Barbed Wire - February 3, 2012
House Committee Approves Controversial Highway Bill
This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved, by a close party-line vote of 29-24, a five year, $260 billion bill to fund the nations’ surface transportation programs (of which California’s share would be approximately $18.3 billion). Specifically, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) would reauthorize and fund federal highway, transit, and rail programs through 2016. The funding levels proposed are consistent with current year spending, but are less than the Senate two-year bill, MAP 21. The heated mark-up, which lasted over 17 hours and 100 amendments, continued to highlight the ongoing contentious relationship between the parties in the U.S. House of Representatives. While highway bills have traditionally been overwhelmingly supported by both sides of the aisle, as noted by Committee Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), HR 7 is drawing serious opposition because it would partially be paid for by a series of new domestic oil and gas drilling proposals, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.
Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said that he expects the bill to be considered by the full House in the coming weeks. The House and Senate would then have to work out their differences, including bill length and funding offsets. RCRC, the California State Association of Counties, and the National Association of Counties continue to advocate for county priorities including funding for county bridges and high risk rural road safety. For a summary of H.R.7, click here.
For additional information, please contact Melissa White at mwhite@rcrcnet.org.
Legislature Passes Bill to Preserve Home-to-School Transportation Funding
Both the Assembly and Senate this week passed SB 81 on bi-partisan votes (attach link to bill here) to restore nearly $250 million for school bus transportation in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The bill’s formula spreads reductions in education to school districts statewide rather than focusing on specific reductions to schools that operate home-to-school transportation programs. Under the original cut, rural school districts would have been disproportionately affected since they are more likely to provide school bus transportation services than urban and suburban districts, where populations are higher and schools are in closer proximity to one another, as well as to students’ homes.
During last year’s state budget negotiations, the Legislature and the Governor slated a variety of reductions to occur – one of which is school bus transportation -- if revenues were below a certain level by December 2011. Because state revenues were below expectations this reduction was made, effectively eliminating funding to schools that operate bus service. Federal case law, however, requires that school transportation be maintained in certain circumstances. RCRC continues to support SB 81 and the bill now moves to the Governor’s desk for his signature. Proponents are hopeful the bill can be signed and implemented by mid-February.
For more information, please contact Cyndi Hillery or Paul A. Smith of the RCRC staff at 916-447-4806.
Court Ruling Tentatively Blocks 10% Cut to Medi-Cal Reimbursement Rates
This week, a federal Judge blocked the 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for a host of medical personnel, which would have had a devastating effect on rural county hospitals. This latest ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by a number of health care organizations, who challenged the cuts, and tentatively prevents California from reducing Medi-Cal reimbursements to physicians, dentists, emergency medical workers and other health care providers while the lawsuit continues. As previously reported in the Barbed Wire, a federal judge had blocked cuts to Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for hospital-based nursing facilities and pharmacies, which would have disproportionately impacted rural county hospitals. The June 2011-12 budget, passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, had cut the rates to a variety of Medi-Cal providers by 10 percent to save $623 million.
Please contact Cyndi Hillery at chillery@rcrcnet.org, or Santinia Pasquini at spasquini@rcrcnet.org with comments or questions.
Action Requests
Contact Your Representative in Support of H.R. 2765 – Sunshine on Conflicts Act
Representative Gary Miller has sponsored legislation titled the Sunshine on Conflicts Act (H.R. 2765) to revise outdated provisions of the Clean Water Act and replace the percent of income test now applied under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation (anyone deriving 10 percent or more income from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permittees). The regulation is used to appoint persons to water quality permitting authorities, including state and regional water boards and H.R. 2765 would bolster California’s ability to appoint qualified experts to its various water resources-related bodies. While Representatives Ken Calvert and Dana Rohrabacher are co-sponsors of the measure, Representative Miller is seeking additional co-sponsors for H.R. 2765. RCRC urges member rural counties to contact your Member of Congress, by letter or phone, and request that he/she contact Representative Miller and agree to co-sponsor the bill. Absent enactment of this legislation, California will continue to be deprived of persons with expertise in the process of deciding how water pollution control mandates and other water resources issues are developed, implemented and enforced. A joint RCRC/CSAC letter to the California Delegation that describes the problem with the existing federal regulations and the purpose of the legislation may be accessed at here.
