CBPA's California Legislative Update 02/21/2020
- BILL INTRODUCTION DEADLINE
- ENERGY COMMISSION APPROVES FIRST COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECT
- GOVERNOR’S PLAN ON HOMELESSNESS EXPLAINED
- SAVE PROP 13!
- CBPA 2020 CALENDAR
BILL INTRODUCTION DEADLINE
Today is “Bill Introduction Deadline” in the California State Legislature. Policymakers have until close of business today to introduce all the great ideas they have to improve your business. We normally see well over 2,500 separate legislative measures, including constitutional amendments and resolutions, and this year the numbers seems to be a bit higher than normal, after the “bill cap” for each legislator was expanded last year.
Although bills could have been introduced as early as January 1, a vast majority of bills are introduced in the final week before the deadline, and the most usually on the last day. We expect hundreds of bills to be put in to beat the deadline.
So far, more than 200 bills have been identified as having a direct and/or significant impact on our industry including measures relating to dual agency brokers, energy efficiency, real estate taxation, and scores of bills trying to make sense of AB 5, the Independent Contractor bill from last year.
Your Sacramento staff and legislative committees are currently in the process of reading all the bills and analyzing their impact. If you would like to participate in this process, we would love your help.
Today’s deadline has generated hundreds of bills which we are plowing through now. Look for lots of bills starting next week!
ENERGY COMMISSION APPROVES FIRST COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECT
In an action strongly supported by industry, the CEC yesterday approved SMUD’s Solar Shares program on a 5-0 vote. Staring on 1/1/20, all new homes and low-rise multifamily buildings are required to provide renewable energy (solar) to the building.
Of the three methods of compliance the “community solar” option allows compliance by accessing solar produced at an off-site solar farm. This is especially important for mixed-use construction where the first floor is commercial or office space with 2-3 stories of residential units located above.
In most cases, those types of buildings do not have enough roof space on top of the building for the amount of solar needed to comply. This means the community solar option is the only way to comply for these very popular infill building projects.
Even so, the solar industry has been strongly opposing approval of SMUD’s Solar Shares program contending that it’s too big (20MW) and that accessing the cheap solar energy from that kind of a utility scale project creates an unfair level of competition with the small rooftop installers.
With the approval of the SMUD program, industry representatives will now be promoting the construction of other community solar projects throughout the state.
GOVERNOR’S PLAN ON HOMELESSNESS EXPLAINED
On Wednesday the Governor gave his second State of the State Speech and focused most of his comments on homelessness. From the Governor’s press release:
In his State of the State address, Governor Newsom called on all levels of government to step up their efforts to combat the homelessness crisis, and laid out his Administration’s five-part approach – reducing street homelessness quickly and humanely through emergency actions, a laser focus on getting the mentally ill out of tents and into treatment, providing stable funding to get sustainable results, tackling the underproduction of affordable housing in California, and doing all of this with real accountability and consequences.
The Sacramento Bee, however, has done a great job of summarizing the plan, and we share it here for those of you that want to learn more. “Gavin Newsom’s 5-point plan to address California homelessness explained”
Homelessness in California is unfortunately out-of-control and is impacting so many human lives. Although the economic toll on our state and our properties are mounting, the real devastation is the number of Californian’s that go to sleep each night with no roof over their head, needing help with everything from the basics of food, to dealing with drug addiction and untreated mental illness.
We stand with the Governor and hope he can lead us towards a solution and stand ready to assist.
SAVE PROP 13!
The campaign to save Proposition 13 against being dismantled by the split roll property tax measure on the November 2020 ballot is gaining momentum and is signing-up more people and companies every day!
Are you doing what you can to protect yourself from an $11 BILLION yearly tax increase?
Click here to check out the new website, Californians to Save Prop 13 and Stop Higher Property Taxes, now known as "Save Prop 13," and join the effort.
The website is where you will find information about the benefits of Prop. 13 and how removing protections from commercial properties will have a massively negative impact on the state’s economy.
CBPA 2020 CALENDAR
Wednesday, February 26
CBPA Winter Board Meeting
Cal Chamber, Sacramento
Thursday, April 2
CBPA Industrywide Legislative Meeting
Southern California
Tuesday-Wednesday, June 9-10
California Commercial Real Estate Summit
Cal Chamber, Sacramento
Thursday, November 5
CBPA Board Meeting & Industry Awards Dinner
The Renaissance Hotel, Newport Beach
