First Assembly Housing Committee Now Complete

The first meeting of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee met yesterday, and three bills of interest to WMA were heard and voted on.  Two bills were opposed by WMA, and one was supported.  The votes for the two bills opposed by WMA were disappointing, but not surprising.

Assembly Bill 318 (Addis – D, Morro Bay) was amended and passed. The amendments extend the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program (MRLPP) sunset date by three years. WMA argued that a one-year extension was appropriate given that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee last week approved the State Auditor to conduct a thorough review of the operation of the MRLPP and the results of the audit will be finalized by the end of 2023. The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. To view the language of AB 318, please click on the following link:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB318

Assembly Bill 604 (Lee – D, San Jose) was passed and extends the provisions of water billing contained in Assembly Bill 3061, which was passed in 2021, to jurisdictions regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). WMA vigorously opposed this measure and argued that the CPUC should be permitted to do its job of regulating water rates under its jurisdiction and that Assembly Bill 604 will discourage water conservation by forcing manufactured housing community management to move toward a pro-rata billing structure instead of losing money by reading sub-meters. The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  To view the language of Assembly Bill 604, please click on the following link:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB604

Assembly Bill 319 (Connolly – D, San Rafael) was amended and passed.  WMA supported this legislation that requires inspectors employed by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to file statements of economic interests with the Fair Political Practices Commission. The amendments adopted extend the sunset of the Mobilehome Park Maintenance (MPM) process. WMA argued that having inspectors file documents detailing their financial interests will improve transparency and increase confidence that HCD park inspections are conducted in a fair and impartial manner. The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. To view the language of Assembly Bill 319, please click on the following link:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB319

Several other important bills of concern to WMA still await a hearing date in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, and future updates will include the status of the following bills among others:

Assembly Bill 1035 (Muratsuchi – D, Torrance) would establish statewide rent control in mobilehome parks.  To view the language of Assembly Bill 1035, please click on the following link:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1035

Assembly Bill 1639 (Hoover – R, Folsom) would require water utilities under CPUC jurisdiction to assume responsibility for directly serving water to residents of manufactured housing communities.  WMA has sponsored this legislation, and to view the current language, please click on the following link:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1639

Assembly Bill 661 (Patterson – R, Rocklin) would allow residents of manufactured housing communities to voluntarily receive electronic notification of unforeseen utility disruptions in their communities in lieu of receiving paper notices. WMA has sponsored this legislation, and to view the current language, please click on the following link:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB661

HCD Comment Period is Open on Inspection Program Proposed Regulations

Last week, 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.

Internet Grant Application Deadline Extended

The CPUC has extended its broadband grant deadline by a month as they are updating their eligibility maps, which are set to be updated by March 31^st. Kwikbit Internet will reassess all previous submissions which showed as “served”, and therefore ineligible. Should there be a change in status, the company will notify you of such by April 15^th.

Also, given this extension, Kwikbit welcomes any new submissions for review through April 7th. To learn more about the potential of installing fast and reliable internet speeds of up to 1,000 mbps for residents in your parks, please visit the following site:

kwikbit.com/gov

Coffee Talk to Focus on Assembly Bill 1035 and Other Legislative Measures

On Thursday, April 6, 2023, at 10:00 am, WMA’s legislative advocacy team will discuss Assembly Bill 1035 (Muratsuchi) that would, if passed as currently drafted, put mobilehome parks under statewide rent control with a five percent cap with full vacancy control. Defeating this measure is a top priority of WMA and the legislative advocacy team is actively working to prevent this legislation, as drafted, from moving forward.

During this coffee talk, we will also highlight other legislative measures affecting the manufactured housing industry in California.  This event is free and does not require registration.

To view a list of bills being tracked by WMA’s legislative team, please click on the following link:

wma.org/bills-interest

Thank you for the opportunity to serve, and please feel free to e-mail me at chris@wma.org or call me on my direct line at (916) 288-4026 with any questions.