Below are links to more information on bills of interest to CAI-CLAC in the 2015-2016 Legislative Session. Last updated September 29, 2016

SB 336 (Roth) – Earthquake Insurance: rates.
Existing law establishes the California Earthquake Authority and authorizes the authority to transact insurance in this state as necessary to sell policies of basic residential earthquake insurance. Existing law requires that the rates established by the authority be actuarially sound so as to not be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. Existing law provides that policyholders who have retrofitted their homes to withstand earthquake shake damage according to standards and to the extent set by the governing board of the authority shall enjoy a premium discount or credit of 5 percent on the authority-issued policy of residential earthquake coverage. Existing law authorizes the board to approve a premium discount or credit above 5 percent if the discount or credit is determined by the authority to be actuarially sound. This bill would instead provide that those policyholders shall enjoy a premium discount or credit of at least 5 percent on the authority-issued policy of residential earthquake coverage.
Position: Support
Status: Assembly – Insurance
SB 336 Insurance: rates – Official California Legislature page
SB 602 (Monning) – Seismic safety: California Earthquake Authority
Existing law establishes the California Earthquake Authority, which is authorized to transact insurance in the state as necessary to sell policies of basic residential earthquake insurance, as provided. Existing law provides that a public purpose will be serviced by a voluntary contractual assessment program that provides the legislative body of a public agency with the authority to finance the installation of seismic strengthening improvements that permanently fixed to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other real property. For purposes of financing the installation of seismic strengthening improvements, “public agency” means a city, county, or city and county. This bill would include the California Earthquake Authority as part of the definition of “public agency” for this purpose. The Improvement Bond Act of 1915, provides authority for the legislative body of any city to determine that bonds may be issued to pay for specified works of improvement. This bill would include the California Earthquake Authority as party of the definition of “city” or “municipality” for the purposes of this act. Existing law authorizes the Earthquake Loss Mitigation Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, to be applied to supply grants and loans or loan guarantees to dwelling owners who wish to retrofit their homes to protect against earthquake damage. This bill would authorize the money in the fund to be used to fund seismic strengthening improvements permanently fixed to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other real property and an account for related loan losses, and to acquire debt obligations issued to fund these seismic strengthening improvements, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the California Earthquake Authority to establish a loan loss reserve account in the fund for the deposit of moneys to be expended for loan losses incurred in connection with financing seismic strengthening improvements. This bill would (1) revise or waive certain notice and reporting requirements generally applicable to contractual assessments for contractual assessments that finance seismic strengthening improvements, (2) absent specified conditions, presume statewide scope of any California Earthquake Authority programs of contractual assessments for seismic strengthening improvements, and (3) provide for payment of assessments pursuant to the contractual payment schedule for any California Earthquake Authority program, notwithstanding any bonds secured by those assessments. The bill would require the California Earthquake Authority, prior to entering into a voluntary contractual assessment with a property owner to finance seismic strengthening improvements, to disclose the terms and conditions of the voluntary contractual assessment, and to notify the property owner, in writing, that he or she may be required to pay the remaining principal balance of the voluntary contractual assessment when he or she refinances or sells the property. The bill would specify that the California Earthquake Authority shall require each property owner to sign a document acknowledging his or her receipt of this written disclosure. The bill would also require that seismic strengthening improvements that are permanently fixed to real property and that are financed pursuant to the program comply with all applicable state and local building standards.
Position: Support
Status: Assembly – Appropriations
SB 602 Sesimic safety: California Earthquake Authority – Official California Legislature page
AB 349 (Gonzalez) – Common interest developments: property use and maintenance.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act governs the management and operation of common interest developments. Existing law makes void and unenforceable any provision of the governing documents or architectural or landscaping guidelines or policies that prohibits use of low water-using plants, or prohibits or restricts compliance with water-efficient landscape ordinances or regulations on the use of water, as specified. Existing law also prohibits an association, except an association that uses recycled water for landscape irrigation, from imposing a fine or assessment on separate interest owners for reducing or eliminating watering of vegetation or lawns during any period for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency or the local government has declared a local emergency due to drought. This bill would make void and unenforceable any provision of the governing documents or architectural or landscaping guidelines or policies that prohibits use of artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass. This bill would also prohibit a requirement that an owner of a separate interest remove or reverse water-efficient landscaping measures, installed in response to a declaration of a state of emergency, upon the conclusion of the state of emergency. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Position: Opposed
Status: Chaptered
AB 349 Common interest developments: property use and maintenance – Official California Legislature page
AB 596 (Daly) – Common interest developments: annual budget report.
