With the June 15 Constitutional budget deadline approaching, it's getting easier if not easy to pick state bills that have a chance this season. A few measures affecting land use and planning didn't survive the suspense file or were otherwise pulled. But a lot is still up in the air.
Cap and Trade - The Sacramento Bee's Dan Walters is reporting at http://bit.ly/1h9bbT0 that three proposals are now in play for the use of cap-and-trade carbon auction proceeds for environmental, transit and housing purposes. We've discussed two of them previously at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3494: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's proposal, with its strong emphasis on transit-oriented affordable housing, and the prior proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown. Walters reports, however, that a third version was adopted by the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee as of May 23 with $450 million for transit and rail and some "sustainable communities" funding.
Prop 13 Reform - AB 2372, which would block a split-ownership tactic for avoiding business property reassessments, passed out of the Assembly suspense file May 23. As we've also discussed at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3494, the measure has historic support from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The state's tracking page on the bill with text, status and a committee analysis is at http://bit.ly/1i0mbN1. A bill to restore some limited variation in parcel tax rates, Sen. Lois Wolk's SB 1021, also discussed in our prior writeup, had passed the state Senate and has been with the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation since May 12.
If you're keeping score at home: a suspense file tally - The California Special Districts Association posted spreadsheets on Dropbox of bills' fates in the May 23 hearings on Assembly and State Senate suspense files. See http://bit.ly/1tKgJVX for the Assembly and http://bit.ly/1nsbj2l for the Senate.
One edgy bill that made it out of the suspense file was SB 1132, the anti-fracking measure by State Sens. Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno. It passed with clarifying amendments. For more see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3475 and http://bit.ly/RiQt7c. Mitchell, a Los Angeles Democrat, has expressed concern for her district as close to "the largest urban oil field in the country" in Inglewood.
SB 1260, the DeSaulnier bill for a 25% affordable housing set-aside requirement on either Redevelopment-type or IFD tax-increment districts, did not make it off the suspense file at the May 23 Senate Appropriations hearing.
Another ambitious housing bill, AB 2175 (Daly & Ting) to strengthen renters' rebates, also stayed stuck in the Assembly suspense file May 23.
AB 1537 (Levine) - This bill to change Marin County's status from urban to suburban would reduce default zoning densities for the county from 30 to 20 units. The Marin IJ has analysis at http://bit.ly/TQD1Jd. The measure passed the Assembly May 19 and was awaiting committee assignment in the Senate Rules Committee.
SB 968 (Hill) - Billionare Vinod Khosla has reportedly hired lobbyists to fight SB 968, Sen. Jerry Hill's bill to have the State Lands Commission negotiate the purchase from Khosla of Martin's Beach, a popular privately owned beach in San Mateo County that Khosla closed to public access. The public had long been allowed to visit there for the cost of parking in a private lot. (See http://bit.ly/1pv2UIs.) Despite a reported lobbying push against the measure, SB 968 made it out of the Senate Appropriations suspense file May 23 by a vote of 5-2.
SB 270 (Padilla) - State Sen. Alex Padilla, also a candidate for California Secretary of State, continued to advance his bill for a statewide plastic bag ban, SB 270. Sacramento Bee columnist Mariel Garza wrote this weekend at http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/18/6411959/mariel-garza-ban-single-use-plastic.html that Padilla was facing attack ads from the plastic industry over the matter. But the bill has passed the Senate, has survived one Assembly committee vote, and next goes to Assembly Appropriations.
AB 2493 (Bloom) - Post-Redevelopment funds retention
This bill by Assemblymember Bloom, D-Santa Monica, would return some $750 million to successor agencies to finish redevelopment projects. By the end of April it had passed two Assembly policy committees and had passed out of the suspense file at Assembly Appropriations. For Bloom's comments in the local Santa Monica Lookout see http://bit.ly/1jwkF9e. The League of California Cities, which supports it, has a tracking page and support letter at http://bit.ly/Q8J612.
SB 1129 (Steinberg) - SB 1129, a post-redevelopment cleanup bill with League of California Cities support, would give cities' successor agencies more authority in several areas, notably to enter contracts. It was heard May 5 in Senate Appropriations and passed out of the suspense file with amendments on May 23, receiving a second reading and further amendment May 27 on the Senate floor. For an endorsement statement by the City of Glendale see http://bit.ly/SvBvvz. The League's comments on this and a crop of other March-introduced bills on the Redevelopment wind-down are at http://bit.ly/1igufww.
SB 1 (Steinberg) - This bill emphasizing transit-oriented "smart growth," in a quasi-revival of Redevelopment, remains on the "Inactive" file. For background on this and other efforts to fill the vacuum left by Redevelopment's demise see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3480
AB 2280 (Alejo) - This bill to re-create some elements of Redevelopment with a housing emphasis passed the Assembly May 8 and was referred to two Senate policy committees. See League of Cities analysis at http://bit.ly/OUOtRg.
SB 33 (Wolk) - SB 33, which would remove the requirement of a popular vote from infrastructure finance districts, remained formally dormant but still informally under consideration, as discussed at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3480.
AB 2729 (Medina) - Would expand use of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or "I-Bank" to finance more infrastructure surrounding shipping and transport. Brought to a hearing for discussion April 22 but not moving at present.
AB 1404 (Leno) - San Francisco Redevelopment housing backlog
San Francisco-specific SB 1404, originated by the city government, passed the State Senate May 12 and went to two Assembly policy committees. The measure would both require and allow the successor to the city's redevelopment agency to replace over 5000 units of affordable housing that were destroyed during 1955-1975 "urban renewal". See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3480.
