Calif. Just Got 90 New Laws In 4 Days: Here They Are

It certainly has been a busy week for California's governor, who has signed nearly 100 bills into law in the last four days alone. On Friday, he capped off his most recent efforts with the high-profile signing of 15 new laws that are part of a legislative package aimed at increasing the state's housing supply and affordability.

"These new laws will help cut red tape and encourage more and affordable housing, including shelter for the growing number of homeless in California," Gov. Jerry Brown said while signing the package at Hunters View, an affordable housing project located in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.

"This package has everything from A to Z – affordability to zoning," said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. "It’s not a magic wand, but it is going to put a lot of drafting tools, backhoes, hammers, and door keys to work. I’m proud of how the Assembly helped shape this package and of the real results it will deliver for Californians."

Among the bills that were signed Friday, along with a brief synopsis from the governor's office, are:

• SB 2 (Atkins), the Building Homes and Jobs Act, establishes a permanent funding source for affordable housing through a $75 fee on real estate transaction documents. The fee is capped at $225 per transaction and exempts real estate sales. The fees would generate roughly $250 million a year, which would be split among state and local housing programs.
• SB 3 (Beall) authorizes $4 billion in general obligation bonds for affordable housing programs and a veteran’s home ownership program. SB 3 must be approved by voters next November.
• SB 35 (Wiener) streamlines the approval process for infill developments in local communities that have failed to meet their regional housing needs.
• SB 166 (Skinner) ensures that cities maintain an ongoing supply of housing construction sites for residents of various income levels.
• SB 167 (Skinner) increases the standard of proof required for a local government to justify a denial of low- and moderate-income housing development projects. (SB 167 is identical to AB 678.)
• SB 540 (Roth) streamlines the environmental review process for certain local affordable housing projects.
• AB 72 (Santiago/Chiu) strengthens the state's ability to enforce laws that require local governments to achieve housing goals.
• AB 73 (Chiu) gives local governments incentives to create housing on infill sites near public transportation.
• AB 571 (E. Garcia) makes it easier to develop farmworker housing by easing qualifications for the Farmworker Housing Tax Credit.
• AB 678 (Bocanegra) increases the standard of proof required for a local government to justify its denial of low- to moderate-income housing development projects. (AB 678 is identical to SB 167.)
• AB 879 (Grayson) authorizes a study of local fees charged to new residential developments that will also include a proposal to substantially reduce such fees.
• AB 1397 (Low) makes changes to the definition of land suitable for residential development to increase the number of sites where new multifamily housing can be built.
• AB 1505 (Bloom/Bradford/Chiu/Gloria) authorizes cities and counties to adopt an inclusionary ordinance for residential rental units in order to create affordable housing.
• AB 1515 (Daly) allows housing projects to be afforded the protections of the Housing Accountability Act if the project is consistent with local planning rules despite local opposition.
• AB 1521 (Bloom/Chiu) gives experienced housing organizations a first right of refusal to purchase affordable housing developments in order to keep the units affordable.

Since the legislative deadline of Sept. 15, Brown has been sifting through hundreds of proposed laws from lawmakers across the state. All of them need to be reviewed by Oct. 15, or they become law by default. Over the weekend, these 14 laws were signed — one of which included the naming of an official state dinosaur.

In the last week, only two bills have been vetoed by Brown. Those included AB 532 by Assemblymember Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, which had to do how courts provide with drug and alcohol treatment programs. The only other bill vetoed in the last week was SB 596 by Senator Henry Stern, D-Agoura Hills, which was designed to create a "student empowerment commission" — but Brown called it "unnecessary" due to a similar program that's already in place.

As for the dozens of other bills signed since Tuesday alone, you can find more about them below.

