gas development. It wasn’t clear it was going to pass— the bill passed just 13 minutes before the deadline for the session. Addis even garnered the help of Jane Fonda, a noted celebrity environmentalist, whom Addis met with, to make calls to fellow state legislators to ensure the bill would pass. SB 1117 (Laird) It’s important for both the “organic” label, and to keep a level playing field, to test and verify “organic” crop fields to ensure they are complying with federal laws to qualify as such. This bill aims to help tighten up the stringency of the enforcement, and among other things, makes it so that growers can’t ask to be refunded for the cost of inspectors collecting samples. SB 1188 (Laird) This bill requires the State Water Resources Control Board to develop and adopt standards for small water systems—those serving less than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections—to ensure they have the technical, managerial and financial capacity to keep their system ship-shape. SB 1280 (Laird) Those propane cylinders you may take on camping trips and are never quite sure what to do with then they’re empty? This bill seeks to simplify that question, while reducing waste, and requires that by Jan. 1, 2028—three years out—it would no longer be legal to sell propane cylinders that aren’t recyclable or refillable. In a statement after the bill was signed, Laird touted that taxpayers would no longer be on the hook for dealing with single-use propane cylinders, while also estimating there were between 4 million to 7 million of them sold in California each year. “For years these propane cylinders have placed a great burden on our park systems, beaches, material recovery facilities and local governments,” Laird said in a statement. Law School Here are some of the laws our local legislators authored last year. As for their impact, time will tell. By David Schmalz news Robert Rivas was unanimously re-elected by his Democratic Assembly colleagues in December to serve another term as Speaker of the California Assembly. The bill passed just 13 minutes before the deadline. Daniel Dreifuss
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