Existing law governing common interest developments, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, requires the association of a common interest development, which includes a condominium project, to prepare and distribute to all of its members certain documents, including an annual budget report that includes, among other items of information, a pro forma operating budget. The act requires a notice to be provided if an insurance policy described in the annual budget report lapses, is canceled, or is not immediately renewed, restored, or replaced, or if there is a significant change as to the policy. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2016, require the annual budget report of a condominium project to also include a separate statement describing the status of the common interest development as a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved condominium project and as a federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-approved condominium project.
Position: Seek to Amend
Status: Chaptered
AB 596 Common interest developments: annual budget report – Official California Legislature page
AB 786 (Levine) – Common interest developments: property use and maintenance.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act governs the management and operation of common interest developments. Existing law provides that, unless otherwise provided in the common interest development declaration, the association is responsible for repairing, replacing, or maintaining the common area, other than exclusive use common area, and the owner of each separate interest is responsible for maintaining that separate interest and any exclusive use common area appurtenant to that interest. Existing law makes void and unenforceable any provision of the governing documents or architectural or landscaping guidelines or policies that prohibits use of low water-using plants, or prohibits or restricts compliance with water-efficient landscape ordinances or regulations on the use of water, as specified. Existing law also prohibits an association, except an association that uses recycled water for landscape irrigation, from imposing a fine or assessment on separate interest owners for reducing or eliminating watering of vegetation or lawns during any period for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency or the local government has declared a local emergency due to drought.
This bill would revise that exception to instead authorize the imposition of a fine or assessment against the owner of a separate interest that receives recycled water from a retail supplier, as defined, and fails to use that recycled water for landscaping irrigation. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4735 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 349 that would become operative if this bill and AB 349 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Position: Neutral
Status: Chaptered
AB 786: Common interest developments: property use and maintenance – Official California Legislature page
AB 807 (Stone, Mark) – Real estate transfer fees: recorded documents.
Existing law defines a transfer fee as a fee payment requirement imposed in any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other document affecting the transfer or sale of real property that requires a fee be paid upon transfer of the real property, with specified exceptions. Existing law, with regard to a transfer fee imposed upon real property on or after January 1, 2008, requires the person or entity imposing the transfer fee, as a condition of payment of the fee, to record a specified document describing the transfer fee concurrently with the instrument creating the transfer fee requirement. Existing law requires these recorded documents to include information on the amount of the fee and actual dollar examples of the fee for a residential property, among other things. Existing law requires a transferor of residential real property subject to transfer fees to make a specified disclosure regarding those fees. This bill would specify that the required information on the recorded document include the method for calculating the amount of the transfer fee, if not a flat amount or a percentage of the sales price and include the actual dollar examples of the fee for a residential property if the amount of the fee is based on the price of the real property. The bill would also require the transferor of residential real property subject to transfer fees to make the specified disclosure regarding those fees if the recorded document describing the transfer fees has not already been provided. The bill would also clarify the definition of a transfer fee. Existing law excludes from the definition of a transfer fee any fee reflected in a document recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that is separate from any covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and that provides a prospective transferee notice of specified information, including the amount or method of calculation of the fee. This bill would specify that the information shall be set forth in a single document and may not be incorporated by reference from any other document. This bill would provide that a fee reflected in a document recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that is not separate from any covenants, conditions, and restrictions, or that incorporates by reference from another document, constitutes a transfer fee for the purposes of requirements relating to these fees. The bill would make unenforceable a transfer fee recorded against a property on or before December 31, 2007, that complies with the provisions described above and that incorporates by reference from another document unless it is recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2016, in a single document that complies with the provisions described above.
Position: Support
Status: Chaptered
AB 807 Real estate transfer fees: recorded documents. – Official California Legislature page
AB 1236 (Chiu and Low) – Local Ordinances: electric vehicle charging stations.
The Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a general plan for the physical development of the county or city and authorizes the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations by counties and cities. Existing law, the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act, prohibits the charging of a subscription fee on persons desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station, as defined, and prohibits a requirement for persons to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station, except as specified. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to approve an application for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, as defined, through the issuance of specified permits unless the city or county makes specified written findings based upon substantial evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. The bill would provide for appeal of that decision to the planning commission, as specified. The bill would provide that the implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle charging stations is a matter of statewide concern. The bill would require electric vehicle charging stations to meet specified standards. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents to adopt an ordinance, by September 30, 2016, that creates an expedited and streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations, as specified. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents to adopt this ordinance by September 30, 2017. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
Position: Opposed Unless Amended
Status: Chaptered
AB 1236 Local ordinances: electric vehicle charging stations. – Official California Legislature page
AB 1448 (Lopez) – Personal energy conservation: real property restrictions.
