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Sponsored Bills
On a positive note, the industry-sponsored AB 2904 (Quirk-Silva; D-Fullerton) passed the Legislature. This legislation will change the current law by requiring a longer notice period of 60 days to be given to property owners before a public hearing is held on a proposed zoning ordinance or amendment. This is a big win for the industry, and we thank our partners at NAIOP So-Cal for their hard work on this bill.
As part of our efforts to take a proactive approach to solving challenges impacting the commercial real estate industry, two additional sponsored bills were introduced:
- AB 2433 - Private Permitting Review and Inspection Act (Quirk-Silva; D-Fullerton)
- AB 3196 - Demurrer Hearing Timetable (Nguyen; D-Elk Grove)
Both bills made it through several phases of the legislative process but ultimately failed to make it through both houses. While this was not the outcome we hoped for, we will continue to work with lawmakers on new pieces of legislation to benefit our industry.
Adaptive Reuse
Three bills focused on adaptive reuse and office conversion, which were advocated for by our industry, have passed the Legislature:
- AB 2243 (Wicks; D-Oakland), expanding on the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, streamlines approvals for mixed-use developments, benefiting commercial spaces that create jobs.
- AB 2910 (Santiago; D-Los Angeles), promoting the conversion of underutilized commercial buildings into residential units, allows pro-housing jurisdictions to adopt alternative building regulations.
- AB 3068 (Haney; D-San Francisco), known as the "Adaptive Reuse Investment Incentive Program" and "Office to Housing Conversion Act," incentivizes the conversion of nonresidential buildings into residential or mixed-use spaces by allowing cities and counties to offer financial incentives and streamline the approval process.
In addition, AB 2550 (Gabriel; D-San Fernando Valley), which CBPA supported and proudly helped draft, is another major victory. The bill supports small businesses by modernizing regulations, reducing "dead rent" periods, and alleviating financial pressures. This legislation is especially important for brick-and-mortar businesses, particularly in food service, which continue to face immense economic pressures from the lingering impacts of COVID-19 and inflation, threatening many women and minority owned enterprises. All these bills highlight our proactive approach in the Legislature, focusing not just on fighting bad bills but also on advancing solutions that benefit the industry.
Retail Theft
CBPA also advocated in support of the package of 10 retail theft bills introduced by legislative leaders, all of which have now been signed into law. This legislation will help protect businesses, enhance public safety, and promote a thriving commercial sector. We are also supporting Proposition 36, which aims to tackle retail theft by fixing parts of Proposition 47.
Janitorial Bills
Two costly janitorial bills were introduced and heavily opposed by our industry. AB 2374 (Haney; D-San Francisco) failed to make it through the Legislature, but AB 2364 (Rivas; D-Los Angeles) passed. We are urging Governor Newsom to veto this bill, as it will raise costs and create bureaucratic challenges.
Taxpayer Protection Act
In addition to the problematic bills that passed, our industry took a significant loss in the courts with the removal of the Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA) from the ballot. In June, the California Supreme Court voted 7-0 in favor of the Governor and Legislative Leaders to remove TPA from the November ballot. CBPA serves as co-chair of TPA, which would have restored the two-thirds majority vote requirement for new taxes and given voters the right to vote on new and higher taxes. We are now evaluating another approach and potentially reintroducing another ballot measure in the future.
It has been a difficult legislative session for the business community. With Democrat supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, it is challenging to stop problematic legislation from becoming law. Now more than ever, it is crucial for our industry to be represented in Sacramento and to make progress where we can. We thank you for your membership and continued support of our industry through good times as well as the challenging ones.
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