LRC 09-02-2020 (Special)Legislative Review Committee Approved Minutes September 2, 2020
CITY OF CUPERTINO
APPROVED MINUTES
LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
8:00 AM
Special Meeting
ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order at 8:01 a.m.
Present: Mayor Scharf, Councilmember Chao, City Manager Deborah Feng, Assistant to the
City Manager Katy Nomura, Townsend Public Affairs (TPA)
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1.Subject: Minutes from August 10, 2020
Recommended Action: Approve Minutes from August 10, 2020
Mayor Scharf motioned to approve the August 10th Legislative Review Committee
minutes. Councilmember Chao seconds. The motion carries unanimously.
POSTPONEMENTS
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Jennifer Griffin is concerned about the housing bills.
PUBLIC COMMENT (including comments on all agenda items)
This item was not conducted as the Chair decided to take public comments on agenda
items when the agenda items were discussed.
AGENDA REVIEW
This item was not conducted
ACTION ITEMS
2.Subject: Legislative Update
Recommended Action: Receive legislative update and provide input
TPA explains that the legislature wrapped up their session earlier this week. The last
several days of session were held remotely, which slowed things down tremendously.
As a result of the delay, a lot of priority bills died, which will most likely result in many
Legislative Review Committee Approved Minutes September 2, 2020
of those bills reintroduced next year.
For the housing bills, AB 725 (Wicks) regarding the housing element and AB 3088
regarding tenant protections both passed the legislature. The Governor has until
September 30th to sign these bills into law.
For public safety, AB 66 (Gonzalez) regarding restricting tear gas, SB 731 (Bradford)
regarding immunity protection, and SB 776 (Skinner) regarding police files, did not pass
this year.
Of the bills that the City took a position on, only AB 725 (Wicks), which the City
opposed, and AB 2345 (Gonzalez), which the City also opposed, passed the legislature,
and everything else was either held in the suspense file or did not pass out of the Senate
or the Assembly. It is likely that many of these bills will be reintroduced, but they have
to start as a brand-new bill and will start the process all over again.
Public Comment:
Jennifer Griffin is concerned about AB 725 and AB 2345.
3.Subject: Update on positions taken by the League of California Cities (League) and the
Cities Association of Santa Clara County (CASCC)
Recommended Action: Receive update on positions taken by the League and CASCC
and provide input
During the final weeks of the legislative session, the League spend their time reinforcing
their positions on the bills they prioritized. The League also spent their effort during the last
week of session, opposing three COVID-19 related workers compensation bills. SB 1159, is
the only bill of the three that passed, which will extend the Governor’s Executive Order on
workers compensation.
TPA explains that the legislative session is a two-year process, so this session began in
2019 and ended now in 2020. Any bills that did not pass in 2019 but continued on to
2020, became a two-year bill. Next year will be the beginning of a new 2-year legislative
session, which will begin in 2021 and end in 2022. TPA explains that any bills that were
amended in the second house have to go back to the original house for final approval.
Usually amendments are at the discretion of the author, but sometimes legislators can
try and introduce amendments on the floor, and they have to be voted and approved by
the floor.
Public Comment:
Jennifer Griffin has called the Governor’s office and expressed her concerns for AB 725
Legislative Review Committee Approved Minutes September 2, 2020
and SB 2345
4.Subject: Discuss Ballot Proposition for 2022
Recommended Action: Discuss and provide input on Ballot Proposition for 2022
TPA explains that there has been an initiative to submit to the Attorney General’s office
that aims to restore local control back to local governments. This measure would be a
constitutional amendment so it would require one million signatures to qualify for the
ballot. This measure would provide that local planning, operation, control and access for
parks, streets, housing, jails, land use, and zoning regulations would all occur locally. It
would also require the Counties to enter into interagency agreements with the State on
those items that are shared powers and funding. We should expect this to come out in
mid-October and then they would have 6 months to collect the signatures.
Public Comment:
Jennifer Griffin believes this ballot proposition will set a precedent about the importance
of local control and supports this proposition.
FUTURE AGENDA SETTING
The next meeting will be held on December 18, 2020 to review the draft 2021 legislative
platform.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:19 a.m.