In this review of Governor Brown's signing and veto decisions, which by law were due September 30, we start with outcomes on some bills previously covered by CP&DR during the year, then move on to excerpts from the "Greatest Hits" list maintained by Senate Governance and Finance Committee staff:
Within a day of his deadline for signing decisions, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed AB 2280 late September 29. Carried by Assemblymember Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, AB 2280 would have revived redevelopment-style tax-increment financing in narrowly chosen urban areas, with 25% affordable housing set-asides, to bring back a narrowly focused form of tax-increment financing usable in populous cities.
AB 2280 had passed the Legislature after extended negotiations among business, local government, and housing advocates.(See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3563.) The bill represented the latest attempt by the Legislature to revive redevelopment in a more limited form - and the second time in the last three years that Brown has vetoed such a bill. (There was no veto last year because Senate leader Darrell Steinberg chose not to forward a bill to Brown's desk.)
In the same signing/veto list issued late September 29, Brown vetoed other redevelopment bills including Steinberg's SB 1129 post-Redevelopment cleanup measure. He also vetoed Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins' AB 1999 historic rehabilitation tax credit and Assemblymember Jose Medina's AB 1399 California New Markets Tax Credit. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18741.
Brown's veto messages are linked from the announcement press releases. The AB 2280 veto message reads in part, "I applaud the author's efforts to create an economic development program, with voter approval, that focuses on disadvantaged communities and communities with high unemployment. The bill, however, unnecessarily vests this new program in redevelopment law. I look forward to working with the author to craft an appropriate legislative solution."
Brown sounded even less pleased with AB 2493, saying "The cost to the general fund to backfill schools could be significant, to the tune of $500 million."
For details on AB 2280's history and surrounding politics, see comparisons mentioned in CP&DR's prior coverage of SB 628, which the Governor signed on September 29. (See prior coverage at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3563.) Appeals to Brown to sign AB 2280 had been published by a politically broad coalition of business and housing advocates on the League of California Cities site at http://bit.ly/1Bdj51w, and by top officers of the American Planning Association's California chapter at http://bit.ly/1mTiiC1.
Some of this year's major land use bills that were signed or awaiting signature this month are discussed more fully in past CP&DR news briefs at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3564 and http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3580. They include:
- SB 270, the first-ever statewide ban on single-use plastic bags in the United States, was signed early September 30. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18742.
- The Pavley-Dickinson groundwater package, AB 1739, SB 1168, and SB 1319, signed September 16 - see http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18701. Sacramento Bee coverage is at http://bit.ly/XdAZ6S and a National Geographic analysis of the expected delayed effects is at http://bit.ly/1pjFC61.
- AB 52, the CEQA bill on consultation with Native American tribes over projects that may affect tribal cultural resources. Signed September 25: http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18726.
- SB 1077, to create a pilot program testing an approach to vehicle taxation based on measuring miles traveled, signed.
- Six bills were signed September 21 on electric vehicles and high-occupancy toll lanes. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18720.
- SB 1183 and AB 1193, benefiting bike lanes and bike paths, signed.
- SB 1300 on public disclosures by refineries, signed.
- AB 141, Treasure Island Transportation Management Act, signed.
- AB 523, allowing interest reductions on public loans to rental housing developments, was signed. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18715.
- AB 2067 and SB 1036, urban water management plans, were signed.
Governor Brown made a last-day decision, on September 30, to sign SB 968, the Martin's Beach coastal access bill. See http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18744. In the meantime a court ruling in favor of public access was issued in the Surfrider Foundation's suit, San Mateo Superior Court Case No. CIV 520336; the decision is available at http://openaccess1.sanmateocourt.org/openaccess/civil/default.asp.
On Sunday the Governor vetoed AB 69 and AB 1521, relief bills for new and newly expanded Inland Empire towns - including Jurupa Valley, which may now have to disincorporate. The veto messages are linked via http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18738. For detailed past coverage see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3561.For post-veto impact coverage from the Press-Enterprise see http://www.pe.com/articles/valley-750953-governor-vetoes.html.
On September 30 Brown signed AB 1537, to redefine Marin County as "suburban" for affordable housing density zoning purposes. See http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18744. For past coverage see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3561.
