SACRAMENTO — The
California Assembly approved a $1 billion plan Thursday to bring immediate relief for communities hit hardest by the drought and to move long-term water projects along more quickly.
Gov.
Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced the plan last week, and it now heads to the governor for final approval. The Senate approved the plan Wednesday.
Most of the money — $660 million — would move along flood protection projects from a nearly decade-old bond set to expire next year.
Brown said last week that the flood protection money is necessary to prepare the state for extreme weather patterns associated with climate change and the chance that storms could cause havoc on hard, dry land.
California is well into its fourth year of drought, and the Sierra snowpack is near record lows, meaning runoff into reservoirs this summer will be minimal.
The plan includes $75 million in immediate aid to provide emergency drinking water, to protect fish and wildlife, and for food assistance — including for farmworkers whose hours were cut because of the drought.
The legislation also lets the state dip into the $7.5 billion water bond voters passed in November to spend $272 million of it on water recycling and desalination projects, and improving the quality of drinking water.
“This bill will obviously not solve the drought,” said Assemblywoman
Shirley Weber, D-San Diego. “But it is an important first step this year in our continuing efforts to address the urgent needs brought on by the extreme drought.”
In addition to the $1 billion authorized by AB91, the Legislature passed a companion bill, AB92, on Thursday that grants additional authority to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to allow the agency to issue fines for improper water diversions, such as those by illegal marijuana growers.
Republicans opposed the new authority, saying it broadly expanded Fish and Wildlife powers, including allowing the agency to issue fines of $8,000 per day without the ability for an impartial hearing.
“What this bill now does, it says the Department of Fish and Wildlife is both the prosecutor and the judge,” said Assembly Republican Leader Kristin Olsen of Modesto. “That’s not proper due process. … It’s just un-American.”
Democrats said the measure was necessary to ensure the state wasn’t turning a blind eye to people illegally taking water from streams and rivers.
Assembly Speaker
Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said the state has procedures to ensure that agencies allow for due process.
Republicans also raised concerns about a non-drought-related item in AB91 that approves a labor agreement to increase pay for prison psychologists and social workers who perform extra duties related to mentally ill inmates. The agreement was required by a federal court order, but Republicans contended the drought bills were not the right vehicle for its approval.
“What does that have to do with the drought?” asked Assemblyman
Donald Wagner, R-Irvine. “This is something that happens all too often and shouldn’t. Miscellaneous stuff, stuff some of us might consider poison pills, gets thrown into a bill that it doesn’t really relate to at the last minute, looking to jam people up. … I would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle as we go forward this year to keep our legislation clean.”
Atkins said it was added to the emergency legislation because it was an immediate budget need.
“It’s not hidden; it’s in the language,” she said.
