By Brian White, KP Public Affairs, FLC Legislative Advocate and Larry Camp, FLC Legislative Committee
This week there will be considerable action in the Senate and Assembly to decide whether bills will continue to move through the process and be allowed for full votes on the respective Floors. The following key bills have been sent to the Appropriations Suspense File and their fate will be determined by the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees on May 26. If any of the bills on Suspense File are held, then they will become two-year bills. If any of the bills come off of Suspense, then they will be sent to the respective Floors and then must pass their house of origin by June 2 to remain alive. Should be an interesting week just before the Memorial Day Holiday.
On Assembly Suspense File
AB 362 (Wood-D) CFIP Loans for Landowners - SUPPORT
AB 151 (Burke-D) Cap-and-Trade - WATCH
AB 378 (Garcia-D) Cap-and-Trade: Environmental Justice - WATCH
AB 288 (Obernolte-R) SRA Fee Payment Extension - SUPPORT
AB 425 (Caballero-D) La Malfa Exemption Roads Work - SUPPORT
AB 771 (Quirk-D) Prescribed Burn Template - WATCH
AB 920 (Aguiar-Curry-D) 20% Renewable Baseload Mandate - SUPPORT
AB 1342 (Flora-R) Cap-and-Trade for Forest Projects - SUPPORT
AB 1391 (Patterson-R) CFIP Funds for Vegetation Management - WATCH
AB 1066 (Aguiar-Curry-D) Public Works and Tree Removal - OPPOSE
AB 1433 (Wood-D) Cap-and-Trade Dollars to Protect Open Space - WATCH
On Senate Suspense File
SB 49 (de Leon-D) California Environmental, Public Health, and Workers Defense Act of 2017 - OPPOSE
SB 100 (de Leon) 100 Percent Renewable Portfolio Standard - WATCH
SB 473 (Hertzberg) California Endangered Species Act - WATCH
SB 775 (Weikowski) Cap-and-Trade - WATCH
There are also some bills we are tracking that are already on the Floor. As mentioned above, these bills must pass the house of origin by June 2 to remain alive.
On Assembly Floor
AB 975 (Friedman-D) Expansion of Wild & Scenic Rivers - OPPOSE
Track Bills by visiting http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and use the Quick Bill Search function.
Legislative Archives
Appellate Decision on WFMP Case
Good News -- Exemptions and NTMPs
CAL FIRE has reversed its policy change regarding the acceptance of exemptions for NTMPs. Please refer to the link below to view the letter from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Ken Pimlott) to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Keith Gilless).
Should you have any questions, please send an email to the FLC Legislative Committee at legchair@forestlandowners.org.
Letter and Supporting Content from CAL FIRE to Board of Forestry
Legislative Committee Assignments
Public Policy Institute of California
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) issued a report in mid-September on the status of forest health in the Headwaters Forests. On September 20, there was a panel debriefing on the report. Click on the links below to download the documents.
If you are interested in wathcing the panel debrief, the video is posted on the PPIC's website: