Disasters

Disaster Relief Legislation

Disaster Relief Legislation

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SB 111* (Ashburn-R) Seismic safety: property tax
Clarifies the property tax new construction exclusion relative to seismic retrofit to ensure equal treatment for property owners who incorporate seismic safety improvements when they remodel an existing building regardless of the type of building.
Chapter 336, Statutes of 2008

SB 149* (Hollingsworth-R) Disaster relief: income tax relief
Authorizes a tax credit in connection with the qualified taxpayer's purchase and receipt of qualified freeze relief products, as defined, from 1/11/07 to 1/19/07.
(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

SB 378 (Steinberg-D) Disaster prevention
Provides statutory direction and places additional requirements on the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board with regard to the implementation and awarding of specified grants made available by the Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Fund Act of 2006 (Proposition 1E).
(Died in Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee)

SB 426 (Kehoe-D) Emergency services: access and functional needs coordination
Requires the Director of the Office of Emergency Services to create the position of Deputy Director for Access and Functional Needs Coordinator. The deputy director will be responsible for ensuring that access and functional needs are included in all state plans related to emergency preparedness, overseeing the training of emergency personnel and coordinating with state and local agencies to ensure that access and functional needs are included in state disaster preparedness documents and training. Expresses the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent permitted by federal law, federal homeland security grant funds be used to implement these provisions.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 728 (Kehoe-D) Federal Fire Management Assistance Grant Program
Provides that a local agency may be reimbursed from the Disaster Assistance Fund for 100% of the nonfederal share of local agency costs for fires occurring in local responsibility areas. Requires that the reimbursement of local agency costs be in accordance with the California Fire Assistance Agreement for costs incurred by the local agency, as specified.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1064* (Hollingsworth-R) Disaster relief: taxation
Provides additions to disaster provisions in the Personal Income Tax Law, Corporation Tax Law, and Property Tax for El Dorado, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties and taxpayers in those counties affected by the 2007 Southern California wildfires, and for Riverside County, and taxpayers in Riverside County affected by severe wind conditions in October 2007.
Chapter 386, Statutes of 2008

SB 1068* (Ducheny-D) Budget Act of 2007: augmentation: disasters
Appropriates $9,173,000 to reimburse local agencies for costs related to disasters and emergencies from 1994 through 2007. Local government costs include road repair and rebuilding governmental buildings, hospitals and treatment plants. The Office of Emergency Services receives annual appropriations to pay these reimbursements, however, because the state reimburses local governments for eligible emergency costs when claims are received, it is not possible to appropriate the exact amount required in any given year.
Chapter 22, Statutes of 2008

SB 1227 (Hollingsworth-R) Disaster assistance: emergencies
Extends from 1/1/09 to 1/1/14, the sunset date for the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties and provides that no funds in the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account shall be expended for conditions in the state's prisons, medical facilities, or youth correctional facilities resulting solely from the action or inaction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in administering these facilities.
Chapter 362, Statutes of 2008
A similar bill was SB 148 (Hollingsworth-R) which died in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 1308* (Cox-R) Disaster assistance
Includes the Angora Fire which occurred in the Lake Tahoe Basin commencing 6/24/07, to the list of disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local agency costs under the California Disaster Assistance Act. Provides that the requirement to adopt a local hazard mitigation plan in order to qualify for the specified exception does not apply to the Lake Tahoe Basin wildfire event, and makes this bill contingent upon enactment of SB 1764 (Kehoe).
Chapter 400, Statutes of 2008

SB 1495 (Kehoe-D) Property tax: disabled veterans: exemption
Allows a taxpayer to retain the disabled veterans' property tax exemption in the case of a partial loss of the taxpayer's home due to a misfortune, calamity, and a full or partial loss due to a major disaster for which the Governor has issued a proclamation of a state emergency.
Chapter 594, Statutes of 2008

SB 1508 (Corbett-D) Seismic safety standards: strengthening standards
Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to prepare guidelines and standards for the seismic strengthening of sill plates and cripple walls for light wood frame residential buildings.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1537 (Kehoe-D) Disaster assistance: wildfires of 2007
Adds the wildfires that occurred in southern California, commencing on or about 10/20/07, to the list of disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local agency costs under the California Disaster Assistance Act.
Chapter 355, Statutes of 2008

SB 1562* (Hollingsworth-R) Property taxation: tree damage
Expands the exemption from property tax for trees or any grapevine damaged by the extremely strong and damaging winds that started on 10/20/07 and by the wildfires that started on 10/21/07 which were subject of the Governor's proclamation of a state of emergency.
Chapter 356, Statutes of 2008
A similar bill was SB 148 (Hollingsworth-R) which died in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 1764 (Kehoe-D) Disaster assistance: certification
Requires a local agency, on or after 1/1/10, to obtain an annual certification by the Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to be eligible to receive a percentage for a state share in excess of 75%. Requires the department to specify the possible percentage a local agency may receive in excess of the 75% based upon certain criteria and regulations to be promulgated by the department on or before 7/1/09.
Vetoed

SB 1777 (Assembly Revenue And Taxation Committee) Disasters: real property
Revises the definition of real property "substantially damaged or destroyed" by a disaster to specify that land and improvements made on that land are considered to be separate units for purposes of determining whether the property sustained physical damage amounting to more than 50% of its full cash value immediately prior to the disaster and whether the taxpayer qualifies for a base-year transfer property tax relief.
Vetoed

SCA 4 (Ashburn-R) Seismic safety: property tax: new construction exclusion
Attempts to ensure equal treatment of property owners who incorporate seismic safety improvements when they remodel an existing building, regardless of the type of building, relative to the property tax.
Resolution Chapter 115, Statutes of 2008

SCR 6 (Florez-D) Frost damage
Requests the Public Utilities Commission to cooperate with the state's public utilities in immediately approving advice letter filings to establish appropriate payment deferral programs for agricultural growers whose crops were destroyed as a result of the cold storms and consequent frost damage that occurred in January 2007. Requests the Public Utilities Commission to authorize recovery for the actual administrative costs, with the exception of interest foregone on deferred amounts, and recovery of uncollected deferred amounts incurred by the state's public utilities as a result of this program.
(Died on Senate Inactive File)

AB 38 (Nava-D) Department of Emergency Services and Homeland Security
Merges the Office of Emergency Services and the Office of Homeland Security to create the California Emergency Management Agency responsible for overseeing and coordinating emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and homeland security activities.
Chapter 372, Statutes of 2008

AB 49* (Arambula-D) Disaster assistance
Adds the January 2007 freeze to the list of eligible disasters, thus allowing for 100% state and federal reimbursement for eligible repairs to local agency real property that sustained damage as a result of the freeze. Requires the state to pay 100% of the costs of eligible repairs for damage sustained by local agencies, regardless of federal participation. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Finance, with the approval of the Governor, to transfer money from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the California Small Business Expansion Fund. Limits transfers from the Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the Small Business Expansion Fund to $5 million per disaster.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 64 (Berg-D) Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act
Enacts the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act and establishes procedures to facilitate out-of-state health and veterinary professionals to assist Californians in an emergency.
(Died in Assembly Rules Committee)

AB 88* (Assembly Budget Committee) 2008 Supplemental Budget bill: disasters
Enacts the 2008 Supplemental Budget Bill which, among other provisions, includes $1,647,000 from the Emergency Response Account (to match $1.6 million in federal funds) for Regional Operational Readiness in order to increase effectiveness in emergency response and management at three Office of Emergency Services regional offices.
Chapter 269, Statutes of 2008 -- Item Veto

AB 254 (Gaines-R) Vehicles: total loss salvage vehicles
Includes within the definition of "total loss salvage vehicle" one that has been damaged as the result of a flood to the extent that the owner, leasing company, financial institution, or insurance company that insured or is responsible for repair of the vehicle considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle and, because of this, the vehicle is not repaired by or for the person who owned the vehicle at the time of the event resulting in damage.
(Died in Assembly Transportation Committee)

AB 287* (Nava-D) Disaster relief: freeze
Provides certain agricultural employers affected by the January 2007 freeze with a credit equal to 40% of wages paid to employees through 1/1/09. Provides that the credit is available to qualified agricultural employers with operations in a county included in the state of emergency declared by the Governor as a result of the extreme low temperatures and freezing conditions that began on 1/12/07. Provides that the credit is equal to 40% of wages paid to qualified employees, not to exceed $2,400 per employee per year. Specifies that the credit replaces deductions otherwise available for the affected wage payments.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 317* (Berg-D) Disaster declarations: adult day health care centers
Requires the Department of Health Care Services to pay for partial days of attendance at an adult day health care center resulting from a disaster for which a Governor-declared state of emergency has been declared, subject to utilization controls set by the Department.
Vetoed

AB 387 (Duvall-R) Disaster preparedness: design-build: transit contracts
Revises public contracting requirements related to transit district contracts for technology or surveillance projects designed to enhance safety, disaster preparedness, and homeland security.
Chapter 185, Statutes of 2008

AB 525 (De Leon-D) State Emergency Operations Center
Requires the Director of the Office of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Director of the Office of Emergency Services and other stakeholders to examine the utilization of federal funding options for the development of a State Emergency Operations Center for the Southern California Region.
(Died on Senate Inactive File)

AB 572 (Berg-D) Disaster procedures: adult day health care services
Clarifies existing law and regulations governing adult day health care pertaining to hours of services, core staff, staff absences, and policies and procedures for dealing with natural disasters and emergencies, and provides greater flexibility to adult day health care providers in transportation and nutrition requirements.
Chapter 648, Statutes of 2008

AB 615 (Torrico-D) Emergency services: limited English proficiency
Requires the Office of Emergency Services to consider the needs of people with limited English proficiency in creating emergency and disaster response plans.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 791 (Jeffries-R) Disasters: governmental reorganization
Creates the California Public Safety Agency to provide a coordinated effort in responding to disasters and emergencies.
(Died in Assembly Governmental Organization Committee)

AB 880 (Nava-D) State of emergency: immunity
Exempts a private business entity or nonprofit organization that is duly enrolled or registered with the Office of Emergency Services, or a responsible county or city emergency management entity, that voluntarily and without the expectation of compensation provides services or other resources during any state of emergency or formal exercise or training at the express request of the Office of Emergency Services or city emergency management entity from liability for any injury sustained by any person, by reason of the services or resources.
(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1120* (Tran-R) Disaster preparedness products: sales and use tax exemptions
Provides a sales tax exemption for the sale of disaster preparedness products.
(Died in Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 1304 (Smyth-R) Seismic retrofit: hospitals
Deems all submissions by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to the California Building Standards Commission pertaining to specified hospital seismic safety reporting requirements to be emergency regulations until 1/1/09.
(Died in Senate Health Committee)

AB 1421 (Levine-D) Disaster registry system
Requires the Office of Emergency Services to incorporate a disaster registry system within the standardized emergency management system.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1553 (DeSaulnier-D) Housing: emergency first responders
Requires the Office of Emergency Services to produce an emergency personnel housing report studying the need for communities to develop a program that assists firefighters, public safety officers and emergency first responders in finding affordable housing in the communities in which they work.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1595 (Lieber-D) Disaster mitigation and emergency services
Creates the Terrorism Prevention and Civil Liberties Protection Oversight Committee in the Department of Justice to advise and assist the state in preventing terrorist attacks while protecting civil liberties and human rights. Requires the committee to report annually to the Governor and the Legislature on the progress they have made toward meeting their specified purpose. Requires the Office of Emergency Services to report as part of its 2008 annual report progress on the following goals: (1) ensuring that emergency preparedness exercises sufficiently test the response capabilities of the state's health system; (2) identifying steps that can be taken to increase the pace of allocation of federal homeland security grants; (3) reducing the amount of time necessary for reimbursing local agencies for their homeland security expenditures; and (4) ensuring that the organizational structure for emergency preparedness is streamlined.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1752 (Charles Calderon-D) California Earthquake Authority
Requires the California Earthquake Authority to conduct a study, within existing resources, to determine the impact of the State of California serving as the sole reinsurer of the California Earthquake Authority and to report findings to the Legislature.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1930 (Torrico-D) Emergency services: multiple languages
Requires the director of the Office of Emergency Services to consider the multiple languages and needs of populations who have limited proficiency in the English language and to incorporate their needs in emergency preparedness planning, response, and recovery training.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 2154 (Brownley-D) Fire Department: fire engine fleet
Requires the director of the Office of Emergency Services to acquire 131 fire engines to augment its existing fleet and to assign them to local fire protection agencies in the state.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2185 (Torrico-D) Public safety communications
Modifies the Public Safety Communication Act to allow additional technology to be considered for improved public safety interoperability.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2327 (Caballero-D) Emergency services
Requires entities providing disaster-related services and assistance to strive to ensure that all victims receive assistance they need and for which they are eligible, and requires public employees to assist evacuees and other individuals in securing disaster-related assistance and services without eliciting any information or document that is not strictly necessary to determine eligibility under state and federal laws.
Chapter 361, Statutes of 2008

