Sacramento Report

End of Session – The 2015 Legislative year concluded on September 11^th with the Governor finishing his work with signing or vetoing bills on October 11^th.  In terms of the Governor’s signing or vetoing legislation, 2015 was his second highest percentage (14%) of bills vetoed out of 941 bills considered.  His current veto average for the last five years is 12.9% versus 4.63% for his first two terms in office during the mid 70s to early 80s.

This year’s end of session saw some significant legislation passing, while other important issues remained on hold.  SB 350 related to climate change passed albeit one of the key provisions related to reductions in petroleum had to be removed due to opposition from the oil industry.  Speaking of the oil industry, recent filings showed the level of expenditures that occurred related to SB 350.  The top lobbyist employer based on expenditures from July 1 to Sept. 30 was Western States Petroleum Association at $6,750,666.60.  Within the top ten expenditures by lobbyist employers, two were other oil companies, Chevron and Phillips 66 Company.  Other bills that passed in 2015 were related to regulation of marijuana and redevelopment, while bills related to climate change such as SB 32, or expenditure plan for Cap and Trade funds did not reach completion.  Additionally, the Governor called two special sessions – one session related transportation and the other related to healthcare.  Neither special session was able to complete its work during the 2015 session and both have continued on through the interim and will likely be active in the 2016 session.  There have been informational hearings held this fall as part of the transportation special session but no concrete proposal that would be able to garner a 2/3 vote.

2016 Legislative Session – The Legislature will reconvene on January 4^th, 2016 and will immediately begin work on Legislative matters that are still pending in their first house or house of origin.  These measures are called “two-year” bills and the Legislature will have until the end of January to move these two-year bills onto the second house or the measures will be considered dead for the rest of the 2016 Legislative year.

Given the action that will be occurring immediately in January with two-year bills, we will be sending a list of bills and positions so that we can make sure everything is ready for the committee hearings that will begin in early January.  Please review this list and ensure that it reflects all the bills being tracked and the correct positions.  We will also reach out to coordinate a time for a meeting to talk about the year ahead and your priorities.