CBPA's California Legislative Update 9/25/2020
- DISTORTIONS AND OUTRIGHT LIES CALL SPOKESPERSON’S VERACITY INTO QUESTION
- GOVERNOR EXTENDS ABILITY FOR LOCAL COMMERCIAL EVICTION MORATORIUMS
- GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER PHASES OUT NEW GASOLINE CARS BY 2035
- AGENCIES CONSIDERING UPDATE TO EV CHARGING REGULATIONS
- ENERGY COMMISSION WORKSHOP ON PROPOSED COMMERCIAL SOLAR MANDATE
- BILLS AWAITING GOVERNOR’S ACTION
- CBPA 2020 CALENDAR
DISTORTIONS AND OUTRIGHT LIES CALL SPOKESPERSON’S VERACITY INTO QUESTION
From the No On Prop 15 campaign:
“During a forum sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) to discuss and inform voters about Proposition 15, California Teachers Association (CTA) Vice President David Goldberg, representing the proponents, offered a series of blatant falsehoods and distortions about Prop 15’s impacts on farmers and small business owners. Not stopping there, Goldberg also misrepresented the California Assessors’ Association’s opposition to Prop 15, and disputed Prop 15 supporters’ frequently stated intention to fully repeal Prop 13 for everyone – including all California homeowners.
“It is a shame that a person who should be a role model for our kids would conduct himself in such an offensive and deceitful manner,” said Michael Bustamante, spokesperson for the No on Prop 15 campaign. “Voters deserve better and should not stand for anyone from any campaign who willfully misrepresents the facts. He ought to be sent to the principal’s office for telling so many lies.”
The No on Prop 15 campaign has set the record straight by outlining a series of Goldberg’s inaccuracies, which are oft repeated by Prop 15 supporters and media, followed by the true facts about Prop 15. Click here to view the website.
CBPA’s Rex Hime represents the commercial real estate industry as part of the No On Prop 15 Campaign leadership. No on Prop 15 – Stop Higher Property Taxes and Save Prop 13, is a bipartisan coalition of homeowners, taxpayers, and businesses, has been fighting to protect Prop 13 and oppose a split-roll property tax for more than a decade.
GOVERNOR EXTENDS ABILITY FOR LOCAL COMMERCIAL EVICTION MORATORIUMS
While most people were still processing the sweeping Executive Order banning gasoline powered cars by 2035 (see below), another Executive Order was quietly released that extends the ability of local governments to enact local commercial rent moratoriums until March 2021.
A Link to last night’s executive order is below, but it refers to this original order from March 16:
N-28-20: First Eviction Executive Order – specifically allowed local governments to halt Commercial Evictions (now extended to March 2021). Click here to view.
Needless to say, this is very concerning, especially after commercial was purposefully negotiated out of AB 3088 and SB 939 didn’t make it out of committee, because of the massive economic and legal damage disrupting business-to-business contracts will have on the state and on business property owners, managers, and their tenants.
This Executive Order will mean that many property owners may go a full year without rent, comes after months of state mandated business shut downs, and is just days after the Governor’s endorsed Prop 15, the largest commercial property tax hike in the state’s history.
Additionally, the state is moving to MANDATE solar and battery installations in new commercial construction and force property owners to install electric vehicle charging stations to fuel up cars in their parking lots.
Click here to read the press release and executive order.
GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER PHASES OUT NEW GASOLINE CARS BY 2035
As you no doubt have already learned, Governor Newsom signed an executive order to phase-out the sales of gas-powered automobiles by 2035. Below is the Governor’s press release with links to the Executive Order.
Of note to property owners is the following provision in the executive order:
4. The State Air Resources Board, the Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission and other relevant State agencies, shall use existing authorities to accelerate deployment of affordable fueling and charging options for zero-emission vehicles, in ways that serve all communities and in particular low-income and disadvantaged communities, consistent with State and federal law.
This is consistent with plans that are already being seen in the Energy and Building Code Process. As we have alerted our members in the past, state agencies including the Air Resources Board have indicated moving forward with a plan to mandate installation of Electric Vehicle Charging stations on private property for new construction and tenant improvements.
See below for more information on the regulatory process on electric vehicle charging stations and solar mandates for commercial buildings.
Click here for the Governor’s press release and links to the EO language.
AGENCIES CONSIDERING UPDATE TO EV CHARGING REGULATIONS
The Governor’s announcement on plans to prohibit the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines starting in 2035, means that auto manufacturers will only be offering Zero-Emission Vehicles for sale in California after 2034.
