The top bills to brush up on while lawmakers are on break: Part I

Jul 26, 2023

Here are the remaining homeless, housing, public safety, and revenue bills cities need to know about. This is part one of a two-part story. Part two will run next week.

Lawmakers are on break. For now. August and September are the hottest months in California’s legislative cycle. When legislators return from summer recess on Aug. 14, they will have exactly one month to get their bills through a second suspense file and/or a floor vote. Gov. Gavin Newsom then has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto any bills that make it to his desk.

These next few months are a make-or-break moment for the League of California Cities’ biggest legislative priorities. Cal Cities’ advocacy is most effective when local leaders from every city are at the table. Here’s what city officials need to know about Cal Cities' remaining, major priority advocacy items for 2023. 

Behavioral Health bills clear key hurdles

Two longstanding Cal Cities priorities, SB 43 (Eggman) and SB 363 (Eggman), made it to their final appropriations committee hearings just before summer recess started. Both bills would modernize California’s behavioral health care system. SB 43 would update the definition of “gravely disabled.” SB 363 would create a real-time dashboard of available beds in psychiatric and substance abuse facilities.

Sen. Eggman introduced similar measures last year, which died in Assembly Judiciary Committee and Assembly Appropriations Committee respectively.

Lawmakers are also advancing several bond measures. AB 1657 (Wicks) — which Cal Cities supports — would provide $10 billion for affordable and supportive housing production. AB 531 (Irwin) would provide $4.68 billion for community-based treatment settings and residential care settings for individuals experiencing homelessness. Cal Cities moved to a support in concept position for AB 531 as it was significantly amended.

The two measures are a fraction of the $100 billion in bonds proposed by lawmakers. The state’s borrowing limit is an estimated $26 billion, and voters rejected the last statewide bond measure. The Governor has already put his weight behind AB 531 and the 2023-24 State Budget is predicated on a climate bond measure. Legislators will need to make some difficult decisions.

Other priority bills include:

  • SB 326 (Eggman) The Behavioral Health Services Act

    Cal Cities Position: Support in Concept

  • AB 1215 (Carrillo) Pets Assistance with Support Grant Program: Homeless Shelters: Domestic Violence Shelters: Pets

    Cal Cities Position: Support

  • AB 67 (Muratsuchi) Homeless Courts Pilot Program

    Cal Cities Position: Support

An annual barrage of housing measures

Once again, lawmakers are trying to override the state’s own housing planning law and the good faith efforts of city leaders to implement that law with their residents. SB 423 (Wiener) would greatly expand SB 35 (Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017). If passed, SB 423 would require cities to ministerially approve certain multifamily housing projects without public input or environmental review, even on land under the California Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction. Cal Cities opposes SB 423.

A similar measure, AB 309 (Lee), would allow the Department of General Services to facilitate the construction of government-owned housing on excess state-owned property. Cal Cities has an oppose unless amended position for AB 309.

Cities would not be able to impose zoning standards, objective standards, or design review requirements on state-owned or -leased land for either bill.

Other priority bills include:

  • AB 519 (Schiavo) Affordable Housing Finance Workgroup: Affordable Housing: Consolidated Application Process

    Cal Cities Position: Support

  • AB 1490 (Lee) Affordable Housing Development Projects: Adaptive Reuse

    Cal Cities Position: Oppose Unless Amend

Facial recognition, emergency ambulance services, and fentanyl bill top of agenda

Several of Cal Cities’ sponsored measures advanced to appropriations committees, including AB 1168 (Bennet). The bill would clarify a city or fire district’s right to provide emergency ambulance services (EMS). A 2021 legal decision ruled that a city lost its authority to provide prehospital EMS after signing a joint powers authority agreement (JPA) with the county.

The ruling had a chilling effect and called into question any future efforts to form similar agreements. Signatories to JPA agreements should not lose their rights because they cooperated with other public agencies to provide better service to residents.

Cal Cities opposes AB 1034 (Wilson), which would prohibit the use of facial recognition in police cameras until January 2034. Accountability is crucial when it comes to police technology. However, banning facial recognition technology only makes it harder for law enforcement to protect their communities since it removes a source of possible investigative leads.

Several fentanyl-related bills are also moving through the Legislature, including AB 474 (Rodriguez) and AB 701 (Villapudua). AB 474 would increase statewide efforts to combat fentanyl tracking. AB 701 would add fentanyl to the list of controlled substances for large-scale dealers. Cal Cities supports both measures.

Other priority bills include:

Dangerous revenue bills halted. Streamlined climate grant program advances

Cal Cities is entering the final two months of the legislative session with strong tailwinds when it comes to protecting local revenues. Cal Cities already stopped or modified several dangerous bills. Those wins have turned into a streak, with Cal Cities removing its opposition to AB 84 (Ward) and concerns from SB 588 (Allen) right before the break.

AB 84 would expand exemptions from property taxes for affordable rental housing. Cal Cities had concerns about the bill’s verification process and lack of legislative guardrails, which the author addressed. SB 588 would eliminate the property tax welfare exemption cap for nonprofit developers utilizing private funding under certain conditions. Similar to AB 84, the bill lacked sufficient legislative oversight, which Cal Cities ultimately secured.

Without these changes, the costs of both bills would have far outweighed the benefits.  

That leaves the Cal Cities-sponsored AB 972 (Maienschein) as the biggest revenue measure of note for cities. The bill would create a statewide, cross-agency workgroup to coordinate, align, and streamline certain local government assistance resources.

Other priority bills include:

  • SB 96 (Portantino) Historic Venue Restoration and Resiliency Act

    Cal Cities Position: Support

  • SB 584 (Limón) Laborforce Housing: Short-Term Rental Tax Law
    Cal Cities Position: Oppose Unless Amend (Two-year bill)

What’s next?

After lawmakers return from summer recess on Aug. 14, they will have until Sept. 1 to get their bills through appropriations committees. Then it’s another two weeks to get their bills passed through both chambers and onto Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Each of these moments is an opportunity for city leaders to make their voices heard.

To learn more about which measures to consider advocating for or against, subscribe to Cal Cities Advocate or contact your regional public affairs manager. Action alerts can happen quickly and often, so make sure to stay informed.