The Governor did sign AB 1513, possession by declaration, a pilot program directed against squatters that some tenant and criminal defense advocates fear could criminalize new aspects of homelessness and erode tenants' rights to standard unlawful detainer process. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18733 for the signing announcement; see the earlier legislative analyses on the official Legislature page for summaries of the debate.
The Governor's September 26 signing list, in press release form at http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18731, included AB 2282 on building standards for recycled water systems. His main September 27 signing list, at http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18733, included several measures on affordable housing and post-redevelopment law. An additional September 27 list highlighting veterans' bills included signatures on some measures relevant to land use and housing. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18732. A September 28 signing list at http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18736 emphasized elder care and seniors' bills. Lists got thicker after that as the deadline approached - see http://gov.ca.gov for the full set of press releases.
From the SGF 'Greatest Hits' list
As to the rest of the bill-signing picture, staff at the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance have again performed the major public service of preparing a "Greatest Hits" list of major bills affecting public finance and local governance. The final memo was posted late September 30 under the "2014" link at http://sgf.senate.ca.gov/legislation.
The following is derived from the "Greatest Hits" list, edited to focus on bills in categories related to land use and skipping bills that didn't pass the Legislature at all. To check on bills not mentioned here, see SGF's posted list, the Governor's press site at http://gov.ca.gov, and the Legislature's bill tracking site at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billSearchClient.xhtml.
Descriptions below are by the legislative staff. Links to articles and sites other than the Legislature's are CP&DR's:
LAFCOs & Boundary Changes
AB 2156 (Achadjian) adds joint powers agencies and joint powers authorities to the list of entities LAFCOs may request information from for purposes of conducting studies. Signed - Chapter 21, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2762 (Assembly Local Government Committee) proposes several changes to laws affecting local government organization and reorganization. Signed - Chapter 112, Statutes of 2014.
Land Use Planning & Development
SB 1353 (Nielsen) repeals the sunset dates in statutes that allow counties to increase the assessed values of Williamson Act land and divert the resulting property tax revenues. Signed - Chapter 322, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2188 (Muratsuchi) requires cities and counties to adopt an ordinance streamlining the permit process for small rooftop solar energy systems. Signed - Chapter 521, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2241 (Eggman) modifies fees charged when contracting parties rescind a Williamson Act or Farmland Security Zone contract to enter a solar-use easement contract, and allows the county to keep 50% of the rescission fee. Signed - Chapter 582, Statutes of 2014.
Local Finance & Infrastructure
SB 69 (Roth) establishes vehicle license fee adjustment amounts for newly incorporated cities. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/SB_69_Veto_Message.pdf.
SB 614 (Wolk) allows local officials to use tax increment financing to fund infrastructure improvements in disadvantaged unincorporated communities. Signed - Chapter 784, Statutes of 2014.
SB 628 (Beall) allows local officials to create Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts. Signed - Chapter 785, Statutes of 2014.
SB 936 (Monning) allows the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and other financing entities to issue water rate relief bonds to finance water supply infrastructure. Signed - Chapter 482, Statutes of 2014. - see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3580.
AB 1521 (Fox) changes the formulas for calculating annual vehicle license fee adjustment amounts to account for territory annexed to cities since 2004. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_1521_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 1883 (Skinner) allows a public agency to transfer its interest in voluntary contractual assessments and makes several other changes to the statutes governing those assessments. Signed - Chapter 599, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2119 (Stone) allows a county board of supervisors to impose a transactions and use tax within the county's unincorporated area with the approval of voters within that area. Signed - Chapter 149, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2170 (Mullin) specifies that the common powers that public agencies may jointly exercise pursuant to a joint powers agreement include the authority to levy a fee or a tax. Signed - Chapter 386, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2211 (Ting) requires each county to make available to taxpayers on its internet website a graph visualization of how ad valorem property tax revenues are allocated countywide. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_2211_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 2274 (Gordon) makes several changes to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission's authorizing statute. Signed - Chapter 181, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2292 (Bonta) adds public capital facilities or projects that include broadband to the types of facilities that an infrastructure financing district can fund. Signed - Chapter 783, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2618 (Per-z) amends the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994 to conform its provisions to constitutional requirements established by Prop 218. Signed - Chapter 240, Statutes of 2014.