Please send a copy of your letter to your representative to kmannion@rcrcnet.org, and please feel free to call Kathy Mannion at (916) 447-4806 with any questions.
Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Comments Urged
The Central Valley Flood Protection Board is meeting on February 24, at which time the public is invited to recommend items of focus for upcoming public outreach meetings in the Sacramento and San Joaquin areas during April-May 2012. RCRC staff requests impacted member counties located in the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley to submit comments. Information on how to submit comments and other related documents are available at http://www.cvfpb.ca.gov/.
Please provide copies of your comments to RCRC’s Kathy Mannion at kmannion@rcrcnet.org. Adoption of the final Central Valley Flood Protection Plan is anticipated in June 2012.
Announcements
Proposed 2012-13 Budget Trailer Bills Now Available
All trailer bills containing implementing language for the California State 2012-13 budget bill are now available for viewing on the Department of Finance website at http://www.dof.ca.gov/budgeting/trailer_bill_language/documents/. RCRC staff is reviewing these once again for any impacts they may have on rural counties.
Fish and Wildlife Interim Strategic Vision to be Released February 24
The Fish and Wildlife Interim Strategic Vision Commission, a bi-product of the California Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Commission, developed a report that it will release on February 24 to the Governor, Legislature and the public for review and comment. The final Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision is scheduled for release July 1, 2012; however, we anticipate the Interim Strategic Vision will be the basis for a number of legislative proposals during the 2012 legislative session. Details regarding upcoming meetings and information may be accessed here http://www.vision.ca.gov/.
RCRC staff remains engaged in the Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision Process, and will review the Report and comment as needed to ensure the needs of RCRC counties are met. Additionally, RCRC staff will review any legislative proposals as a result of the Report and engage accordingly throughout the legislative session.
Please contact Nick Konovaloff at nkonovaloff@rcrcnet.org with questions or comments.
Proposal Solicitation Package for $4.7M Local Groundwater Assistance Grant Program Available for Public Comment
Approximately $4.7 million in Proposition 84 funds will be available for local public agencies with the authority to manage groundwater resources, giving each applicant the ability to qualify for grants up to $250,000 to conduct ground water studies, or carry out groundwater monitoring and management activities. The Local Groundwater Assistance draft Guidelines and the Proposal Solicitation Package is now available for public comment and a workshop is scheduled on February 23, 2012. The comment period ends March 1, 2012. Please access additional information at: http://www.water.ca.gov/lgagrant/.
Delta Plan Draft Environment Impact Report Comments Available for Viewing
The comment period on the Delta Stewardship Council Delta Plan draft Environmental Impact Report ended on February 2, 2012. The “proposed project” is the fifth draft of the Delta Plan (released August 2011) which consists of 12 regulatory policies and 61 recommendations. The policies would have the force of law once adopted as state regulations. The regulations would be binding on “covered actions”, the definition of which RCRC contends still lacks sufficient clarity. To view RCRC’s comments on each of the five drafts of the Delta Plan, as well as the draft environmental impact report, please visit: http://www.rcrcnet.org/rcrc/index.cfm/advocacy/governmental-affairs/regulatory-affairs/position-letters/agency-and-board-letters/. The current schedule calls for the Delta Stewardship Council to consider changes to the Delta Plan and the environmental impact report in early 2012, followed by Delta Stewardship Council approval and completion of the State Office of Administrative Law process, culminating with formal adoption of the Delta Plan regulation this summer.
Please contact Kathy Mannion at (916) 447-4806 or kmannion@rcrcnet.org with any questions.
2012 Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Projects Announced
The U.S. Forest Service on Thursday announced $40 million in funding for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program to cover 20 forest restoration projects. Of these projects, three are in California, with funding of over $2.16 million. The Burney-Hat Creek Basins Project in Shasta County and the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group Cornerstone Project in Amador and Calaveras Counties were selected as new recipients of CFLR project funding. The Dinkey Landscape Restoration Project --principally in Fresno County and selected in 2010 as one of the first CFLR projects -- will continue to receive funding for its work.