In an effort to ensure the availability of charging stations throughout the state, the Air Resources Board (ARB) is asking HCD and the Building Standards Commission to update their EV-Ready requirements for new non-residential and multi-family buildings to increase the percentage of EV-Ready parking spots to 15% of all available spots. Current standards in Cal Green require 10% of the parking spots have an empty conduit (plastic or metal pipe) connecting the parking lot with the electrical panel. Also, the electrical panel must have enough unused capacity (plug slots) to allow for the later installation of EV-charging stations (e.g.: “EV-Ready”).
And, for the first time, the ARB will be asking these agencies to mandate the installation of at least one fully-functioning, Level 2 EV-charging station in new multifamily and commercial buildings. This marks a significant departure from the EV-Ready policy for the past six years and raises the question: Who will pay for this? After all, the state would be mandating the installation of something that (1) may not see significant use for years and, more importantly, (2) provides a revenue stream for the local utility (not the building owner).
As of press time, ARB is not seeking any changes to the EV-ready requirements for single-family homes, as all new homes (100%) have been required to be EV-Ready since July of 2015.
ENERGY COMMISSION WORKSHOP ON PROPOSED COMMERCIAL SOLAR MANDATE
California Energy Commission (CEC) staff will conduct a workshop to present and discuss proposed changes related to solar photovoltaic requirements and electrification for the 2022 update of the California Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Energy Code).
This webinar will include staff presentations on proposed updates to Part 6 of the 2022 Energy Code and Part 11 of the California Green Building Code to encourage greater use of electric heat pump technologies for low-rise residential buildings, high-rise residential buildings and selected nonresidential building categories.
The webinar also will include staff presentations on proposed updates to require photovoltaic systems and batteries in high-rise residential and selected nonresidential building categories and proposed updates pertaining to photovoltaic systems and batteries to address identified implementation issues.
The workshop will be on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, starting at 9:00 a.m. Click here for the agenda and instructions on how to participate.
BILLS AWAITING GOVERNOR’S ACTION
Signature Requests
SB 288 (Wiener - D) California Environmental Quality Act: exemptions: transportation-related projects.
Summary: Enables sustainable transportation projects as an essential part of California’s economic recovery from COVID-19 by providing targeted CEQA exemptions for certain transportation/housing projects saving anywhere from 6 months to 4 years in permitting.
Position: SUPPORT
Status: On Governor’s Desk.
AB 1561 (Garcia, Cristina - D) Planning and zoning: housing element and entitlement extensions.
Summary: Enables a uniform statewide permit and entitlement extension, which is necessary to avoid expiration of permits and the significant statewide cost and allocation of local government staff resource to unnecessarily go through the process again.
Position: SUPPORT
Status: On Governor’s Desk.
Veto Requests
AB 841 (Ting – D) Energy: transportation electrification: energy efficiency programs.
Summary: Drives up the costs of Electric Vehicle Charging infrastructure by creating a monopoly for one of the bill sponsors – a private Michigan based group (EVITP) – to control every aspect of the installation of EV chargers in California. Additionally, the bill redirect energy efficiency program funding away from commercial properties.
Position: OPPOSE
Status: On Governor’s Desk
AB 1066 (Gonzalez - D) Unemployment compensation: benefits payable: collection.
Summary: Potentially eliminates the opportunity for an employer to present evidence of independent contractor status by imposing an arbitrary 10-day statutory deadline for a business to produce records or face a "conclusive presumption" that the individual is entitled to benefits. Even businesses actin in “good-faith” face penalties and loss of appeals.
Position: OPPOSE
Status: On Governor’s Desk.
AB 3216 (Kalra - D) Unemployment: rehiring and retention: state of emergency.
Summary: Requires an employer to offer its laid-off employees specified information about job positions that become available for which the laid-off employees are qualified, and to offer positions to those employees based on a preference system.
Position: OPPOSE
Status: On Governor’s Desk.
SB 1159 (Hill - D) Workers’ compensation: COVID-19: critical workers.
Summary: Increases employer expenses as many employees who are not infected at work to be covered by workers' compensation benefits paid by employers.
Position: OPPOSE
Status: On Governor’s Desk
CBPA 2020 CALENDAR
NOTE DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC EVENTS ARE BEING ADJUSTED TO TELECONFERENCE OR PENDING SHELTER-IN-PLACE ORDERS BEING LIFTED
Thursday, November 5: CBPA Board Meeting – via Zoom
For more information on any of our events, please contact Melissa Stevens at 916-443-4676 or mstevens@cbpa.com.
