In 2013, lawmakers derailed threatening bills to the rental housing industry and other business sectors.
Some of the bills left floundering focused on parcel taxes, spit roll property taxes and putting tax hikes before voters.
For example, here are two bills that CAA opposed and help put on ice until at least next year:
AB 59 (D-Bonta) – Parcel Taxes – The intent of AB 59 is to overturn a recent court case that prohibits school districts from imposing different parcel tax rates on different types of property. If passed, AB 59 would allow school districts to impose different parcel tax rates based on the type of property: residential, commercial, industrial.
AB 561 (D-Ting) – Documentary Transfer Taxes – AB 561 would change the tax law by allowing a transfer tax to be imposed when there is a “change in control” of the property as opposed to a sale of the property.
Jack Pitney, a political-science professor at Claremont McKenna College, offered the San Jose Mercury News his take on the Legislature’s more moderate approach to tax legislation this year.
“For now they were prudent to hold their fire on tax increases,” Pitney said in this story. “But if in a couple years we’re facing deficits, I think the Legislature will look at some tax measures rather than spending cuts.”
Below are some additional bills that CAA opposed this session. All are now two-year bills:
AB 746 (D-Levine) – Smoking: Multifamily Dwellings – This bill seeks to prohibit the smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco products at multifamily property, with limited exceptions provided for the common areas. Would holds rental property owners liability for the actions of the tenants.
AB 969 – (D-Ammiano) – Jury Trials and Nonpayment of Rent – AB 969 would do two things:
(1) Create an assumption that a tenant is justified in withholding rent to make repairs that the landlord has failed to do. It would make it easier for a tenant to claim “retaliation” if the landlord moves forward with an eviction when a tenant withholds rent to make repairs; and (2) It would encourage jury trials in eviction cases by adding the term “jury” to the code sections that govern housing habitability.
SB 603 (D-Leno) – Security Deposits: Interest – SB 603 would require landlords to pay to tenants interest on their security deposits. It would increase the penalties against property owners who fail to return the deposit as required by law.
AB 5 (D-Ammiano) – Homelessness: Discrimination – AB 5 would create the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act. AB 5 would afford new protections to homeless individuals, giving them the right to access and occupy virtually any public space in the state, including plazas, courtyards, parking lots, sidewalks, public transportation, public buildings, and parks without fear of retribution. It prohibits cities, counties, and cities and counties, specifically law enforcement, from maintaining any rational level of order among individuals who live on the streets.
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CAA chalks up victories as legislative session ends
The state’s 2013 legislative session ended Friday with several CAA-supported bills already signed by the governor, on deck for last-minute passage by lawmakers or set aside for legislative consideration in 2014. Read more