LEGISLATURE RETURNS FOLLOWING MONTH-LONG SUMMER RECESS

Both legislative houses resumed business on Monday following a month-long summer recess. August 27 is the deadline to pass all fiscal bills to the Assembly and Senate floors. September 10 is the deadline to pass ALL  bills to the Governor and marks the end of the legislative session.

The pace will pick up over the next four weeks, with the end of the session fast approaching. We will carefully scrutinize bills during this critical time to ensure that no last-minute legislative maneuvers occur that adversely impact our industry.        

AB 978 (QUIRK-SILVA) SIGNED INTO LAW  

AB 978 (Quirk-Silva), the rent control bill, was signed into law on July 23 and becomes effective on January 1, 2022.  

WMA actively opposed and sought a veto of AB 978, which prohibits mobilehome parks located in two or more incorporated cities from increasing rent more than three percent plus inflation, up to a maximum cap of five percent, annually. It also extends a rent increase of five percent, up to a maximum of ten percent for park owned rentals.

AB 978 becomes effective on January 1, 2022. The WMA Update on New Laws Seminar(s) will include an in-depth discussion on AB 978 and all newly enacted bills of interest.

To view AB 978, please click here:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB978

WATER SUBMETER BILL PASSES SENATE FLOOR, HEADS TO ASSEMBLY FOR CONCURRENCE

On Monday, Senator Scott Wiener (Democrat, San Francisco) presented AB 1061 (Lee) on the Senate Floor. Opposed by WMA, AB 1061 restricts park management from charging a ready-to-serve charge for sub-metered water. WMA reached out to the author, Assemblymember Alex Lee, and his staff in good faith during the interim. They subsequently rejected amendments aimed at addressing our concerns.

AB 1061 (Lee) passed the Senate floor by a 27-5 vote; however, it is worth noting that several Democrats who were present abstained from voting, including Senators Josh Becker (Menlo Park), Anna Caballero (Salinas), Melissa Hurtado (Sanger), and Dave Min (Irvine).        

WMA will continue to urge a NO vote on AB 1061 as the bill heads back to the Assembly for concurrence in Senate Amendments.

To view AB 1061, please click here:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1061

SUBLEASING BILL AWAITS ACTION ON SENATE FLOOR

WMA continues to urge legislators to vote NO on AB 861 (Bennett), which allows residents to sublease their units. AB 861 is currently awaiting action on the Senate floor.  This legislation was not taken up on Monday, and WMA continues to work with legislators to educate them about the harmful impacts of this bill.

To view AB 861, please click here:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB861

RECALL UPDATE

While the Legislature continues its work, the “Elephant in the Room” is the upcoming Recall Election.  Ballots have now been sent out to every registered voter in the state, and these ballots must be returned by September 14.  This is an “All-Mail” election (although many counties have drop box locations for in-person delivery), and there are two questions on the ballot: (1) Shall the Governor be recalled; and (2) If the Governor is recalled, who shall replace him?

To learn more about the upcoming election, please click here: 

https://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2021/pdf/complete-vig.pdf

Chris Wysocki is WMA’s State Legislative Advocate. He can be reached at chris@wma.org.