SUBLEASING BILL RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 15 COMMITTEE HEARING
The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to hear AB 861 (Bennett),
the harmful subleasing bill, yesterday; however, due to mounting
concerns raised by both WMA and the California Mobilehome
Parkowners Alliance (CMPA), the bill has since been rescheduled
and will be heard on Tuesday, June 15.
RENT CONTROL, WATER SUBMETER BILLS REFERRED TO SENATE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
We are pleased to announce that SB 64 by Senator Connie Leyva
(Democrat, Chino) is now a two-year bill and has been moved to
the Senate inactive file. SB 64 will not advance out of the
Senate this year. WMA could not have accomplished this without
the assistance of our members and their involvement with
VoterVoice, and WMA’s legislative team, which discussed the
bill’s deficiencies at length with legislative staff.
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES AUTHORIZE BILLS THAT SPEND
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees met last
Thursday, and billions of dollars will be added to the State
Budget. Given that the Governor has signaled a $75 Billion
surplus, this is not entirely surprising but disappointing,
nonetheless.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted upon a total of 357
measures. Of those, only 55 were held in committee. Similarly,
the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted upon 537 measures and
only held 121.
Last Friday, the Governor unveiled his May Revision to the State
Budget. The budget proposal now includes paying 100% of rent to
landlords that went unpaid due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
The state anticipates a $75 billion surplus and an additional $26
billion in federal aid. The full budget anticipates
spending over $267 billion, including state and federal funds.
Article Provided Courtesy of the California Apartment
Association (CAA) – Gov. Newsom today announced his intent
to pay rental housing providers 100% of rent that’s gone unpaid
because of COVID-19.
TRIO OF INDUSTRY BILLS PASSES COMMITTEE, WMA PREPARES FOR
FLOOR FIGHT
On Monday, the Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee held a hearing solely to consider three
industry-specific bills.
WMA remained unwavering throughout our discussions with the
respective authors, their staff, and the committee consultant.
WMA staff also voiced our opposition and specific areas of
concern during committee testimony.
Earlier this week, the Assembly noticed that there would be a
hearing of the Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee on May 3. They will be hearing a trio of bills directly
affecting the mobilehome park industry: Assembly Bill 861
(Bennett) dealing with subleasing, AB 978 (Quirk-Silva), the rent
control bill, and the water submetering bill, AB 1061 (Lee).
We are in discussions with key legislators, staff, and policy
consultants surrounding our respective position on these bills.
ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL AMENDED, SET FOR APRIL 29
HEARING
AB 1188 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Democrat, Oakland) was
substantially amended, and the Assembly Housing Committee will
hear the bill on April 29.
As amended, AB 1188 (Wicks) requires HCD to retain data from
designated sources for at least ten years, including data on the
state rental assistance program, information submitted by
eligible grantees who received the federal funding, and data on
rental registries operated by local governments.
ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL WITHDRAWN FROM POLICY
COMMITTEE HEARING
Good news! AB 1188 was withdrawn from today’s Assembly Housing
Committee hearing agenda.
AB 1188 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Democrat, Oakland) would
require local governments to establish their own online rental
registry portals by 2024. It would require landlords to register
and provide an exhaustive list of rental-related information.
Landlords would also be prohibited from raising rents or
terminating a tenancy if they fail to register.
SENATOR CONNIE LEYVA’S RESTRICTIVE RENT RELIEF BILL SENT
TO APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE FILE
WMA is pleased to announce that Senator Connie Leyva’s SB 64 was
placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file
yesterday. Those bills identified as having significant cost to
the state are sent to the suspense file.
The bill was recently amended to remove rental repayment
provisions addressed with prior legislation and narrowed to
prevent the ability of parkowners to issue 7-day notice
violations.
AB 81 PASSED BY LEGISLATURE AND SIGNED BY GOVERNOR NEWSOM
ON FEBRUARY 23, 2021
Follow-up urgency legislation signed by Governor Newsom clarifies
what legislators and the governor had previously
promised: Landlords will be paid a full 80% of the rent owed
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously signed legislation, SB 91, was not clear on this
point, providing that landlords would be paid “up to” 80%.
AB 81 clarifies this issue.
We are pleased to announce that Assemblymember Kelly Seyarto
(Republican, Riverside) has introduced AB 606 on WMA’s
behalf. AB 606 allows individuals to place 400 square feet
or less homes – also known as park models – on mobilehome park
spaces.
AB 606 re-defines “park trailers” and is an important technical
clarification that will require the Housing and Community
Development Department (HCD) to allow these homes to be placed in
currently regulated communities on a year-round basis.
