On September 30, the Governor’s deadline to sign or veto measures passed by the Legislature (note, the Legislature had until August 31 to send bills to the Governor.
Below, find a short list of priority bills that the California Business Property Association, of which NAIOP Silicon Valley is a member of, worked on to advance or protect the office, industrial, and retail real estate industry. Many others did not make it through the Legislative process but rest assured – they will be back.
Supported Legislation
SB 301 (Skinner) California’s version of the federal INFORM Consumers Act addressing organized retail crime and online sales of stolen products. SIGNED.
SB 846 (Dodd) Extends operations of Diablo Canyon Powerplant. SIGNED.
AB 1695 (Santiago) Incentivizes more use of adaptive reuse of residential and non-residential properties. SIGNED.
AB 1951 (Grayson) Sales Tax Exemption for Manufacturing Equipment Purchases. VETOED.
AB 2164 (Lee) Extends the Certified Access Specialist (CASp) license fee which benefits property owners, small businesses, and customers increasing accessibility and protecting from frivolous lawsuits. SIGNED.
AB 2316 (Ward) Solar incentives for residential and commercial which prioritizes access to assistance for renters and those who cannot install on-site solar and storage while compensating customers for the value of producing clean electricity when the grid is most strained. SIGNED.
AB 2432 (Muratsuchi) L.A. County Electric Vehicle Operations and Signage. SIGNED.
AB 2836 (Garcia) Incentivizes cost-effective criteria pollutant emission reductions in trucks and provides creditable emission reductions towards air quality attainment goals that otherwise would be obtained via onerous regulation. SIGNED.
Opposed Legislation/Veto Requests
SB 679 (Kamlager) Establishes the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency and establishes new taxes and fees on residential and commercial projects. SIGNED.
SB 1020 (Laird) Accelerates renewable and zero-carbon mandates and requires 100% of all retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers by 2045. SIGNED.
SB 1137 (Gonzalez) Mandates a setback of 3,200 feet between any new oil wells and certain “sensitive receptors.” SIGNED.
AB 257 (Holden) Puts significant fiscal and legal requirements on small business owners/franchisees of counter-service restaurants by creating a labor council to set wage and other workplace requirements. SIGNED.
AB 1279 (Muratsuchi) Increases the cost of energy by mandating our state to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. SIGNED.
AB 2106 (Rivas) Subjects a wide range of commercial, industrial, and retail properties to costly compliance measures and potential lawsuits. VETOED.
AB 2438 (Friedman) Ensures long-term congestion and increased engine idling on already congested freeways and surface roads by requiring funding to incorporate road diets and lane reductions to reduce GHG impacts. VETOED.
Neutral/Fixed Legislation
SB 6 (Caballero) Attempts to provide incentives for dense market rate mixed-use development projects in areas zoned commercial in exchange for adopting certain union pay and training requirements. SIGNED.
AB 1632 (Weber) Initially required onerous access to private employee restrooms in all public buildings to people with certain medical conditions. Amendments addressed our concerns. SIGNED.
AB 1738 (Boerner Horvath) Initially mandated fully functioning EV charging stations in all existing commercial parking lots. Amendments brought requirements in line with recent building code adoption addressed concerns. SIGNED.
AB 2011 (Wicks) Attempts to provide incentives for dense market rate and affordable mixed-use development projects in areas zoned commercial in exchange for adopting certain union pay and training requirements. SIGNED.
AB 2206 (Lee) Initially required all non-residential leases to break out individual parking stall costs. Amendments removed the mandate on property owners/managers and provided alternate ways of compliance for employers. SIGNED.
AB 2260 (Rodriguez) Requires trauma kits be installed anywhere an AED is currently required. Amendments addressed our concerns with training requirements and liability. SIGNED.
Failed Legislative Passage
SB 15 (Portantino) Provides incentives for dense market rate mixed-use development projects in areas zoned commercial in exchange for adopting certain union pay and training requirements. NEUTRAL.
SB 260 (Wiener) Creates a tracking, reporting, and mandatory goal setting scheme for climate emissions in California that would negatively impact the economy and drive out jobs and tenants. OPPOSE.
SB 1105 (Hueso) Establishes the San Diego Regional Equitable and Environmentally Friendly Housing Agency and creates new taxes and fees without engagement with local stakeholders. OPPOSE.
SB 1393 (Archuleta) Requires local governments to consider cost and technological feasibility before requiring residential and commercial property owners to switch out their gas equipment with electric. SUPPORT.
AB 1778 (Garcia) Deprives communities of desperately needed state highway dollars to alleviate the congestion and freight corridor issues that contribute to the poor air quality experienced in these communities. OPPOSE.
AB 1858 (Quirk-Silva) Extends existing inspections and code enforcement to any buildings used for human habitation, regardless of zoning, and creates tenant protections when buildings are deemed unsafe. OPPOSE.
AB 1897 (Boerner Horvath) Establishes the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which covers certain single-use packaging and plastic single-use food service ware. NEUTRAL.
AB 1953 (Maienschein) Requires installation of Water Bottle Refill stations in most buildings. OPPOSE.
AB 2133 (Quirk) Adopts an aggressive 2030 GHG emissions reduction target to 55% below 1990 level. OPPOSE.
AB 2143 (Carrillo) Declares construction of all renewable electrical generation and battery storage of more than 15kWs installed on a non-single-family homes a public works project requiring Prevailing Wage. OPPOSE.
AB 2237 (Freidman) Makes road construction more difficult/expensive by requiring state and local transportation funding be consistent with a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and all state climate goals. OPPOSE.
AB 2829 (Low) Provides Grants to tenants for Certified Access Specialist (CASp) inspection. SUPPORT
AB 2840 (Reyes) Bans the building of any industrial facility 100,000 square feet or more within 1,000 ft of a “sensitive receptor,” which has a broad definition including almost any non-industrial/commercial use. OPPOSE.
Bill Ideas for 2023 – There Oughta be a Law!
The California Business Property Association (CBPA) has announced their annual call for bill ideas! Before the Legislature reconvenes in January, we need your ideas on proactive changes to the law that our industry should consider pursuing. Are there issues in statute that could be made better, more efficacious? Something not addressed in statute that should be fixed? Please reach out to Mathew ([email protected]) or Rex W. ([email protected]) with your valuable input as soon as possible.
Vote NO on Proposition 30 – Reject the Proposed Tax
While the California Business Properties Association has taken a stance opposing Proposition 30 (Prop 30), our partners at the California Chamber of Commerce is also urging all Californians to vote no on the ballot initiative. Jennifer Barrera of the CalChamber wants to be clear about their opposition, stating “a “No” vote on Proposition 30 is a vote against new taxes, not a vote against the environment.”
Proposition 30 proposes a tax hike on higher income taxpayers by 1.75 percentage points, which would raise the top income tax rate to a whopping 15.05%—far higher than any other state income tax in the nation.
Primarily sponsored by one company and environmental advocates, Prop. 30 is estimated to raise taxes by $60 billion to $80 billion over the course of 20 years for projects and programs that are already top spending priorities for the Governor and Legislature, including subsidizing electric vehicle (EV) purchases, installation of EV charging stations, and increased funding for wildfire suppression and prevention
Proposition 30 has drawn widespread and diverse opposition, including Governor Newsom, business organizations, labor unions, civil rights leaders and almost every newspaper editorial board.
Want to learn more about NAIOP Silicon Valley’s Public Policy Platform? Please contact Edesa Bitbadal.