Under existing law, any provision of a governing document, as defined, that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a homeowner’s backyard for personal agriculture, as defined, is void and unenforceable, unless it imposes a reasonable restriction, as defined, on the use of a homeowner’s backyard. This bill would make any provision of a governing document, as defined, void and unenforceable if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a clothesline or a drying rack, as defined, in an owner’s backyard, except that reasonable restrictions, as defined, would be enforceable. The bill would specify that these provisions would only apply to backyards that are designated for the exclusive use of the owner.
Position: Support
Status: Chaptered
AB 1448 Personal energy conservation: real property restrictions – Official California Legislature page
AB 1963 (Calderon) – Common interest developments: construction defects.
Existing law, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, requires, until July 1, 2017, specified conditions to be met before an association may file a complaint for damages against a builder, developer, or general contractor of a common interest development based upon a claim for defects in the design or construction of the common interest development. This bill would delete the inoperative and repeal dates and would, instead, make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2024, and would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2025, as specified.
Position: Support
Status: Chaptered
AB 1963 Common interest developments: construction defects. – Official California Legislature page
AB 2362 (Chu) – Common interest developments: pesticide application.
Existing law, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, regulates the creation and governance of common interest developments, which are managed by associations. Existing law generally provides that an association is responsible for maintaining common areas in the development and owners of separate interests are responsible for their interests. Existing law permits an association to require the removal of an occupant of a separate interest for such times and periods as may be necessary for the effective treatment of wood-destroying pests. Existing law generally requires a landlord or his or her authorized agent to provide notice to tenants, and under certain circumstances tenants of adjacent units, of the use of pesticides at the tenant’s dwelling unit or in common areas if the landlord or authorized agent applies any pesticide without a licensed pest control operator. This bill would require a common interest development association or its authorized agent to provide notice to an owner and, if applicable, tenant of a separate interest, and under certain circumstances to owners and, if applicable, tenants of adjacent separate interests, if pesticide is to be applied without a licensed pest control operator to a separate interest or to a common area. The bill would prescribe the contents of the notice and how it is to be provided. The bill would authorize an owner or tenant to agree to immediate pesticide application and would prescribe a revised notification procedure in this instance. This bill would also permit the notice to be posted, as specified, after the pesticide application if the pest poses an imminent threat to health and safety.
Position: Neutral
Status: Chaptered
AB 2362 Common interest developments. – Official California Legislature page
AJR 6 (Cooley) – California Earthquake Authority: postearthquake financing.
This measure would recognize a need for federal legislation that would establish guarantees of postearthquake financing for prequalified, actuarially sound state earthquake insurance programs, including the California Earthquake Authority, and would urge the President and Congress of the United States to enact that Legislation.
Position: Support
Status: Chaptered
AJR 6 California Earthquake Authority: postearthquake financing – Official California Legislature page
SB 3 (Leno) – Minimum wage: adjustment.
On and after July 1, 2014, existing law requires the minimum wage for all industries to be not less than $9 per hour. On and after July 1, 2016, existing law requires the minimum wage for all industries to be not less than $10 per hour. This bill would require the minimum wage for all industries to not be less than specified amounts to be increased from January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2022, inclusive, for employers employing 26 or more employees and from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2023, inclusive, for employers employing 25 or fewer employees, except when the scheduled increases are temporarily suspended by the Governor, based on certain determinations. The bill would also require the Director of Finance, after the last scheduled minimum wage increase, to annually adjust the minimum wage under a specified formula. On or before July 28, 2017, and on or before every July 28 thereafter until the minimum wage is a specified amount for employers employing 26 or more employees, the bill would require the Director of Finance to annually determine, based on certain factors, whether economic conditions can support a scheduled minimum wage increase and certify that determination to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill would also require the State Board of Equalization to publish specified retail sales and use tax information on its Internet Web site to be used by the Director of Finance in making that determination. On or before July 28, 2017, and on or before every July 28 thereafter until the minimum wage is a specified amount for employers employing 26 or more employees, in order to ensure that the General Fund can support the next scheduled minimum wage increase, the bill would also require the Director of Finance to annually determine and certify to the Governor and the Legislature whether the General Fund would be in a deficit in the current fiscal year, or in either of the following 2 fiscal years.
