Capitol Update
By Chris Wysocki
Legislature Returns to Sacramento – Change is in the Air
The November election is finally over, and the new Legislature has been sworn into office. As the nation prepares for a new President, the California Senate and Assembly are both dealing with significant changes with 35 new lawmakers, many of whom are significantly more moderate than their progressive Democrat predecessors.
The Senate and Assembly both increased the number of Republican lawmakers. The Senate saw a net Republican increase of one seat, bringing the total to 10 Republicans and 30 Democrats. The Assembly saw a net Republican increase of two seats, bringing the total to 20 Republicans and 60 Democrats.
The ideologies of Senate and Assembly Democrats also changed significantly. The Assembly saw a net gain of six Moderate Democrats (defined as Democrats who are generally supportive of private property rights), bringing their total up to 23 seats.
If you combine the 23 Moderate Democrats with the 20 Republicans, a majority of the Assembly for the first time in recent history is made up of lawmakers who believe property rights are essential to increasing the housing supply. The Senate saw a net gain of two Moderate Democrats, bringing their total to eight. When combined with Republicans, the private property rights coalition in the Senate has increased to 18, just shy of the majority.
A big reason for the change in ideology of the Legislature is the WMA PAC (Political Action Committee).The WMA PAC made the maximum financial contribution to 43 candidates for the state legislature in hopes of electing Republicans and moderate Democrats. Of those 43, 38 were victorious. This 88% winning percentage helped reshape the makeup of the California Legislature with respect to private property rights.
This is the primary reason your contributions to the WMA PAC are essential to our ability to protect, defend, and promote the manufactured housing community industry in California.
New Senate Members
- Megan Dahle (R, SD 1)
- Christopher Cabaldon (D, SD 3)
- Jerry McNerney (D, SD 5)
- Jesse Arreguin (D, SD 7)
- Tim Grayson (D, SD 9)
- Suzette Valladares (R, SD 23)
- Sasha Perez (D, SD 25)
- Eloise Gomez Reyes (D, SD 29)
- Sabrina Cervantes (D, SD 31)
- Laura Richardson (D, SD 35)
- Steve Choi (R, SD 37)
- Akilah Weber (D, SD 39)
New Assembly Members
- Heather Hadwick (R, AD 1)
- Chris Rogers (D, AD 2)
- Maggy Krell (D, AD 6)
- David Tangipa (R, AD 8)
- Rhodesia Ransom (D, AD 13)
- Anamarie Farias (D, AD 15)
- Catherine Stefani (D, AD 19)
- Patrick Ahrens (D, AD 26)
- Alexandra Macedo (R, AD 33)
- Jeff Gonzalez (R, AD 36)
- Josh Harabedian (D, AD 41)
- Celeste Rodriguez (D, AD 43)
- Nick Schultz (D, AD 44)
- Robert Garcia (D, AD 50)
- Jessica Caloza (D, AD 52)
- Michelle Rodriguez (D, AD 53)
- Mark Gonzalez (D, AD 54)
- Sade Elhawary (D, AD 57)
- Leticia Castillo (R, AD 58)
- Jose Solache (D, AD 62)
- Carl DeMaio (R, AD 75)
- Darshana Patel (D, AD 76)
- LaShae Sharp-Collins (D, AD 79)
To check and see how your individual legislator fared in the November election, please click here.
Park Tours Continue as a Priority
With 35 new lawmakers, WMA has already begun reaching out to new legislators to arrange a park tour in their districts to educate them about the realities of owning, maintaining, and operating a mobilehome park. We expect many of these tours will take place in January and February and again in the spring, during the Legislature’s spring recess.
Please keep an eye out for invitations to attend these park tours with lawmakers, as they are vital to our ability to explain the manufactured housing community industry. Our goal is to complete many of these tours prior to legislative committees taking up legislative measures for consideration. If you are interested in hosting a tour or would like to participate in one of these tours, please email me at chris@wma.org.
Legislative Calendar Released
Unlike local city councils and boards of supervisors, the legislative calendar has firm deadlines in place. This gives us a finite time frame to introduce legislation and build our arguments about bills that would harm our industry if signed into law. Some of the key deadlines include:
- January 10: Governor must submit initial 2025-26 State Budget.
- January 24: Last day to submit bill requests to the Office of Legislative Counsel.
- February 21: Last day for bills to be introduced.
- May 2: Last day for policy committees to hear and report bills to fiscal committees.
- June 6: Last day for each house to pass bills introduced in that house.
AB 2782 Lawsuit (WMA and Sandalwood Estates v. State of California) Moving Forward
This lawsuit is being largely funded by the WMA Committee to Save Property Rights. The Sacramento County Superior Court will hear our motion for an injunction this Friday. This law eliminates long-term leases in California as a mechanism to bypass local rent control ordinances.
The Superior Court has set a date of June 12, 2025, for a hearing date on motions for summary judgment. If a summary judgment is not granted, a trial is scheduled to begin on August 4, 2025.
AB 978 Lawsuit (Anaheim Mobile Estates v. State of California) Also Moving Forward
When AB 978 was signed into law in 2021, it limited the rent increases in mobilehome parks that are located in two incorporated cities in counties with a population between 2.75 million and 3.5 million (Orange County). The rent increase was capped at 3%, with an upward adjustment up to 5%, depending on the price of inflation.
More egregious, AB 978 contained no provision for vacancy decontrol. Anaheim Mobile Estates (which is impacted by AB 978) filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new law based on the fact that no provision exists to provide a parkowner with a fair rate of return above the permissible rent increase.
On November 17, 2023, the Orange County Superior Court ruled AB 978 to be unconstitutional. The State of California appealed the ruling, and oral arguments are tentatively set for early 2025. If the Appellate Court denies the appeal, the State of California could (in theory) appeal that decision to the California Supreme Court.
If the Appellate Court grants the appeal, the lawsuit would be remanded to the Orange County Superior Court for a trial likely later in 2025 or 2026.
State Water Resources Control Board Lead Service Line Plans Due
Health and Safety Code 116885 requires all community water systems to compile an inventory of known lead user service lines in its distribution system. For more information, please click here.
More information may also be found by reviewing the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s publication providing guidance developing and maintaining a Service Line Inventory by clicking here.
General Conclusions and Next Publication Date
2024 was a remarkable year for WMA. With a theoretically more favorable legislature, we have high hopes for another successful legislative session. With a new administration in the White House, many policymakers in California are busy figuring out how to adapt to any changes that may come.
We will make sure our members are kept informed about important developments coming out of Sacramento. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Please be on the lookout for weekly updates to resume when the Legislature returns in January.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve WMA! Please feel free to reach me directly at chris@wma.org or on my direct line at the office at 916.288.4026.
