CBPA's California Legislative Update 9/4/2020
- AND THEY ARE GONE!
- EVICTION MORATORIUM BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
- BILLS AWAITING GOVERNOR’S ACTION
- GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES NEW REOPENING GUIDELINES
- CBPA 2020 CALENDAR
AND THEY ARE GONE!
After one of the craziest legislative sessions in history, the clock struck midnight on Monday evening and the session came to a close. The final few days were even more hectic than usual due to COVID-19 restrictions, attempts at online floor sessions, limits on debate, forcing a new mother to sit in a legislative chamber, and slips of vulgarities from frustrated Senators sidelined at home.
The end result is that while many bills fell by the wayside in the last day of session, many other major policy items were sent to the Governor. Below you will find a summary of some of the major bills we worked on this year on behalf of the commercial, industrial, and retail real estate industry.
EVICTION MORATORIUM BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
As we reported last week, the eviction moratorium language came together and was considered by the legislature over the weekend.
The new bill, AB 3088, passed through committees in record speed and passed the legislature on Monday afternoon -- and was signed into law by Governor Newsom shortly thereafter.
As a reminder, this bill includes residential only -- Commercial is NOT included in this deal/bill.
Here is what the Governor says about the measure:
Our friends at the California Apartment Association have provided an “Explainer” that lists all the major points of the compromise. We thank CAA for their work on this. Click here to see the summary of the deal.
We want to reiterate that commercial properties are not included in this measure. And that is due to the massive education effort we all put forth to defeat SB 939 earlier this year. We argued that the business-to-business nature of commercial transactions does no merit a heavy handed one-size-fits-all statewide ordinance and such a policy would actually prolong the economic recovery.
Thank you to everyone that assisted in this effort – especially those of you that answered the call to help with SB 939 as that was an essential component in this outcome.
Click here to read AB 3088.
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
SB 1383 (Jackson - D) Unlawful employment practice: family leave.
Summary: Makes it an unlawful employment practice for any employer to refuse to grant a request by an employee to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid protected leave during any 12-month period.
Position: OPPOSE
Status: On Governor’s Desk.
GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES NEW REOPENING GUIDELINES
As we reported last week, we want to make sure you know the Governor of California announced a new blueprint for reducing COVID-19 in the state with revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on activities. Find out how businesses and activities can open in your county starting this Sunday, August 31st at this website, or click here.
The new “blueprint for reducing COVID-19 in the state” has revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on activities. However, individual counties can be stricter.
The new plan includes sector-based tiers for reopening, including shopping malls, offices, and restaurants. Here is the matrix with the sector specific criteria.
CBPA and the CA Retailers have worked closely with the Governor’s office over the past few weeks to help advise on the safety protocol commercial properties are undertaking to assure safety of our tenants, and guests, with a specific focus on retail centers and shopping malls. The hope is that this new plan will make more sense, allow more spaces to be opened safely, and provide clear and transparent guidelines on how properties/companies can reopen their doors and get back to normal. Click here to read more.
The initial state reopening saw a huge increase in cases. We hope the lesson’s learned from that experience applied by the governor and industries across the state will allow economic activity to re-start while mitigating the spread of COVID-19 within the state.
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.