AB 2292 (Bonta) - Freight rail, redevelopment sites
AB 2292, per the Assembly Local Government committee's analysis, would "allow an infrastructure financing district [IFD] in the Oakland Army Base, Howard Terminal or Coliseum City in the City of Oakland to finance public capital facilities or projects that include freight rail." All three sites are subjects of major redevelopment planning; the latter two are competing sites for pro sports stadiums. (See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3476.) Per the author's statement in the analysis, "we need to include freight rail as an eligible expense for IFDs" to improve the city's transportation capacity and emissions reduction through rail use. The measure was ordered to a third reading in the Assembly on May 23.
AB 2549 (Ridley-Thomas) - Milpitas post-redevelopment
The Assembly has passed AB 2549, to create a local commission to address Milpitas' especially deep post-Redevelopment funding losses. It is before the State Senate's Governance and Finance Committee.
SB 391 (DeSaulnier) - Affordable housing via recording fees
SB 391, which would raise funds for affordable housing with real estate recording fees, remains formally before Assembly Appropriations, having passed the Senate last year. It did not go anywhere in the May 23 suspense file hearings.
AB 2417 (Nazarian) - Recycled water
AB 2417, on "purple pipe" distribution of recycled water, passed the Assembly May 23 and moved to the Senate. It would create an exemption from CEQA for new or existing recycled water pipelines of less than eight miles. The Associaton of California Water Agencies (ACWA), which backs the measure, had background in April at http://www.acwa.com/news/state-legislation/acwa-sponsored-ab-2417-clears-first-committee.
AB 1739 (Dickinson) - Groundwater management
Another ACWA-backed bill, AB 1739, passed out of the suspense file May 23. Per the water committee's legislative analysis it would require "sustainable groundwater management in all groundwater subbasins determined by the Department of Water Resources... to be at medium to high risk of significant economic, social and environmental impacts due to an unsustainable and chronic pattern of groundwater extractions exceeding the ability of the surface water supplies to replenish the subbasin." See http://www.acwa.com/news/groundwater/assembly-committee-approves-groundwater-legislation
SB 1077 (DeSaulnier) - SB 1077, which calls for a tax based on vehicle miles traveled, made it out of the suspense file May 23. The Southern California Association of Governments has been talking it up (see http://bit.ly/1nkxKTG) but the measure was questioned last fall on privacy grounds (see http://lat.ms/1jwnuHj).
SB 1439 (Leno) - Ellis Act restrictions
State Sen. Mark Leno's Ellis Act restriction measure, SB 1439 (discussed previously at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3477) now has a heavy weight of tech industry endorsers behind it (see http://beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=12611). The measure went to a third reading May 13 in the Senate. Assemblymember Tom Ammiano's AB 2405, which would have limited the Ellis Act more strongly and provided tenant litigants with other procedural protections, failed to clear the Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 29.
SB 1451 (Hill & Roth) - CEQA procedural restrictions
A widely shared commentary by the Miller Starr Regalia law firm at http://bit.ly/1q9qPkX is arguing for SB 1451, which would limit the ways petitioners could place allegations of CEQA violations on the record. Principally, it would exclude allegations from court review if the alleged violations were known, or could have been known with reasonable diligence, during the public comment period, but were brought to the agency's attention at another time. The legislative summary and the Miller Starr essay describe the measure as designed to stop use of "document dumping" as a tactic to delay a decision or preserve a record. The bill has passed the State Senate Environmental Quality Committee. However, it may be doomed for this season: a hearing set for May 6 in Judiciary was canceled at the author's request, and Arthur Coon, author of the law firm's commentary, posted again May 27 saying he had been told the bill was stopped by "organized labor interests." See http://bit.ly/SfjoZW.
SB 69 (Roth) and AB 1521 (Fox) - Restore Vehicle License Fee revenue
These two somewhat different measures, both supported by the League of Cities (and discussed previously at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3464), would restore features of the 2004-2005 budget deal's "VLF-property tax swap" and transfer back vehicle license fee income to local jurisdictions, undoing the work of 2011's SB 89, which repurposed the vehicle license money to help with "realignment" additions to the functions of county carceral systems. (Compare http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/about_cdcr/docs/realignment-fact-sheet.pdf.) The two current bills would especially help recently created municipalities such as Jurupa Valley. Per an AB 1521 legislative analysis, "SB 89 had the effect of eliminating over $15 million in the Motor Vehicle License Fee (MVLFA) revenues in 2011-12 from four newly incorporated cities (Menifee, Eastvale, Wildomar, and Jurupa Valley)." SB 69 passed the Senate last year, but with a different text focused on education funding. It was amended to substantially its current form in September 2013, then sat with formally unchanged status until it began to move in the Assembly a few weeks ago. It was read a second time and amended in the Assembly on May 6 and moved to the Rules Committee. AB 1521 made it off the suspense file May 23 in the Assembly. It passed the Assembly May 27 and is now before the Senate. The most recent floor analysis shows no opposition on file.
AB 1513 (Fox) - Residential property: possession by declaration
The California Association of Realtors was sponsoring a measure, also supported by the California Police Chiefs Association, described as meant to assist landlords, security companies and police in removing squatters from vacant properties. It would allow a landlord to declare ownership of a property, register it as vacant, and challenge allegedly unauthorized occupants to obtain or present proof of a right to remain within 48 hours. Some tenant activists had begun campaigns against the measure because they argued it could create an extrajudicial eviction process, giving landlords an end run around the more procedurally complex and time-consuming procedures of the standard California "unlawful detainer" eviction. (See e.g. http://bit.ly/RjmiN5 and http://killthebillcoalition.com/about/) Assembly bill analyses as posted on the measure's official page at http://bit.ly/1iooOZ2 set out the dispute in detail. Opponents listed as of the May 16 floor analysis included the statewide Tenants Together group and the Western Center on Law and Poverty. The measure passed the Assembly May 19 and is with the Senate Rules Committee for assignment.
