By Doug Brooms, ZWAC Co-Chair
The NCRA Advocacy Webpage “2022 Legislation” has been updated, as of 5/08/22. As a member of the Clean Seas Lobby Coalition, NCRA is a signatory to support letters for least 12 Bills.
Among CalRecycle’s Priority Bills, at least 18 Bills are no longer listed and presumed inactive. Another 7 Bills have been deemed as insufficient interest to NCRA. That leaves some 21 Assembly Bills and 19 Senate Bills remaining of potential interest to NCRA, mostly for support. Some are still scheduled for committee hearings, but most have been placed in the respective Appropriations Committee Suspense File. The Senate Appropriations Suspense File Hearing date is 5/19/22, and likely the same as for the Assembly Suspense File Hearing.
For a concise description of the Appropriations Committee deliberations, here is one of 12 paragraphs taken from Indivisible’s 2019 The California Legislature 101:
Appropriations committee: After passing policy committee, bills go the Appropriations Committee which analyze the fiscal impact of the bill. All bills which have a fiscal note of more than $150,000 in the Assembly and $50,000 in the Senate (this is most bills) are referred to something known as the Appropriations Suspense File. Once bills go the suspense file, legislators lobby the chair of the Appropriations Committee to take their bills “off suspense.” This process is secretive with no public visibility. In the suspenseful suspense file hearing, all the chosen bills are pulled off suspense, voted on, and passed. The others are left on the suspense file to die.
A more elucidating 2021 article is Understanding How A California Bill Dies Without Public Debate (thanks Valerie).
The number of CalRecycle Priority Bills that will be taken off of Suspense and allowed to advance, likely will be of a smaller more manageable number from which to finally select candidates for NCRA support. As always, anyone is welcome to share recommendations and to assist with drafting position letters. Thanks for considering.
# # #