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All five bills sponsored by the California Apartment Association this year remain intact as the state Legislature adjourns for its month-long summer break. The bills — four on housing production and one on medical marijuana — will continue their journey toward the governor’s desk when lawmakers return in August. The legislation on marijuana, AB 2300, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The CAA sponsored bill, authored by Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, deals with smoking medical marijuana in rental properties. AB 2300 would clarify that owners have the right to prohibit the activity, just as they can ban the smoking… Read More

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After signing the state budget, Gov. Jerry Brown continues to seek legislation that would streamline the approval process for residential housing in California. On Monday, Brown signed a $122 billion state budget for 2016-17, including $400 million for affordable housing programs sought by Assembly Democrats. The governor, however, has set aside that $400 million until he and the Legislature work out a deal to more quickly approve local housing projects. The details must be worked out before the legislative session ends in August. The governor’s proposal, supported by the California Apartment Association, would exempt certain multifamily housing infill projects from… Read More

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The California Apartment Association’s fight against rent control reaches far beyond city council votes and local ballot measures. It stretches back to Sacramento, where four CAA bills to increase the production of housing continue to progress through the state Legislature. CAA’s bills would prevent local government from delaying or blocking many housing proposals, including those opposed by NIMBYs, short for Not in My Backyard. For California to achieve a balance between new jobs and new homes, cities and counties must allow developments to move forward without unreasonable delay. Otherwise, families can’t find affordable housing near their jobs and schools —… Read More

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A bill that would remove local barriers to adding second units on residential lots passed its first hurdle in the Senate this week. The Senate’s Transportation and Housing Committee on Tuesday approved AB 2299 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, on a 7-0 vote with four abstentions. Under AB 2299, local governments would have to allow the construction of second units that meet specific standards and are within one-half mile of public transportation. The bill, sponsored by the California Apartment Association, now heads to the Committee on Governance and Finance. AB 2299 is one of four CAA-sponsored housing production bills… Read More

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The state Senate last week approved a bill aimed at issuing a $3 billion bond for affordable housing, joining a number of housing-production proposals still in play this year. SB 879 by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, is now in the Assembly. If the bond measure passes both houses of the Legislature, it will appear before voters in the Nov. 8 statewide general election. Beall’s office said his bill would generate thousands of homes and apartments priced within reach of California’s families. It also would house thousands of homeless individuals, his office said in this news release. “Senate Bill 879… Read More

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During a radio show Monday morning, CAA’s chief executive made the case for legislation that would streamline the approval process for multifamily developments that meet affordable-housing standards and other state criteria. The discussion took place June 6 on  UpFront, a program hosted by Brian Edwards-Tiekert on Berkeley’s 94.1 KPFA. Tom Bannon, CEO for the California Apartment Association, spoke in support of Gov. Jerry Brown’s push to speed up the approval process for qualified multifamily housing. Under the governor’s plan, multifamily housing projects with infill housing and a certain number of affordable units would be exempt from a drawn-out approval process… Read More

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Facing opposition led by CAA, an inclusionary-housing bill failed to get off the Assembly floor by Thursday’s deadline, but it’s still alive. AB 2502 by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, lacked the needed votes to advance to the Senate. So instead of taking a vote, the bill was referred back to the Committee on Local Government. This unusual move keeps the bill alive, although it’s unclear whether the committee will take it up again. Mullin’s bill would allow cities and counties to force below-market rate housing in new rental developments. It would overturn the Palmer v. Los Angeles court… Read More

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By Thursday evening, all four housing-production bills sponsored by the California Apartment Association had advanced from the Assembly to the state Senate. Three of the bills moved off the Assembly floor in the past week — the latest coming Thursday, June 2, with the approval of AB 2299. This legislation, authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, would mandate that local governments allow for the construction of second units on residential lots if those units meet specific standards and are located within one-half mile of public transportation. On Friday, May 27, the Assembly approved another bill authored by Bloom, AB… Read More

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A lawmaker’s second attempt at providing tax credits for earthquake retrofits advanced Tuesday from the Assembly floor. AB 2392 by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks, would help landlords and other property owners pay for seismic upgrades. The Assembly approved the legislation on a 79-0 vote with one abstention. It now moves to the Senate. The bill would allow a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the qualified costs paid or incurred by a taxpayer for any seismic retrofit on a qualified building. Last year, the same proposal, carried as AB 428, passed both houses of the Legislature before being … Read More

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When first introduced, AB 2282 would have limited the number of single-family home rentals allowed in a given ZIP code. Then, it would have required all the single-famly rentals be registered with the state. Now, thanks to the lobbying efforts of CAA, the bill by Assemblyman Ian Calderon will do neither. The current version of AB 2282 aims to create a report of how large-scale buy-to-rent investors have affected California’s real estate market. The legislation has been reinvented repeatedly since it emerged in February. Perhaps most alarming was the original version’s limit on the number of single-family homes that property… Read More

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