AGENDA BOARD LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Friday, June 20, 2014 12:45 p.m., Peralta Oaks Board Room The following agenda items are listed for Committee consideration. In accordance with the Board Operating Guidelines, no official action of the Board will be taken at this meeting; rather, the Committee’s purpose shall be to review the listed items and to consider developing recommendations to the Board of Directors. AGENDA STATUS TIME ITEM STAFF 12:45 p.m. 1. STATE LEGISLATION / ISSUES (R) A. NEW LEGISLATION Doyle/Pfuehler Plan Amendment 1. AB 2150 (Rendon) – Establishes a new State Parks Division of Community Initiatives and Park Access 2. SB 1021 (Wolk) – Variable Rate Parcel Taxes for School Districts (I) B. ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler 1. State Budget 2. Parks Forward Update 3. Park Bond Update 4. Water Bond Update 5. Other issues Doyle/Pfuehler (R) II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION – N/A (I) B. ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler 1. Possible Federal grant opportunities III. PLAN BAY AREA UPDATE Pfuehler/Tong IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS V. ARTICLES (R) Recommendation for Future Board Consideration (I) Information Future 2014 Meetings: (D) Discussion July 18, 2014 September 19, 2014 November 21, 2014 Legislative Committee Members: August 15, 2014 October 24, 2014 December 19, 2014 Doug Siden, Chair, Ted Radke, John Sutter, Whitney Dotson, Alternate Erich Pfuehler, Staff Coordinator DRAFT Distribution/Agenda Only Distribution/Agenda Only Distribution/Full Packet Distribution/Full Packet Distribution/Full Packet District: Public: District: Public: AGMs Judi Bank Director Whitney Dotson Carol Johnson Ann Grodin Yolande Barial Bruce Beyaert Director Beverly Lane Jon King Nancy Kaiser Afton Crooks Director Ted Radke Glenn Kirby Ted Radosevich Robert Follrath, Sr. Director Doug Siden Mona Koa Connie Swisher Stana Hearne Director John Sutter Dr. George Manross Michael Kelley Director Carol Severin Jim O’Connor Distribution/Agenda Only Distribution/Full Packet Distribution/Full Packet Public: District: Norman LaForce Robert Doyle Allen Pulido Dan Levy Mike Anderson Di Rosario Fred W. Lopez Tim Anderson Carol Victor Peter Rauch Pat O’Brien Bob Nisbet Pete Wilson Dave Collins Tyrone Davis Cliff Rocha – Local 2428 Doug Houston Sharon Corkin – Local 2428 TO: Board Legislative Committee (Chair Doug Siden, Ted Radke, John Sutter and Alternate Whitney Dotson) FROM: Robert E. Doyle, General Manager Erich Pfuehler, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs Manager SUBJECT: Board Legislative Committee Meeting WHEN: Friday, June 20, 2014 - 12:45 p.m. Lunch will be served WHERE: Board Room, Peralta Oaks _______ Items to be discussed: I. STATE LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. AB 2150 (Rendon D-Lakewood) – Establishes a new State Parks Division of Community Initiatives and Park Access Assembly Member Anthony Rendon introduced AB 2150 which makes a number of statutory changes to the California State Park system. It specifically calls for the establishment of a new Division of Community Initiatives and Park Access within the Department of Park and Recreation (DPR). The new division would be given the mission of making state parks more relevant to underserved communities. The bill also requires DPR to prioritize its huge backlog of deferred maintenance projects. It requires a modernization of DPR’s fee and data collection systems and extends the moratorium on state park closures for an additional year. The legislation is largely in response to the Parks Forward Commission’s work. Parks Forward commissioned a study by FTI Consulting (formerly Forensic Technologies International) which has a history of working on corporate turnaround, restructuring, bankruptcy and forensic accounting practices – including Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies, and Lehman Brothers and General Motors restructuring. The FTI study found significant reliability issues with DPR’s deferred maintenance database, as well as fee and data collection systems. The legislation seeks to address those issues. Significantly, the legislation also recognizes the segments of California’s population which lack reasonable access to parks and open space – particularly in urban and disadvantaged rural areas. The creation of a new Division is seen as a leadership tool for DPR to work in strategic partnerships and collaborations with others to address this disparity. It is estimated the new Division and other requirements of this bill would increase the annual costs to DPR by between $250,000 and $500,000. The bill has been supported by the California State Parks Foundation and Trust for Public Land. Staff Recommendation: WATCH 2. SB 1021 (Wolk D-Davis) – Variable Rate Parcel Taxes for School Districts This legislation is similar to AB 59 introduced