With Policy Committees Complete, Attention Turns to Appropriations Committee

With legislators on their way home for the weekend, the deadline has now come and gone for bills to be acted on by a policy committee in the house of origin. Bills with a fiscal impact that passed out of policy committee will see their next hearing in the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees, while bills with no fiscal impact will be next considered by the full Senate or Assembly.

Several bills of primary interest to WMA will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, including the following:

Assembly Bill 2539 (Connolly, D-San Rafael)

This bill passed the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee and the Assembly Judiciary Committee with the bare minimum of votes. AB 2539 will be heard in the Appropriations Committee either on May 15, but no date has been set.

In the policy committee, WMA stressed this bill that would give tenant groups a right of first refusal to purchase a mobilehome park was unconstitutional under both the California and the United States Constitution, but the measure passed anyway. In the Appropriations Committee, WMA will argue that the bill should not advance due to a significant fiscal impact that includes, but is not limited to:

• Loss of over $40 million in property taxes owed to local governments due to resident organizations purchasing mobilehome parks that are exempt from reassessment by County Assessors, since these organizations are generally nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporations.
• Passing and enacting AB 2539 into law will require the Attorney General to spend a considerable amount of money and staff time to defend the constitutionality of the measure in a lawsuit that will be filed after the measure is signed into law.
• The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will have to hire more people to create, manage, and maintain a statewide database of mobilehome parks listed for sale and will have to hire additional staff to enforce the provisions of the legislation.

To read the current version and the official committee analyses, please click here.

If the bill is heard and referred to the “Suspense File,” it will be announced on May 17 whether the bill will advance to the full Assembly for consideration or die for the year after the Governor releases his May revision to the California State Budget — which appears to be growing every day.

I want to extend WMA’s sincere appreciation to Dan Rudderow of the Rudderow Law Group for providing the WMA testimony in the Judiciary Committee. He clearly showed his expertise in discussing the constitutional problems AB 2539 contains.  The WMA legislative team and leadership believed it was essential to have an attorney who was familiar with the Mobilehome Residency Law, and with litigation experience on matters related to the constitutionality of state laws and local ordinances. Rudderow did a masterful job.

Assembly Bill 2022 (Addis, D-Morro Bay)

This bill that deals with how parkowners and managers operate in emergency situations was substantially amended in committee on April 24. To secure passage of the bill out of policy committee, the author removed a penalty of perjury provision and removed liability involving owners and managers when complying with the request of emergency personnel to evacuate the park and shut off utilities.

This bill will likely be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on either May 8 or May 15, and WMA is maintaining its strong opposition to the measure despite the most recent amendments. The fiscal costs associated with AB 2022 would be largely due to increased responsibilities of HCD, even as it is working on developing a curriculum for manager training that must include emergency preparedness.

To read the current language of AB 2022, please click here.

Assembly Bill 2247 (Wallis, R-Palm Springs)

This bill is a sunset extension bill that will extend the life of the Mobilehome Parks Act (MPA) — which is set to expire on January 1, 2025 —  to January 1, 2030.  AB 2247 will also require HCD to provide residents with violations about the Manufactured Housing Opportunity and Revitalization (MORE) Program to help them correct violations.  The bill would require residents to be informed by HCD about how to apply for loans and grants to pay for necessary repairs. WMA was the primary witness in support of this legislation.

The Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee suggested amendments to also extend the Mobilehome Park Maintenance (MPM) and MPA fee statute until 2030. The author eventually accepted the amendments.  AB 2247 passed unanimously and will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it will be heard either May 8 or May 15.

To read the language of AB 2247 without the amended language, please click here.

Assembly Bill 2291 (Alanis, R-Modesto)

This bill was originally drafted in response to the California State Audit of the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program (MRLPP). It would have suspended the annual $10 per lot fee and would have required Legal Service Providers (LSPs) to disclose to HCD how funds distributed to LSPs are being spent in dealing with MRLPP complaints.

To read the full State Auditor Report of the MRLPP, click here.

To keep the bill alive, the author was forced to accept amendments to leave the fee in place.  Provisions to ensure LSPs are qualified and competent were kept in the bill, HCD will be required to conduct regular surveys of complainants referred to a LSP to ensure the LSP is communicating with the complainant. The bill will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on either May 8 or May 15. 

To read the current language of AB 2291, please click here.

To view a list of bills being monitored and tracked by WMA and to learn about the positions WMA has taken on these legislative measures, please click here.

HCD Public Comment Period on Qualifications for LSPs Handling MRLPP Complaints Remains Open

HCD announced that public comment will be considered on proposed emergency regulations involving the awarding of LSP contracts for handling MRLPP complaints. The rulemaking process was triggered with the passage of Assembly Bill 318, which was signed into law on October 11, 2023, requiring HCD to establish criteria for the selection of LSPs.

To learn how to submit comments by the deadline of May 23, 2024, please visit the WMA website by clicking here.

Membership Dues Renewal Underway

WMA membership renewal forms were sent out recently. If you have not yet received your renewal notice, you will soon see them in your mailbox. Through membership support, WMA has represented owners of mobilehome and manufactured housing communities since 1945 and remains the largest organization of its kind in the nation.

WMA continuously strives to dedicate your investment to program areas that actively contribute toward the economic success of your business. We encourage you to consider the many ways WMA makes your dues dollar work for you. To pay dues online, please click here.

It is an honor to serve WMA. Please feel free to reach me directly at chris@wma.org, or on my direct line at the office at 916.288.4026 if I may be of assistance or you need additional information.