Local Powers & Governance
SB 827 (Liu) extends, until January 1, 2020, the sunset date on statutes allowing Los Angeles County to charge fees and mail notices related to recorded real estate documents. Signed - Chapter 65, Statutes of 2014.
AB 155 (Alejo) allows the Monterey County Water Resources Agency to use counties' design-build contracting procedures to construct a pipeline or tunnel connecting two lakes owned and operated by the agency. Signed - Chapter 865, Statutes of 2014.
AB 745 (Levine) allows a Regional Park and Open Space District's general manager to enter into non-construction contracts worth less than $25,000 without a formal bid process. Signed - Chapter 42, Statues of 2014.
AB 1963 (Atkins) extends, until January 1, 2016, the date by which the Department of Finance must approve a redevelopment successor agency's long-range property management plan. Signed - Chapter 146, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2551 (Wilk) requires statement on total cost of debt service to be included with sample ballot information on local agencies' bond elections. Signed - Chapter 908. Statutes of 2014.
Parcel Taxes
AB 2109 (Daly) requires the State Controller to report annually on locally assessed parcel taxes and requires local government to provide information required by the Controller to complete the report. Signed - Chapter 781, Statutes of 2014.
Property Taxes
SB 1113 (Knight) extends the deadline for County Tax Collectors to refund taxes for the disabled veterans' exemption from four to eight years. Signed - Chapter 656, Statutes of 2014.
SB 1203 (Jackson) cancels assessments on low-income housing excluded from the welfare exemption. Signed - Chapter 693, Statutes of 2014.
AB 777 (Muratsuchi) enacts a property tax exemption for property used in space flight. Signed - Chapter 13, Statutes of 2014. (See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3564.)
AB 1760 (Chau) prohibits local agencies from imposing payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements; presumes PILOTs don't affect a low-income housing project's welfare exemption. Signed - Chapter 671, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2231 (Gordon)revises and reenacts the senior citizens' and disabled citizens' property tax postponement program. Signed - Chapter 703, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2257 (Cooley) diverts excess proceeds from tax sales from taxing entities to the county. Signed - Chapter 501, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2415 (Ting) requires property tax agents to register with the Secretary of State's Office. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_2415_Veto_Message.pdf.
Redevelopment
(For prior CP&DR coverage on this year's post-redevelopment bills see primarily http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3563, http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3492 and http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3480.)
SB 1129 (Steinberg) amends several statutes governing redevelopment agencies' dissolution. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/SB_1129_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 471 (Atkins) allows infrastructure financing districts to include portions of former redevelopment project areas and amends several statutes governing redevelopment agencies' dissolution. Signed - Chapter 1, Statute of 2014.
AB 1450 (Garcia) directs how a county auditor must allocate specified revenues derived from an extraordinary property tax rate approved by voters to pay for pension programs. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_1450_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 2280 (Alejo) allows local governments to form Community Revitalization and Investment Authorities to administer economic development and affordable housing programs. Vetoed. See http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18741. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_2280_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 2493 (Bloom) allows redevelopment successor agencies to spend proceeds from bonds issued by former redevelopment agencies in 2011. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_2493_Veto_Message.pdf
State Bonds & Indebtedness
AB 1471 (Rendon) replaces the $11.4 billion water bond on the November 2014 ballot with a new $7.2 billion general obligation bond and enacts the "Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014." Signed - Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014.
State Personal & Corporate Income Taxes
AB 1393 (Perea) conforms state law to federal law for mortgage debt forgiveness. Signed - Chapter 152, Statutes of 2014.
AB 1399 (Medina) enacts the California New Markets Tax Credit. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_1399_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 1839 (Gatto) enacts $1.6 billion in tax credits for qualified motion picture and television production. Signed - Chapter 413, Statutes of 2014.
AB 1999 (Atkins) allows a 20% or 25% tax credit for rehabilitation of a certified historic structure. Vetoed. Veto message at http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_1999_Veto_Message.pdf.
AB 2434 (Gomez) excludes from gross income amounts received as a rebate, voucher, or other financial incentive issued by a local water agency for participation in a turf removal water conservation program. Signed - Chapter 738, Statutes of 2014.
