By Michael J. Arnold & Michael Belote, Esq.
Legislative Advocates

2020 Legislative Year Coming Soon

The second year of the 2019-2020 legislative session begins on Monday, January 6th. New bills can officially be introduced and “two-year bills” still alive from last year are once again in play. Most of January will be spent dealing with the two-year bills. These bills must be passed by the house of origin by January 30th to be eligible for further consideration during 2020. Thus, it could be a busy January!

The deadline for the introduction of new legislation is February 21st. The CMA lobbying team will monitor the introduction of all new legislation and will have a complete list of the measures impacting CMA members by early March.

Democrats Maintain Super Majority

Democrats still have a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature. With a two-thirds supermajority in both houses, a political party can raise taxes, place measures on the 2020 statewide ballot, enact urgency legislation, override a Governor’s veto, and change the house rules!

Special Election for Senate District 28 (Riverside/Murrieta/Indio)

There will be a special primary election on March 3, 2020 (combined with the statewide presidential primary election). The special election will be for Senate District 28 formally held by Jeff Stone who resigned to accept an appointment with the Trump Administration.

Budget Outlook

The outlook for the 2020-2021 budget is excellent. Governor Newsom is required to produce his initial version of the budget by January 10, 2020. Normally the budget deliberations don’t get serious until publication of the Governor’s “May Revision” of the budget around May 15th. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published a report entitled: “The 2020-2021 Budget: California’s Fiscal Outlook” on November 20, 2019. In this publication, the LAO noted that “the Budget is in good condition.” The LAO estimates that the Legislature will have a $7 billion surplus available to allocate in the upcoming budget process, and in addition, will build an $18.3 billion balance in the state’s rainy-day fund by the end of 2020-21.

CMA Outlook for 2020

Another busy year is anticipated for the CMA. In addition to the legislative session, the two elections will provide additional matters for consideration. Since all initiative propositions are now required to appear on the general election ballot, we anticipate that the 2020 November ballot will be huge. Propositions are expected to be circulated on privacy, split roll (amending Prop 13), rent control, medical injury compensation reform, and likely several more subjects!

CMA PAC Activity During the 2020 Elections

CMA will utilize the funds in the CMA Political Action Committee (CMA PAC) to support candidates for the Legislature who are philosophically aligned with the values of the CMA membership. Some of our best friends are being termed out of the Legislature this year, making it of great importance that we have the ability to support replacement candidates who share the values of the CMA membership. If you have not yet contributed to the CMA PAC, please do so soon. Business and corporate contributions to the CMA PAC are permitted. The maximum contribution per calendar year is $7800. Thank you!