by Assembly Member Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) in 2013 which sought to clarify that school districts are allowed to assess parcel taxes in accordance with rational classifications among taxpayers or types of property, as long as the taxes are applied uniformly within those classifications. The Bonta legislation actually sought to abrogate the holding in Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District. The California Supreme Court upheld the Borikas case which invalidates parts of Alameda USD’s parcel tax Measure H, which voters passed in 2008. The court struck down Measure H’s differential rate structure for residential and commercial property owners. Measure H imposed a $120 per year (tax) on each parcel of taxable land and 15 cents per square foot for commercial/industrial parcels. In Borikas, the Court eliminated school districts' ability to apply different rates to property based on its classification, or based on whether the property has improvements. School districts want to restore flexibility they thought they had before the Court's decision. The Wolk legislation applies only to school district parcel taxes imposed in the future; it contains "no inference" language that directs courts to adjudicate cases similar to Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District, 214 Cal. App. 4th 135, under the law in place at the time the district imposed the tax. District Counsel would like either the Wolk or Bonta legislation to include additional language which references Public Resources Code 5566 which has similar language to the government code section 50079 which was struck down by the Borikas case. As of this writing, legislative staff are reluctant to expand the legislation beyond school districts. Staff Recommendation: Work to amend B. ISSUES 1. State Budget Staff expect the budget deal to be finalized by the time of this meeting, but details are not yet available. Advocate Houston will provide an update. One issue of interest is consideration of cap and trade revenue for urban forestry and parks in disadvantaged communities. This notion was considered by the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, but as of this writing it is not clear if it will make the final cut. 2. Parks Forward Update In the fall of 2014, the Parks Forward Commission will adopt a long-term plan for a State Park system. The independent commission is made up of experts, advocates and thought-leaders (a list of the Commissioners is included as an attachment). They are conducting a wholesale assessment of the park system. They have held a number of meetings throughout the state and seem to be circling in on the idea of creating a resources oversight entity somewhat similar to the California Transportation Commission. The Commission suggests the new privately and publicly funded organization would be a more nimble, nonprofit parks support organizations which would work with state parks, local and regional park agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and community groups. The new support organization would be tasked with providing funding, design and support for deploying state-of-the-art fee collection machines in parks; finding new business development opportunities such as special events and partnerships for parks; raising funds and securing other financing for parks; developing digital tools for communications, marketing, and on-the-ground guides to parks in English and Spanish; and working with organizations focused on providing parks in underserved urban communities. In the midst of the Parks Forward Commission’s work, Major General Anthony Jackson is departing as Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation after only 18 months of service. The Parks Forward Commission will likely play a role in recommending his replacement. 3. Park Bond Update A hearing on Senator Kevin de Leon’s park bond bill, SB 1086, was held in Southern California on June 6, 2014. It was well attended, but featured mostly non-governmental organizations. There were not many actual park and recreation managers or agencies in attendance. Advocate Houston has subsequently had additional conversations with the Senator’s staff and will provide a verbal update. 4. Water Bond Update It is widely suspected that once a budget deal is reached, the legislature and governor will turn their focus to crafting a new water bond measure with a lower dollar figure attached to it than the current $11.4 billion measure. Advocate Houston will provide a verbal update. 5. Other issues – Please see attached election results memo II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION – N/A B. ISSUES 1. Possible Federal grant opportunities Department of Labor Apprenticeships On April 15th the White House announced the $450 million employment, labor and training grant program (funding opportunity number SGA-DFA-PY-13-10). The application deadline