Capitol Update – April 13, 2023
By Chris Wysocki
Legislative Committees Gearing Up – Assembly Bill 1035 Being Heard on April 19th
Back from its Spring Recess last week, the Legislature’s committees are in full gear in advance of a May 5th deadline to hear non fiscal bills and report them to the Floor.
Several bills affecting manufactured housing communities await hearings, and the most important one affecting our industry is Assembly Bill 1035 that would impose statewide rent control on mobilehome parks. This legislation will be heard in the Assembly Housing and Community Development committee on Wednesday, April 19th.
Assembly Bill 1035 would impose an annual cap of five percent for rent increases on mobilehome park spaces and disallow the ability to reset rents to market rates when a tenant sells his or her home. WMA’s Legislative Team is working to defeat this measure, and we encourage WMA members to participate in our Voter Voice campaign to communicate with your Assemblymember and ask for a “NO” vote on this bill.
To view the language of Assembly Bill 1035, please click on the following link:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1035
To participate in our Voter Voice campaign, please visit the WMA website’s Government Affairs section. The link can be found below:
Several Other Important Bills Await Action
Assembly Bill 22 (Mike Gipson)
As originally drafted, this legislation would have provided MRL protections to recreational vehicles parked in manufactured housing communities. After WMA spoke about our concerns with the bill, Assemblyman Gipson agreed to remove the introduced language and amended it to simply change the width of a mobilehome that can be transported on state roads and highways from 102 inches to 110 inches.
To read the current version of Assembly Bill 22, please click on the following link:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB22
Assembly Bill 919 (Ash Kalra)
This legislation would mandate that tenant organizations receive a first right of refusal to purchase a mobilehome park (and other properties like apartment communities) if the current owner attempts to sell the property to another entity. WMA has helped lead a coalition of property owners spearheaded by the California Apartment Association to defeat this measure. The Chairman of the Assembly Judiciary committee, Brian Maienschein from San Diego, has agreed so far to hold the bill in committee and not grant a hearing on the legislation.
To view the language of Assembly Bill 919, please click on the following link:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB919
Assembly Bill 661 (Joe Patterson)
This WMA sponsored bill still has not been set for a hearing date, but the Legislative Team is working with the Assembly Housing and Community Development committee to allow the bill to be heard. The bill would allow residents to voluntarily agree to forego receiving paper notices of utility disruptions and receive notifications by email, text or automated phone calls. If the bill is not set for the April 26th hearing, Assembly Bill 661 will be made into a two-year bill.
To view the language of Assembly Bill 661, please click on the following link:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB661
WMA Legislative Tracking
These Capitol Updates provide information on the most pressing bills currently under consideration by the Legislature, but WMA is tracking dozens of other legislative measures. To keep apprised of the current status of bills WMA is monitoring, please click on the following link:
HCD Comment Period is Open on Inspection Program Proposed Regulations
The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced it will adopt regulations governing the Mobilehome Parks and Special Occupancy Parks which were established by the Mobilehome Parks Act and Special Occupancy Parks Act. As the notice indicates:
“The purpose of the proposed regulations is to establish consistent fees for services provided under existing law, and to realign fees based on actual duties and activities relating to health and safety inspections, complaint investigations, state mandates, administration, and supervision of the home offices located to statewide, and to facilitate efficiency of state operations.”
There are three separate links outlining the scope of the proposed rulemaking notice provided by HCD, and they can be found below:
Fee Realignment: Notice of Proposed Action (ca.gov)
Fee-Realignment-Express-Terms.docx (live.com)
Fee Realignment: Initial Statement of Reasons (ca.gov)
WMA will be filing comments on this proposed action, and please email me at chris@wma.org with any questions.
It is an honor to serve WMA, and please feel free to call me on my direct line at 916.288.4026 with any questions.