AB 2675 (Hancock-D) Disaster response helicopters
Establishes a process at the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for helicopter acquisition, retrofitting, deployment, assignment to local agencies, and disposition.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2756 (Duvall-R) Pharmacists: emergencies: disasters
Specifies the emergency conditions under which pharmacists may furnish dangerous drugs and devices without prescription.
(Died on Senate Inactive File)

AB 2764 (Hancock-D) State of emergency: pest control
Prohibits the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture from undertaking a pest eradiation project, or providing for the application of a pesticide in an urban area to effectuate an eradication project, unless the Governor proclaims a state of emergency.
(Failed passage in Assembly Agriculture Committee)

AB 2796 (Nava-D) Disaster
Adds two new sections to the California Emergency Services Act to authorize the Office of Emergency Services to establish a statewide registry of private businesses and nonprofit organizations that are interested in making donations, at no cost to the state, to prepare the state for emergencies and disasters, and impose certain duties on these entities in this regard. Relieves a private business or nonprofit organization included on the statewide registry from criminal or civil liability for a death, injury, illness, or other damage to a person or property caused by its donation, except for liability caused by its grossly negligent act or omission, or willful or wanton misconduct.
Chapter 363, Statutes of 2008

AB 2817 (Torrico-D) Disaster assistance: fire warnings
Authorizes the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, during a fire warning issued by the National Weather Service, to request a local agency to pre-position personnel and equipment to assist in the initial attack of a potential wildfire in a state responsibility area.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 2819 (DeSaulnier-D) Emergency responders
Exempts any firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT) -I, EMT-II, or EMT-P employed by the state or a local agency from being subject to criminal prosecution for any legal act performed in the course and scope of his or her employment to carry out his or her professional responsibilities.
(Died in Assembly Public Safety Committee)

AB 2996 (De La Torre-D) Disaster response exercises
Requires the Department of Public Health and local public health departments, when conducting emergency or disaster preparedness exercises related to an infectious disease outbreak, to establish a process for identifying deficiencies in preparedness plans and procedures and tracking the implementation of corrective measures to ensure that desired improvements are made to those preparedness plans.
Vetoed

AB 3075 (Assembly Governmental Organization Committee) Firefighting equipment
Requires the Office of Emergency Services to give first priority for the sale of new or used firefighting apparatus and equipment to a local agency that serves a rural area, and to give second priority for the sale of new or used firefighting apparatus and equipment to any local agency. Allows the office to sell the apparatus and equipment to public agencies outside California, the federal government, and Indian tribes, as specified.
Chapter 364, Statutes of 2008

AJR 6 (Nava-D) Severe freezing conditions of January 2007
Memorializes the President of the United States to expeditiously declare as a federal major disaster area the portions of this state affected by severe freezing conditions and consequent frost damage that occurred in January 2007 to allow critical relief to this state's small-business owners, farmers, and workers.
(Died in Senate Rules Committee)

AJR 22 (Lieber-D) Hurricane Katrina: disaster relief
Memorializes each Senator and Representative from this state in the Congress and the President to enact legislation based on the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, a national effort to create 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast residents to rebuild their communities.
Resolution Chapter 15, Statutes of 2008

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