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ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL WITHDRAWN FROM POLICY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 AB 1188 was withdrawn from today’s Assembly Housing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.
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.
What a week! WMA and CMPA lobbyists met jointly with numerous
legislators and their staff via phone call in anticipation of
both yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and upcoming
hearings.
AB 2782 (STONE) PASSES SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WITH SB
999 (UMBERG) LANGUAGE
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the
anti-closure bill, AB 2782 (Stone). We want to share with members
the latest turn of events relative to this bill.
The month of August will cap off one of the most turbulent
sessions this state legislature has seen and the political antics
appear to be far from
over.
WMA PREPARES FOR FLOOR FLIGHT REGARDING SENATE BILL 915
(LEYVA)
The Legislature reconvened this week to a state of upheaval and
infighting between both houses, prompting several policy
committees to be postponed.
In these final weeks, lawmakers also intend to make changes to
the state’s labor laws – from workers’ compensation to paid sick
leave – to provide employer protections for those affected by
COVID-19.
Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins also announced that the Senate has
implemented procedures, which allow members to cast committee
votes remotely from their district offices if certain conditions
are met.
STATE LEGISLATURE ANNOUNCES BILL CALENDAR FOR REMAINING
YEAR
State lawmakers have announced a revised calendar for the
remainder of session. Both the Senate and the Assembly will be
returning to work in the State Capitol on July 27, but this is
certainly subject to change, as conditions remain fluid in
Sacramento. There are approximately 700 bills left
remaining (approximately 500 Assembly Bills remain and roughly
200 Senate Bills remain), and they must all be heard and voted on
by August 31.
LEGISLATURE ON HIATUS DUE TO GROWING COVID-19 CASES AMONG
LEGISLATORS, CAPITOL STAFF
Lawmakers were set to return from their summer recess this week;
however, in light of the emerging cases of COVID-19 among
lawmakers and capitol staff, both houses recently announced a
revised return date of July 27.
Senator Connie Leyva presented SB 915 on the Senate floor
yesterday. SB 915 passed by a vote of 29-11.
In anticipation of this vote coming up, we distributed a detailed
floor alert to all Senators and launched a VoterVoice campaign to
the membership. Our thanks to everyone who participated. We are
pleased with the overall response that the campaign
generated.
Throughout the course of the week, WMA’s Government Affairs team
continued to engage in discussions with legislative staff, sent a
targeted floor alert, and enlisted the WMA membership to “take
action” on SB 999 (Umberg) using the VoterVoice online campaign
platform. Thank you to all who have participated in this
effort using our VoterVoice platform or our traditional “Red
Alert” system.
WMA joins coalition opposed to Assembly Bill 1436
(Chiu)
“Between the stories I’ve heard from communities across our state
and the extensive studies conducted on the costs of housing, it
has become clear to me that we simply cannot achieve our
ambitious housing goals without working to reform fees that are
exclusionary and regressive,” said Assemblymember Grayson. “Today
my colleagues and I have put forward a package to dramatically
increase our housing supply, produce housing that is attainable
for working families at all income levels, and ensure that fees
being placed on new development are justified.”
California Democrats unveiled on Monday a package of eight
proposals that attempt to spur construction of new homes by
slashing some of the fees that local governments charge for
building permits.
