On May 31st, the Assembly and the Senate marked a significant legislative deadline, passing hundreds of bills out of their house of origin. As we have seen, housing has been a prominent issue in both houses this year. Habitat has played an active role in supporting a number of bills making their way through the legislative process and continues to engage on important issues impacting our members and the greater housing policy debate as a whole. Below is an update on where our sponsored and supported bills currently are in the process.
Sponsored Bills
SB 25 (Caballero), our CEQA judicial streamlining bill, made it through two very difficult committee hearings. SB 25 passed out of the Senate on 5/23 with 28 votes. It is now in the Assembly and we are working with Senator Caballero’s staff to ensure that we address opposition and stakeholder concerns as the bill moves forward. We are continuing to garner support and are meeting with additional organizations to build our coalition.
AB 587 (Friedman), this is our Accessory Dwelling Unit bill, which would allow the separate sale of an ADU from the primary dwelling if a tenants in common agreement is in place. This bill has received bi-partisan unanimous support in the Assembly. As a result of the support it has received, it is heading to Senate Housing on 6/4, on the consent calendar!
Supported Bills
AB 68 (Ting): This bill would reduce barriers to building ADUs throughout the state is now in the Senate and has been triple referred to the Senate Committees on Housing, Environmental Quality, and Governance and Finance
AB 69 (Ting): would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to create building standards for small homes to establish consistency and guidelines throughout the state. It now heads to the Senate Housing Committee
AB 831 (Grayson): Adds reporting requirements to the HCD report due June 30th 2019. Requirements include posting the results of its current study to evaluate the reasonableness of local fees charged to new developments on its internet website on or before March 1, 2020 and that HCD issue a report to the Legislature on the progress of cities and counties in adopting the recommendations made by HCD’s study to evaluate the reasonableness of local fees by January 1st, 2024. This bill is in Senate Rules waiting referral to committee.
AB 1483 (Grayson): Requires cities and counties to compile all fees under the Mitigation Fee Act and all taxes and property assessments associated with housing development projects and make those reports public on their website. This bill is in Senate Rules waiting referral to committee.
AB 1486 (Ting): Clarifies and strengthens provisions in the Surplus Land Act that will promote the use of public land for affordable housing. This bill is in Senate Rules waiting referral to committee.
SB 6 (Beall): This bill requires the Department of General Services (DGS), in coordination with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), to create a database of state and local surplus lands available for residential development. It is in the Assembly and has been referred to the Assembly Committees on Housing and Community Development, and Accountability and Administrative Review
SB 196 (Beall): This bill enacts a new welfare exemption from property tax for property owned by a community land trust. It is currently in the Senate awaiting referral to committee.