Governor Newsom signed 870 bills into law this year. To keep
counties informed of new laws that impact them, CSAC will be
publishing a series of articles to spotlight those laws in each
policy area. This week, the Housing, Land Use and Transportation
policy area provides information on new laws affecting housing,
land use, transportation, public works, building standards, and
more.
The new laws listed below become effective January 1, 2020.
The California Transportation Commission will hold two workshops
on competitive programs, including the Local Partnership Program
and the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program later this
month. Information on these workshops is
available here.
Governor Newsom signed an executive order on September 20
directing the Department of Finance, the Department of
Transportation and the Department of General Services to take
action to advance emissions reduction goals and incorporate
climate resiliency strategies in several state programs,
including pension investments, transportation programs, and
state-owned facilities. The full text of the executive order is
available online.
CSAC is awaiting the Governor’s action on a number of bills that
fall under the housing, land use, and transportation policy area
and will keep counties updated on the outcome of these measures.
CSAC is requesting the Governor’s signature on several of these
measures and is requesting his veto on one bill. The full list is
provided below.
The Legislature adjourned on Friday the 13th after one of the
strangest end-of-sessions in recent history. It included
accusations of flame-throwing and a lack of decorum
among legislators and was briefly halted after a protester
threw blood onto the Senate Floor.
Last week, Governor Newsom signed the first tribal-state gaming
compact (Compact) negotiated under his Administration. AB 753 (E. Garcia) would ratify the gaming
compact between the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and the State
of California. The Compact includes a two-tiered provision for
environmental mitigation, which is included in some of the recent
compacts and depends on the number of slot machines the Tribe
operates.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) released the Residential Impact Fees in California report earlier
this week, which evaluates local fees charged to new housing
developments.
Today, the CSAC Executive Committee voted to approve draft policy
priorities for federal surface transportation reauthorization
legislation. Congress passed the Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation (“FAST”) Act in 2015. While the FAST Act doesn’t
expire until September 2020, Congress has already started its
work on reauthorization.
Prior to adjourning session for summer recess, the Legislature
approved
AB 101 (Committee on Budget) — the housing and homelessness
budget trailer bill, which reflects the final agreement between
the Governor and Legislature on housing and homelessness budget
items for fiscal year 2019-20.
CSAC’s top budget priority, a direct allocation of funding for
counties to tackle the homelessness crisis, is included in the
bill. The measure also includes $650 million to address the
homelessness crisis, $500 million for infrastructure grants to
support housing production, $500 million to support low-income
housing tax credits, $500 million for mixed-income housing
development, and $250 million to support local and regional
housing plans.
Caltrans will be hosting an informational webinar to provide an
overview of guidance that an inter-agency working group is
developing to implement recent updates to CEQA Statute and
Guidelines related to
SB 743, signed in 2013.
These guidance documents will address transportation impacts for
projects on the State Highway System, Caltrans review of local
land development, and traffic analysis methodologies.
CSAC’s top budget priority, a direct allocation of funding for
counties to tackle the homelessness crisis, is included in a
budget trailer bill awaiting final action by the Assembly today.
AB 101 reflects the final agreement between the Governor and
Legislature on housing and homelessness budget items for fiscal
year 2019-20. The measure includes $650 million to address the
homelessness crisis, $500 million for infrastructure grants to
support housing production, $500 million to support low-income
housing tax credits, $500 million for mixed-income housing
development, and $250 million to support local and regional
housing plans.
CSAC is the sponsor of
SB 137 (Dodd), which allows the state, regions, cities and
counties to reduce the cost of transportation projects and
provide for more projects to be completed with the same amount of
revenue by expanding the existing Match Exchange Program to
include eligibility for larger regions and for local safety and
bridge projects. The bill passed out of the Senate last week and
is now in the Assembly.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) is soliciting comments on draft guidelines for
the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program. The
Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund and the PLHA program were
created to implement SB 2 (Atkins), which was signed into law as
part of a 15-bill housing package in 2017.
CSAC is committed to addressing the housing affordability crisis
and is supportive of several bills that invest more state
resources into housing, make it easier for counties to leverage
local resources, and protect renters from source of income
discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released a
Notice of Funding Opportunity for $900 million for the Better
Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD)
Transportation Discretionary Grants Program.
CSAC’s Housing, Land Use and Transportation team is closely
analyzing several housing-related bills that impact counties,
including one which would streamline agricultural employee
housing and three other bills which would increase reporting
requirements for local agencies. CSAC is seeking feedback from
counties on these proposals. Please send any comments or input on
these bills to Marina
Espinoza.
Following an executive order by Governor Newsom,
the Department of General Services (DGS) released an initial
inventory of state property potentially available for housing
development last week. The inventory identifies 44,370
state-owned parcels—1,330 of which seem to be feasible to
accommodate housing development.
Governor Newsom and legislative leaders remain committed to
addressing California’s housing crisis through a variety of
policy interventions, including linkages between state
transportation investments and local housing decisions. In recent
weeks, the Administration has focused the discussion on providing
incentives, holding bad actors accountable, and revamping the
Regional Housing Needs Allocation process.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) has released the SB 2 Planning Grants Program Notice
of Funding Availability (NOFA) for approximately $123
million.
The Planning Grants Program provides one-time, over-the-counter
grants to local governments to update a variety of planning
documents and processes that streamline housing approvals and
accelerate housing production.
California legislators have introduced several new bills that
impact local governments. CSAC is continuing conversations with
Legislators on their proposals and is interested in receiving
feedback from counties on the following bills.
Regional Housing Need for Above Moderate-Income
Housing
The California Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) released draft guidelines for the Community Development
Block Grant Program (CDBG). The CDBG program provides funding
opportunities to local governments that do not participate in the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) CDBG
entitlement program.
Mark your calendars! County elected officials and staff who
are interested in the intersection between land use,
transportation, and emerging vehicle technologies may wish to
attend two upcoming conferences in California.
California legislators have demonstrated their continued efforts
to alleviate the housing crisis by proposing bills intended to
increase the affordable housing supply across the state. CSAC is
already engaging the Administration and Legislators on these
proposals and is interested in comments and concerns from
counties.
