From CalMatters’ Ben Christopher:
A bill to rein in a proposed monthly fee on California electric bills has been quietly shelved in the Assembly without receiving a single vote.
Assembly Bill 1999, written by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, was a response to the California Public Utilities Commission’s proposal on fixed charges. The version to be voted on next month would let California’s largest for-profit utility companies charge customers $24 per month — with fees as low as $6 for lower-income customers — as a kind of membership fee for the power grid.
In exchange, power providers would be required to lower the rate that customers pay for every unit of electricity consumed. Customers who draw relatively little from the grid — including those with solar panels — would likely face higher overall bills. Customers who buy more electricity from the utilities are more likely to see their bills decline.
Irwin’s legislative rejoinder would have capped the set fees at $10 per month — and just $5 for lower income customers.
But that effort appears to be on ice, though Rivas’ office says that while the bill will not move forward in its current form, talks with Irwin on possible amendments are ongoing.
Bills that cost the state money, like AB 1999, have until today to make it out of their first policy committees. Earlier this week, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’ leadership team rerouted the bill away from its debut hearing, thus depriving it of that necessary first vote.
A GOP-backed measure to totally nix the fixed charge authored by San Diego Republican Sen. Brian Jones was voted down in committee earlier this week.
Irwin, who is a Thousand Oaks Democrat and co-authored her bill with 19 other Democrats, called the move a “step backward” and denounced the “runaway process” at the Public Utilities Commission.
- Cynthia Moreno, Rivas’ press secretary: “The Public Utilities Commission’s recent proposal to reform energy rates should reduce bills for low-income customers and rein-in surging costs for a majority of Californians. And importantly, it will not lead to increased revenues for utility companies.”
Because the proposal strikes that balance, Irwin’s bill is “no longer necessary,” Moreno said, but she left open the possibility of future discussion.
Speaking of stopping bills: After a spicy one-hour debate, the Assembly’s election committee blocked a proposal Thursday to bar lobbyists, certain public officials and employees of the Legislature or office of the governor from signing or requesting non-disclosure agreements when developing legislation. The measure was proposed after KCRA revealed that the Service Employees International Union required these agreements during negotiations for a law it sponsored to bump the hourly minimum wage for fast food workers to $20.
At the hearing, the bill’s author, Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong of Bakersfield, said “we deserve to know how the legislative sausage was made.” Some business groups, including the California Business Roundtable, supported the measure. But the California Chamber of Commerce strongly opposed it. Calling it a “complicated issue,” committee chairperson Assemblymember Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz was the only Democrat to vote against the bill (all other Democrats abstained). In addition to the “rushed process,” Pellerin faulted the bill because she said it addressed conversations between private parties, rather than “legislative negotiations involving public officials.”
Other goings-on in the Legislature Thursday:
- Public safety: Republican Assemblymembers attempted to force a floor vote on 12 crime bills that they say were “unilaterally denied a hearing in the Public Safety Committee.” Though most of the bills were from Democrats, the motion was denied by the Democratic supermajority. Five bills were by Republican lawmakers, including one to classify domestic violence as a violent felony. Another would have classified child abuse that results in death as a serious felony.
- Campaign funds: With no floor votes in opposition, the Assembly advanced a bill to allow candidates and elected officials to use campaign funds for personal security for themselves, family members and staff. It now heads to the Senate. Democratic Assemblymember Mia Bonta of Oakland is resurrecting the proposal after Newsom vetoed similar legislation last year.
