Housing

AB 602 (Feuer) – Oppose
As Amended on June 21, 2010

Assembly Bill 602, by Assembly Member Mike Feuer, would change the decision of a Court of Appeal (Urban Habitat v. City of Pleasanton) relating to a statute of limitations provision for challenging housing elements. CSAC has a number of concerns with the approach of the bill, which are described in detail in our letter which can be found on the CSAC website.

CSAC, the League of California Cities, and the American Planning Association, California, are all currently working together to negotiate an agreement with the sponsors and author to reconcile our concerns with the measure.

AB 602 is currently awaiting action on the Senate Floor. 

AB 1867 (Harkey) – Support
As Amended on April 26, 2010

Assembly Bill 1867, by Assembly Member Diane Harkey, would allow a local government to meet up to 25 percent of its regional housing needs (RHNA) obligation through the conversion of certain existing market-rate units to low- and very low-income units.

The measure incentivizes local governments to rehabilitate existing substandard housing stock in order to provide more affordable housing in a community by allowing such rehabilitated units to count towards a city or county’s RHNA obligation. 

AB 1867 is currently pending action by the entire Senate.

AB 2064 (Perez) – Support
As Amended on July 1, 2010

Assembly Bill 2064, by Speaker John A. Perez, would require the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to issue a notice or notices of funding availability to potential applicants as soon as possible after Emergency Housing and Assistance Program (EHAP) funding becomes available and to grant awards within 180 days of receipt of notice. This would ensure that funding to local agencies for this vital program continues in a more timely and efficient manner.

AB 2064 is set for hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 2. 

AB 2317 (Saldana) – Support
As Amended on April 5, 2010

Assembly Bill 2317, by Assembly Member Lori Saldana, would authorize cities, counties, and cities and counties to collect fines using a nuisance abatement lien or a special assessment. With this new tool, cities and counties would be better able to enforce nuisance violations, as well as decrease costs associated with the collection of fines from violators who neglect their property.

AB 2317 is currently pending action on the Senate Floor. 

AB 2347 (Feuer) – Support
As Amended on May 28, 2010

AB 2347, by Assembly Member Mike Feuer, would authorize local entities to postpone nonjudicial foreclosures for up to 60 days, on certain multifamily properties in which they hold ownership interests, thereby allowing local agencies more time to protect critical agency-assisted affordable housing. 

AB 2347 is currently pending action before the Senate. 

AB 2508 (Caballero) – Support
As Amended on May 3, 2010

AB 2508, by Assembly Member Anna Caballero, would allow a local agency to petition the HCD for a jurisdiction reclassification under housing element law related to applying for state bond funds which can have threshold requirements for funding programs promoting infill development.

AB 2508 would assist cities and counties that are disadvantaged by the housing element law descriptions for types of jurisdiction by allowing them to petition to HCD for reclassification for purpose of applying for bond funds. The measure evens the playing field for cities and counties that are currently lacking a competitive edge in applying for bond funding. 

AB 2508 is currently pending action by the entire Senate. 

AB 2613 (Beall) – Support
As Amended on June 30, 2010

AB 2613, by Assembly Member Jim Beall, would authorize a city or county to specially assess any fines or penalties not paid after demand by the city or county against the owner of real property whom owes fines or penalties. The fines and penalties may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as regular county taxes thereby avoiding additional time consuming and costly new procedures. Finally, the measure would also authorize a local agency to appoint a hearing officer to hear and decide issues regarding ordinance violations and the imposition of administrative fines and penalties.

The measure is currently awaiting action by the Senate.

Planning

AB 853 (Arambula) – Oppose
As Amended on July 1, 2010

Assembly Bill 853, by Assembly Member Juan Arambula, would require a board of supervisors, within 180 days of receiving a petition supported by 25 percent of registered voters in island and contiguous disadvantaged communities to apply for annexation of the affected territory to a city. 

Further, the bill would also require a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), upon the review and update of a sphere of influence on or after July 1, 2010, to include in the review or update of each sphere of influence of a city or special district that provides public facilities or services related to sewers, nonagricultural water, or structural fire protection to include the present and probable need for public facilities and services of disadvantaged inhabited communities. 

While CSAC supports the intent and goal of the bill, we remain opposed for fiscal reasons. We remain concerned about the costs associated with mandating boards to submit applications for annexation, particularly without any consideration of the potential success of such annexations.

AB 853 is set for hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 2. 

SB 1174 (Wolk) – Oppose
As Amended on June 24, 2010

Senate Bill 1174, by Senator Lois Wolk, would create the Future Sustainable Communities Pilot Program. Cities and counties with a disadvantaged community inside or near its boundaries would be eligible to apply to the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) for a Proposition 84 disadvantaged community set-aside planning grant (the total funding pot is equal to approximately $12 million over three cycles). 

CSAC is actively working with the sponsors, the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, and a number of counties to negotiate amendments that would allow real progress to be made in terms of planning for improving the infrastructure deficiencies in the communities specifically related to the most pressing health and safety concerns while still making the program workable for counties facing limited staff and resources.

While the current version of the measure would allow the SGC to select five cities and five counties to participate in the program, CSAC is working the author and sponsors of the measure to select specific counties to participate in the program since all of the disadvantaged communities defined in the bill are within the jurisdiction of counties. The League of Cities has indicated support for this approach to the extent the bill is focused on unincorporated areas and does not result in costs to cities for these planning purposes.

SB 1174 is set for hearing before the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 4.

Transportation

AB 2567 (Bradford) – Support
As Amended on June 17, 2010

Assembly Bill 2567, by Assembly Member Steven Bradford, would authorize a local public agency to utilize an automated parking enforcement system that uses equipment installed on street sweepers to take digital images of parking violations occurring in street-sweeping parking lanes during designated street sweeping hours.

AB 2576 is currently pending action before the Senate. 

SB 879 (Cox) – Support
As Amended on May 27, 2010

Senate Bill 879, by the late Senator Dave Cox, would make changes to existing design-build authority granted to cities and counties. Specifically, related to county design-build authority, the measure would reduce the project price threshold from $2.5 million to $1 million, extend the sunset provision on county design-build authority until January 1, 2016, and modify the reporting requirements that counties must submit to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

SB 879 is set for hearing before the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 4.

Indian Gaming

AB 2166 (Chesbro) – Support
As Introduced on February 18, 2010

Assembly Bill 2166, by Assembly Member Wesley Chesbro, would authorize the Smith River Rancheria Tribal Council to enter into a joint powers agreement (JPA) with the County of Del Norte, the City of Crescent City, or both, and declares Smith River Rancheria to be a public agency for purposes of that JPA.

The measure is currently pending action before the Senate