Position: Pending
Status: Chaptered
SB 3 Minimum wage: adjustment – Official California Legislature page
SB 241 (Bates) – Neighborhood electric vehicles.
Existing law, until January 1, 2017, authorizes the County of Orange to establish a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) transportation plan for the Ranch Plan Planned Community in that county. Under existing law, operation of a neighborhood electric vehicle in violation of certain provisions is an infraction. This bill would extend the operative period of these provisions until January 1, 2022. By extending the operative period of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires NEV lanes to be classified, as specified, for the purposes of the NEV transportation plan for the Ranch Plan Planned Community. Existing law requires that a lane used by both NEVs and conventional vehicle traffic on a street with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour or less be classified as a Class III NEV route. This bill would, instead, require that a lane used by NEVs and conventional vehicle traffic on a street with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less be classified as a Class III NEV route. Existing law requires the county to provide a report to the Legislature, by November 1, 2015, if the county adopts a plan as authorized. This bill would, instead, require the county to provide that report by November 1, 2020. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Position: Support
Status: Chaptered
SB 241 Neighborhood electric vehicles – Official California Legislature page
SB 655 (Mitchell) – Housing standards: mold.
Existing law requires the lessor of a building intended for human occupation to repair dilapidations, as specified, rendering it untenantable. Existing law permits tenants to repair dilapidations, under specified circumstances. This bill would provide that a lessor is not obligated to repair a dilapidation relating to mold, as specified, until he or she has notice of it or of the tenant is in violation of specified affirmative obligations. The bill would authorize a landlord to enter a dwelling to repair a dilapidation relating to mold, under specified conditions. The State Housing Law, which is administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, prescribes standards for buildings used for human habitation and establishes definitions for this purpose. The law provides that a building, or a portion of it, in which certain conditions are found to exist, such as a lack of sanitation, as specified, is substandard. The law provides that a violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would specify that visible mold growth, excepting mold that is minor and found on surfaces that can accumulate moisture as part of their proper and intended use, is a type of inadequate sanitation and therefore a substandard condition. The bill would define mold as microscopic organisms or fungi that can grow in damp conditions in the interior of a building. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Position: Oppose
Status: Chaptered
SB 655 Housing standards: mold – Official California Legislature page
SB 918 (Vidak) – Common interest developments.
Existing law, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, defines and regulates common interest developments, which are managed by homeowners’ associations. This bill would require the owners of the separate interests in a common interest development to annually provide the association with specified written information for the purpose of receiving notices from the association.
Position: Support
Status: Chaptered
SB 918 Common interest developments – Official California Legislature page
SB 944 (Committee on Transportation and Housing) – Housing omnibus.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, among other things, requires that the declaration, as defined, of a common interest development include certain specified information and allows for amendments to the declaration pursuant to either the declaration or the provisions of the act. Under existing law, an amendment to a declaration is generally effective after certain specified requirements are met, except as provided. This bill would clarify that the exception from those requirements includes alternative procedures established in other specified provisions of the act for approving, certifying, or recording an amendment. Existing law also provides that a provision, except for a reasonable restriction, as defined, of a governing document, as defined, of a common interest development is void and unenforceable if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a clothesline or a drying rack, as defined, in an owner’s backyard. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision. Existing law also requires the association of a common interest development to prepare and distribute to all of its members certain documents, including an annual budget report that includes specified information. In the case of a common interest development that is a condominium project, existing law requires that the annual budget report include a statement describing the status of the common interest development as a condominium project approved by either the Federal Housing Administration or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, as specified, including whether or not the common interest development is a condominium project. This bill would delete the requirement that the above-described statement describe whether or not the common interest development is a condominium project. Existing law also requires the association of a common interest development to distribute to its members an Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary form containing specified information, including whether currently projected reserve account balances will be sufficient at the end of each year to meet the association’s obligation for repair or replacement of major components during the next 30 years and that all major components are included in the reserve study and its calculations. Existing law defines “major component” for these purposes by reference to a specified statute. This bill would correct an erroneous reference to the statutory definition of “major component” for these purposes.
Position: Neutral
Status: Chaptered
SB 944 Housing omnibus – Official California Legislature page
AB 52 (Gray) – Public accommodations: construction-related accessibility claims.
