Legislative Platform

The California Contract Cities Association (CCCA) represents over 80 cities throughout California. For more than 65 years, CCCA’s mission has been to advance the benefits of Lakewood Plan’s contracting model and strengthen local control. With collaborative governance as a focal point, CCCA has advanced its mission through education, advocacy, networking, and legislative access to protect and enhance the quality of life for more than 7.5 million residents.

 As the viability of local control becomes more critical than ever in California, CCCA reaches out to all cities that contract for some or all legally permitted municipal services to join us. CCCA will work tirelessly to preserve local control to serve our communities.

•  Cities have the ability and authority to fashion policies that best fit the needs of their communities.
• Cities are accountable to their communities, with local representatives acting as direct conduits for addressing constituents’ needs and interests. As a matter of policy, CCCA supports and defends the rights of cities to protect their ability to contract for critical services.
• CCCA advocates on policy issues pertinent to cities, including issues related to housing/land use development, homelessness, economic recovery, public safety, mental health/addiction, energy/utility, the environment, infrastructure, zoning, pension reform, transportation, ambient air quality, taxation, and right-of-way agreements.
• CCCA opposes by-right legislation that limits cities’ discretionary review processes for local development projects.

• CCCA supports legislation that allows cities to exercise local control to best address the needs of their communities while expanding opportunities to build affordable housing and transit-oriented development.
• CCCA supports legislation and other innovative, collaborative solutions that reduce costs and spur development in housing.
• CCCA encourages action that provides relief, funding, and assistance to local governments navigating new zoning requirements for housing.
• CCCA calls for an evaluation of the impact on existing infrastructure for all bills affecting land use, and the provision of additional state funding for infrastructure within such bills when existing infrastructure is insufficient to support the proposed development.

• CCCA supports legislation that creates streamlined protocols, accountability measures, and metrics to be used by homeless service providers and local agencies.
• CCCA supports regional and city-driven solutions to address homelessness through crisis response, mental health evaluation and treatment, housing, homeless outreach teams, and state and regional funding for mental health crisis units.
• CCCA supports funding to be provided directly to cities to address a variety of homeless issues, including sheltered and unsheltered individuals.
• CCCA seeks more accurate statistics of individuals experiencing homelessness, including in-flow and out-flow information, cost-reporting of services rendered, mental and health condition, individuals successfully housed, and follow-up data that measures the effectiveness of homeless services rendered.

• CCCA supports coordinated policies that uplift local communities and their rates of employment as the state continues to recover from severe recession and inflation. Eradication of poverty is a critical goal of CCCA advocacy.
• CCCA supports action that aims to increase workforce development and supports new opportunities in budding industries.

• CCCA supports practical measures to address public safety concerns related to violence, probation/parole violations, and recurring criminal offenses like serial theft and street racing.
• CCCA supports balanced state and local criminal reform efforts for non-violent offenders with personal accountability measures that provide for incremental, enhanced supervision or penalties for those who violate the agreed terms and conditions of more lenient case dispositions or treatment.
• CCCA opposes efforts to reprioritize public safety funding and programs without proper procedural or stakeholder engagement, as well as measures that would decrease public safety services or increase crime.
• CCCA supports equitable public safety reforms that reduce liability to cities, improve public safety in the community, and strengthen community relations with peace officers, while addressing concerns over excessive use of force and distrust of peace officers.

• CCCA calls for the enhancement of mental health services and addiction treatments as wrap-around care essential to supporting individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable communities.
• CCCA supports the expansion of conservatorship laws allowing for increased guardianship control and health supervision of those with mental illness and recognizes mental illness and addiction as a contributor to chronic homelessness.
• CCCA opposes legislation that limits local government’s ability to restrict or regulate the sale, manufacture, use and distribution of alcohol and cannabis.
• CCCA supports increased state funding for mental health hospitals.

• CCCA supports Community Choice Aggregation efforts to purchase renewable energy at competitive rates and create benefits and savings for cities, small businesses, and residents. CCCA also supports equal treatment of bundled and unbundled utility customers.
• CCCA supports ongoing efforts to mitigate wildfire disasters through responsible brush and forestry management, including coordination between local and state governments and utility providers.
• CCCA supports efforts to expand consumer access to reliable renewable energy, such as incentives and grants for solar and storage, particularly for low-income and environmentally burdened communities, reducing reliance on non-renewable sources and improving public health.
• CCCA supports federal, state and regional efforts to ensure the electricity delivery network is secure, reliable and modernized and will be sufficient to support the move to all electric vehicles and homes in the future.

• CCCA supports state funding to help defray the cost of cities’ MS4 permit compliance obligations, to assist them in addressing their respective responsibility for capturing and infiltrating stormwater into local aquifers.
• CCCA supports practical, feasible, and affordable solutions to meet mandatory compliance of water quality and treatment standards, notwithstanding prior agreements that otherwise limit city’s ability to undertake such activities.
• CCCA supports funding to address growing statewide concerns of “forever chemicals”, specifically as it relates to PFAS (per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) and microplastics.
• CCCA supports state and regional efforts to increase recycling of water and the associated development of water treatment facilities.
• CCCA supports the establishment of a state program that funds discounted water rates for low income customers of publicly owned retail water suppliers in an effort to make the state’s recognition of a Human Right to Water meaningful.