MARCH | APRIL 2017
Almond Facts
29
Transportation
Repairing our aging transportation infrastructure will be one
of the first major issues discussed this year. As a sign of the
importance to both houses, the lead bills on transportation
funding are AB 1 (Frazier) and SB 1 (Beall). The bills are
substantially similar and the authors are working closely
with the Governor on developing a comprehensive funding
package that will provide substantial new revenues, but also
significantly increase gas and diesel taxes. The leadership of
the legislature has set April 6th as the deadline for both bills
to pass the respective houses. Because they raise a host of
taxes, both bills require a 2/3 majority vote to pass but can
be implemented immediately.
SB 1 and AB 1 recommends imposing the following tax
increases beginning July 1, 2017:
• A $0.12 per gallon excise tax on gasoline staggered
over three years. Specifically, an additional $0.06 in
the first year, and an additional $0.03 in the second
and third years;
• An additional price based gasoline excise tax of $0.075;
• A $0.20 per gallon excise tax on diesel fuel, and
• A 4% increase of the sales and use surtax on diesel fuel.
SB 1 and AB 1 increases the registration fee by $38
per vehicle and both add a new $100 annual vehicle
registration fee applicable to zero-emission motor vehicles.
Additionally, they specify that the tax rates and fees
specified in this bill are adjusted every three years
based on the Consumer Price Index.
The proposals also contain a number of additional
transportation related reforms, including creating
a Transportation Inspector General Office,
establishing the California Transportation
Commission as an independent entity,
developing an Advance Mitigation Program,
and provides an exemption, until January
1, 2023, of the California Environmental
Quality Act requirements for local
projects that are within the right of way of
an existing roadway.
Labor
After raising the minimum wage 50 percent to $15 an hour
and applying overtime for ag workers after eight hours and
five days worked in a week last session, labor issues continue
to be a priority for some legislators in Sacramento. In
addition to proposals to address family leave and scheduling,
the Almond Alliance is working with the ag community to
address some of the technical issues and oversights from last
year’s ag overtime legislation.
SB 63 (Jackson) –
Creates the New Parent Leave Act
that would mandate up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave
for California employees who work for smaller companies.
The bill would provide three additional months of leave for
employees of companies with 20 to 49 employees.
SB 62 (Jackson) –
Expands the family members for whom
an employee may receive a protected leave of absence. The
expansion would extend to grandparents, grandchildren,
and siblings.
AB 5 (Gonzalez) –
Requires an employer with 10 or
more employees to offer additional hours of work to existing
employees before hiring additional workers.
Regulatory Oversight
and Reform
This election cycle was the first time the entire body
has at least 12 years to serve in a single legislative
house and these new members have a desire to increase
regulatory reform and oversight. In fact, last week a new
“How to do Legislative Oversight Manual” authored
by the Rules Committee Chair, Assembly member Ken
Cooley, was released. Below is a sampling of the legislative
efforts attempting to improve legislative oversight and
regulatory reform.
AB 12 (Cooley) –
Would require each state agency to
review that agency’s regulations, identify any regulations that
are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date, to
revise those identified regulations by January 1, 2020.
AB 77 (Fong) Regulation Review –
Requires the
Legislature to review each major regulation after submission
to the Office of Administrative Review.