Existing law allows a plaintiff to collect statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim against a place of public accommodation only if the plaintiff was denied full and equal access to the place of public accommodation on a particular occasion, as specified. Existing law imposes a minimum liability of $1,000 on these statutory damages for each offense when a defendant demonstrates that the defendant has corrected the construction-related accessibility violation within 60 days of being served with a complaint and the defendant demonstrates that the structure or area of the alleged violation was determined to meet standards or was subjected to an inspection, as specified. Existing law also imposes a minimum liability of $2,000 for each offense if the defendant has corrected all construction-related violations that are the basis of the claim within 30 days of being served with the complaint and the defendant is a small business, as specified. This bill would instead provide that a defendant’s maximum liability for statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim against a place of public accommodation is $1,000 for each offense if the defendant has corrected all construction-related violations that are the basis of the claim within 180 days of being served with the complaint and the defendant demonstrates that the structure or area of the alleged violation was determined to meet standards or was subjected to an inspection, as specified.
Position: Neutral
Status: Dead
AB 52 Public accommodations: construction-related accessibility claims – Official California Legislature page
AB 54 (Olsen) – Disability access: construction-related accessibility claims: demand letters.
Existing law prohibits discrimination on the basis of various specified personal characteristics, including disability. The Construction-Related Accessibility Standards Compliance Act establishes standards for making new construction and existing facilities accessible to persons with disabilities and provides for construction-related accessibility claims for violations of those standards. Existing law requires that a copy of the demand letter and the complaint be sent to the California Commission on Disability Access. This bill would, in addition, require that information about the demand letter and the complaint be submitted to the commission in a standard format specified by the commission.
Position: Neutral
Status: Senate – Appropriations
AB 54 Public accommodations: construction-related accessibility standards – Official California Legislature page
AB 603 (Salas) – Income taxes: turf removal tax credit.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2021, or an earlier date in the event of a specified occurrence, would allow a credit to a taxpayer participating in a lawn replacement rebate program, as defined, in an amount equal to 25% of the costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer to replace conventional lawn on the qualified the taxpayer’s property during that taxable year, not to exceed $1,500, as specified. The bill would make findings and declarations in this regard. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Position: Neutral
Status: Dead
AB 603 Income taxes: turf removal credit – Official California Legislature page
AB 1152 (Frazier) – Construction defects: prelitigation procedures: exclusive remedy.
Existing law regulates actions seeking recovery on construction defects, as specified, on original construction intended to be sold as an individual dwelling purchased new after January 1, 2003. Existing law provides that general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, product manufacturers, and design professionals may be liable for damages for construction defects if they caused, or contributed to, the violation of a particular standard as the result of a breach of contract or through negligence. Existing law also establishes certain prelitigation procedures for both the homeowner and defendants to engage in to attempt to resolve the claim prior to filing a lawsuit for construction defects, and also establishes the parameters of a legal action seeking recovery for construction defects. This bill would establish these provisions as the sole and exclusive remedy available for claims seeking recovery on construction defects, as specified.
Position: Opposed
Status: Died pursuant to Article IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. – 01/31/2016
AB 1152 Construction defects: prelitigation procedures: exclusive remedy. – Official California Legislature page
AB 1203 (Jones-Sawyer) – Office of Emergency Services: property insurance surcharge.
Existing law required, by September 1, 2011, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee of not more than $150 for the necessary fire prevention activities of the state that benefit the owners of sructures within a state responsibility area. This bill would repeal the fire prevention fee. The bill would instead create the Disaster Response Fund in the State Treasury. The bill would require all insureds in the state to pay a special purpose surcharge on each commercial and residential fire and multiperil insurance policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2016, as specified. Moneys from this surcharge would be deposited in the fund and be appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of funding emergency activities of the Office of Emergency Services, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Military Department, and local pubic entities for disaster preparedness response. The bill would also require every admitted insurance company in the state to collect the surcharge and separately identify the surcharge on each affected insurance policy. The bill would provide that the failure of an insured to pay the surcharge would result in the cancellation of his or her policy. Because the payment of the special purpose surcharge, under the bill, would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, the bill will require for passage the approval of 2/3 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.
Position: Neutral
Status: Died pursuant to Article IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. – 01/31/2016
AB 1203 Office of Emergency Services: property insurance surcharge – Official California Legislature Page
AB 1335 (Atkins) – Building Homes and Jobs Act.
Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the Building Homes and Jobs Act. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee, after deduction of any actual and necessary administrative costs incurred by the county recorder, be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the Building Homes and Jobs Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be expended for supporting affordable housing, home ownership opportunities, and other housing-related program, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Position: Seek to Amend
Status: Died on third reading file. – 02/01/2016
AB 1335 Building Homes and Jobs Act – Official California Legislature page
AB 1720 (Wagner) – Common interest developments: meetings.
Existing law requires an association managing a common interest development to provide notice of the time and place of a board meeting and authorizes any member of the association to attend board meetings, except when the board adjourns to, or meets solely in, executive session. Existing law also requires the board to permit any member to speak at any meeting, except for executive session meetings. This bill would require the board to permit a person that represents a member to attend board meetings, regardless of whether the member attends, and would require written notice to be given, where possible.
Position: Opposed
Status: Died in Committee
AB 1720 Common interest developments: meetings. – Official California Legislature page
Attorneys for Association Members at Every Board Meeting? – Blog Article
AB 1799 (Mayes) – Common interest developments: association governance: elections.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines and regulates common interest developments that are not a commercial or industrial common interest development. The act requires a common interest development to be managed by an association, requires the association to select one or three independent third parties as an inspector or inspectors of elections, and generally requires the association’s elections regarding assessments legally requiring a vote, the election and removal of directors, amendments to the governing documents, or the grant of exclusive use common area, to be conducted by the inspector or inspectors of elections in accordance with specified rules and procedures. The act excepts from these election requirements an election of directors if the governing documents of the association provide that one member from each separate interest is a director. This bill would additionally except from those election requirements an election of directors if the election is uncontested, as defined, and would provide a procedure for an election to be declared as uncontested. The bill adds two additional election requirements that would ensure an announcement of an election and notification of nomination procedures is provided in a specific manner and would ensure a member who meets specified qualification requirements is not denied the right to vote or the right to be a candidate for director. The bill would authorize a cause of action alleging a violation of these and other specified election requirements to be brought in small claims court if the amount of the demand does not exceed the jurisdiction of that court.
Position: Support
Status: Died in Commitee
AB 1799 Common interest developments: association governance: elections. – Official California Legislature page
AB 1799 on Community Association Elections is Halted – Blog Article
SB 8 (Hertzberg) – Taxation.
The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on personal taxable income at specified rates, and the Corporation Tax Law imposes taxes upon, or measured by, corporate income. This bill would state legislative findings regarding the Upward Mobility Act, key provisions of which would expand the application of the Sales and Use Tax law by imposing a tax on specified services, would enhance the state’s business climate, would incentivize entrepreneurship and business creation by evaluating the corporate tax, and would examine the impacts of a lower and simpler personal income tax. This bill would, on and after January 1, ___, expand the Sales and Use Tax Law to impose a tax on the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, or the receipt of the benefit in this state of services at a rate of ____%.
Position: Pending
Status: Died
SB 8 Taxation – Official California Legislature page
SB 47 (Hill) – Environmental health: synthetic turf.
Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational activities and public safety, including, among other things, playgrounds and wooden playground equipment. This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, by July 1, 2017, in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Department of Public Health, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to prepare and provide to the Legislature and post on the office’s Internet Web site a study analyzing synthetic turf, as defined, for potential adverse health impacts. The bill would require the study to include certain information, including a hazard analysis of exposure to the chemicals that may be found in synthetic turf, as provided. The bill would prohibit a public or private school or local government, until January 1, 2018, from installing, or contracting for the installation of, a new field or playground surface made from synthetic turf within the boundaries of a public or private school or public recreational park, unless 3 specified conditions are met, including that the public or private school or local government has obtained at least one estimate from a company that does not use crumb rubber in its turf field and playground products, as provided.
Position: Support
Status: Dead
SB 47 Environmental health: synthetic turf – Official California Legislature page
SB 290 (Vidak) – Common interest developments: assessment collection: foreclosure: notice.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines and regulates common interest developments and requires that a development by managed by an association. The act requires specified procedures for the collection of delinquent assessments, including, but not limited to, a procedure for giving notice to an owner of a separate interest of foreclosure of a lien for delinquent assessments. The existing procedure requires the board of directors of an association to provide notice by personal service to an owner of a separate interest who occupies the separate interest, or to the owner’s legal representative, if the board votes to foreclose upon the separate interest, as specified. This bill would additionally allow the board to serve an owner or owner’s representative with notice by substituted service, as provided.
Position: Support
Status: Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. – 02/01/2016
SB 290 Common interest developments: assessment collection: foreclosure: notice – Official California Legislature page