CAPITOL UPDATE #10 March 4, 2021

INFRASTRUCTURE:

•  AB 823– High-speed Rail Authority: trains powered by fossil fuel combustion engines. This bill would prohibit the High-Speed Rail Authority from directly or indirectly using local, state, federal, or any other public or private funding to purchase, lease, operate, or maintain a passenger or freight train powered by a diesel engine or other type of fossil fuel combustion engine, and from enabling such a train to operate on authority-owned rail infrastructure designed for speeds in excess of 125 mph.  NOTE- Congressman Jim Costa (D-Ca-16) re-introduced HR 867: High Speed Rail Corridor Development Act, legislation that would re-authorize $32 billion dollars to fund projects in federally designated high-speed rail corridors.  This bill will directly assist in funding to complete California’s High Speed Rail project through 2025.  ALL ABOARD!!

IMMIGRATION:

• AB 937– Immigration Enforcement. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE! – (This bill should be called the Immigration NON-Enforcement Bill!!!)  This bill would prohibit any state or local agency from arresting or facilitating the arrest, confinement, detention, transfer, interrogation, or deportation of an individual for an immigration enforcement purpose, as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit state or local agencies or courts from using immigration status as a factor to deny or to recommend denial of probation, participation in any diversion, rehabilitation, placement in credit-earning programs or classes, or mental health program, to determine custodial classification level, or to deny mandatory supervision or lengthen the portion of supervision served in custody. The bill would authorize a person to bring an action for equitable or declaratory relief in a court of competent jurisdiction against a state or local agency or state or local official that violates these provisions and would make those agencies or officials liable for actual damages and reasonable attorney’s fees.  Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement and maintain procedures to identify inmates serving terms in state prison who are undocumented felons subject to deportation. Existing law requires the department to annually report to the Legislature the number of persons identified as undocumented aliens, as specified. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires all basic information stored in state or local criminal offender record information systems to be recorded in the form of specified standard data elements, including, among other things, place of birth. This bill would no longer require that information to include place of birth. This bill requires only a majority vote to pass. BE SURE TO CONTACT YOUR ASSEMBLYPERSON, EVEN IF YOU DIDN’T VOTE FOR THEM, TO EXPRESS YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL! Click HERE to find your local Legislator.

TAXES:

• SB 601- Personal income taxes: exclusions: capital gains: sale of residence.  Existing law allows an individual to exclude from their gross income up to $250,000 or $500,000, as specified, of gain realized on the sale or exchange of their residence if the taxpayer owned and occupied the residence as a principal residence for an aggregate period of at least 2 of the 5 years prior to the sale or exchange. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, would revise the exclusion to provide that if the buyer of a qualified principal residence, as defined, is a qualified first-time homeowner, as defined, the amount of the exclusion is increased to $300,000 or $600,000, as specified.