Sponsored and Co-sponsored Legislation
In California, a legislative session is a two-year period during which the State Senate and the State Assembly convene to create new laws. Each year, the Board of Supervisors provides policy guidelines to the Office of Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) on priorities for sponsored and co-sponsored legislation. The County sponsors and co-sponsors multiple bills annually. Additional information about sponsored and co-sponsored legislation is found below, categorized by legislative session.
2023-2024 Session
In 2023-2024, the County sponsored and co-sponsored the following legislation. Click on each Bill Number for more information.
2024
| BILL | Author | Sponsor/ Co-Sponsor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB 3035 | Pellerin | Sponsor | Pilot to expand the Farm Worker Housing Act of 2019 (Rivas), which streamlines the development of affordable housing for agricultural employees, to apply to a broader geographic area and larger developments in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. |
| SB 1317 | Wahab | Sponsor | Extends the sunset date on the process for obtaining involuntary medication orders for individuals with severe mental health disorders incarcerated in county jails to 1/1/2030. |
| AB 491 | Wallis | Co-Sponsor | Streamlines code enforcement procedures. Co-sponsor with Rural Counties Representatives of California. |
| AB 1957 | Wilson | Co-Sponsor | Extends authority for counties to use the best value procurement method for construction contracts to 1/1/2030. Co-sponsor with County of Solano. |
| AB 3079 | Ting | Gipson | Authorizes family members to select a relative who meets the related requirements, regardless of immigration status, to become an IHSS provider. Co-sponsor with City and County of San Francisco, Counties of Alameda and Santa Cruz. |
| AB 3260 | Pellerin | Co-Sponsor | Improves due process for consumers filing regulatory complaints concerning denied health services, coverage disputes, and access to care. Co-sponsor with National Union of Healthcare Workers. |
| SB 294 | Wiener | Co-Sponsor | Requires automatic review of commercial health plan denials of care for mental health disorders among youth aged 26 and under. Co-sponsor with Children Now. |
| SB 333 | Cortese | Co-Sponsor | Establishes a county opt-in program to provide homeless high school students with guaranteed income for 4 months. Co-sponsor with Economic Security Project Action, GenUp, and Young Invincibles. |
| SB 1193 | Menjivar | Co-Sponsor | Phases out the sale of leaded aviation fuel for general aviation airports. Co-sponsor with California League of United Latin American Citizens, Coalition for Clean Air, Western Center on Law & Poverty. |
2023
| Bill | Author | Sponsor/ Co-Sponsor | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB 1471 | Pellerin | Sponsor | The bill extends the deadlines for compliance with the seismic safety requirements that hospitals be capable of withstanding an earthquake for three project components on the campus of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center: the Santa Clara Valley Medical Building F (Services Building) Seismic Upgrade; the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Building N (RSC) Tier 2 Upgrades; and the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Old Main Demolition and Rebuild Project (Demo/Rebuild). The extensions are 2 years for the Services Building, 1 year for the RSC, and 1.5 years for the Demo/Rebuild. | Chaptered |
| AB 1649 | Kalra | Sponsor | This bill adds the County of Santa Clara to a pilot program related to construction change order limits. The bill authorizes the County of Santa Clara to increase the construction change order limits that do not require 4/5 board approval for construction contracts, until January 1, 2027. For contracts whose original cost is $25-$50 million, the extra cost must not exceed $400,000 (adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index (CPI)). For contracts whose original cost is over $50 million, the extra cost must not exceed $750,000 (adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the California CPI). This bill will help streamline the approval process for large and important construction projects in the County. | Chaptered |
| SB 335 | Cortese | Sponsor | This bill authorizes the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors temporary authority, through December 31, 2028, to provide voters the option to increase sales and use taxes by up to 0.625% to support important County services. If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, new sales tax revenue from any measure approved under this authority would be used to address local priorities such as supportive housing services for unhoused residents, behavioral health services, trauma and emergency care for the community, services for children and families, health coverage for the uninsured, public safety services, and other local priorities. SB 335 would not raise taxes. It would simply give the County the option to ask voters whether they would like to raise taxes to maintain or expand County services. | Chaptered |
| SB 406 | Cortese | Sponsor | The bill exempts local government loans and other financial assistance for qualifying affordable housing projects from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review. This would remove an administrative barrier, streamline the process, and incentivize local governmental entities to fund the production of affordable housing. | Chaptered |
| SB 462 | Wahab | Sponsor | The bill aligns the privacy framework governing General Assistance (GA) with the privacy framework governing its federally funded counterparts to ensure compliance in the administration of these services, particularly as it relates to the implementation of the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS). CalSAWS is the single statewide case management system for assisting in the administration of public benefits—including services for which grants-in-aid are received by the state, such as CalFresh, CalWORKs, and Medi-Cal, and for county-funded GA programs—that California must implement by the end of 2023 to maintain federal funding. Counties must retire their current public benefit systems and exclusively use CalSAWS for eligibility determinations, benefits computations and delivery, and case and information management. | Chaptered |
| SB 463 | Wahab | Sponsor | This bill eliminates the evidentiary presumption in child welfare laws that conflates the parent or guardian’s lack of participation or progress in a treatment program with a showing that returning the child to the care of the parent or guardian endangers the child. | Chaptered |
| AB 1387 | Ting | Co-Sponsor | The bill would have established a 3-year, grant-based pilot program to support outreach and education and encourage immigrants to become In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers. This campaign would have increased the provider pool and added providers who know their community and allowed recipients to select providers who know their language, culture, traditions, and practices. Additionally, the bill recognized the intent of the Legislature to develop a policy to allow undocumented IHSS recipients to select their undocumented family members as their providers of choice. Co-sponsored with the City and County of San Francisco. | Failed to Advance the Legislative Process |
| SB 10 | Cortese | Co-Sponsor | This bill requires school safety plans of schools serving students in grades seven to 12 to include a protocol in the event a pupil is suffering or is reasonably believed to be suffering from an opioid overdose. It also encourages county offices of education to establish working groups on fentanyl education in schools. Co-sponsored with the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals. | Chaptered |
| SB 642 | Cortese | Co-Sponsor | This bill provides county counsels with civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations, related to business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste. County counsels are currently authorized to civilly prosecute several types of hazardous materials violations, including most illegal discharge, handling, transportation, and storage cases. However, when this authorization was provided, conforming changes to several related statutes were not made. As a result, county counsels may bring actions in about 75-80% of hazardous materials violation cases but are limited in others. Often cases that involve the violations county counsels are authorized to bring also include the violations they are not currently able to prosecute. This inconsistency often hampers effective civil prosecution. Co-sponsored with the California State Association of Counties and the Rural County Representatives of California. | Chaptered |