On Thursday, Brown signed these 26 following laws:

• AB 184 by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) – Sea level rise planning: database.
• AB 333 by Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) – State Highway Route 185: relinquishment: County of Alameda.
• AB 415 by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) – CalFresh: employment social enterprises.
• AB 466 by Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) – Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group.
• AB 539 by Assemblymember Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) – Search warrants.
• AB 563 by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) – CalFresh Employment and Training program.
• AB 579 by Assemblymember Heath Flora (R-Ripon) – Apprenticeship: fire protection: firefighter preapprenticeship program.
• AB 658 by Assemblymember Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) – Clinical laboratories.
• AB 659 by Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) – Medi-Cal: reimbursement rates.
• AB 720 by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) – Inmates: psychiatric medication: informed consent.
• AB 790 by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) – Identification cards: replacement: reduced fee.
• AB 794 by Assemblymember James M. Gallagher (R-Yuba City) – County officers: recorder: record correction.
• AB 908 by Assemblymember Matthew M. Dababneh (D-Encino) – Hospitals: seismic safety.
• AB 1172 by Assemblymember Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) – State highways: relinquishment.
• AB 1625 by Assemblymember Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) – Inoperable parking meters.
• AB 1725 by the Committee on Local Government – Local agency formation.
• AB 1729 by the Committee on Elections and Redistricting – Examination of petitions.
• SB 112 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review – State government.
• SB 282 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) – CalFresh and CalWORKs.
• SB 313 by Senator Robert M. Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) – Advertising: automatic renewal and continuous service offers
• SB 372 by Senator Anthony J. Cannella (R-Ceres) – San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Groundwater Sustainability Agency.
• SB 403 by Senator Anthony J. Cannella (R-Ceres) – Sale of county courthouses.
• SB 492 by Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) – Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District: purchase of property: San Jose Water Company.
• SB 534 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – California Victim Compensation Board: claims.
• SB 569 by Senator William W. Monning (D-Carmel) – Insurance: disasters: identification of insurer.
• SB 598 by Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) – Public utilities: gas and electric service disconnections.

And on Wednesday, these 28 were signed:

• AB 25 by Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-Sherman Oaks) – Tour buses: modified tour buses.
• AB 218 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) – Local agencies: airports: customer facility charges.
• AB 326 by Assemblymember Rudy Salas Jr. (D-Bakersfield) – State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology: physical and sexual abuse awareness training.
• AB 465 by Assemblymember Philip Y. Ting (D-San Francisco) – Urban agricultural incentive zones.
• AB 515 by Assemblymember Jim L. Frazier Jr. (D-Discovery Bay) – State Highway System Management Plan.
• AB 661 by Assemblymember Chad J. Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) – Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve: Mirage Trail.
• AB 712 by Assemblymember Richard H. Bloom (D-Santa Monica) – Civil actions: change of venue.
• AB 804 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) – Controller: internal control guidelines.
• AB 910 by Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) – CalWORKs: welfare-to-work activities: hours.
• AB 976 by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) – Electronic filing and service.
• AB 993 by Assemblymember Catharine Baker (R-Dublin) – Examination of victims of sex crimes.
• AB 994 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) – Health care districts: design-build.
• AB 1034 by Assemblymember Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) – Government interruption of communications.
• AB 1119 by Assemblymember Monique Limόn (D-Santa Barbara) – Developmental and mental health services: information and records: confidentiality.
• AB 1149 by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) – Workforce investment boards: funding.
• AB 1286 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) – Airports: alternative customer facility charges.
• AB 1396 by Assemblymember Autumn R. Burke (D-Inglewood) – Surrogacy.
• AB 1438 by the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials – State Water Resources Control Board: environmental laboratories: public water systems: certificates and permits: procedures.
• AB 1518 by Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego) – Criminal justice information.
• AB 1636 by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) – California Finance Lenders Law: California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law.
• AB 1692 by the Committee on Judiciary – Judiciary omnibus.
• SB 40 by Senator Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside) – Domestic violence.
• SB 367 by Senator Patricia C. Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) – Tidelands and submerged lands: County of Orange.
• SB 420 by Senator William W. Monning (D-Carmel) – State summary criminal history information: sentencing information.
• SB 448 by Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) – Local government: organization: districts.
• SB 568 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Primary elections: election date.
• SB 653 by Senator John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) – County tax collectors: notices: publication.
• SB 658 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) – Jury selection.

On Tuesday, these 21 bills were signed into law:

• AB 56 by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) – California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank: housing.
• AB 411 by Assemblymember Richard H. Bloom (D-Santa Monica) – Witness testimony: therapy and facility dogs.
• AB 459 by Assemblymember Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) – Public records: video or audio recordings: crime.
• AB 491 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) – California Civil Liberties Public Education Act.
• AB 492 by Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Concord) – Advertising and solicitations: government documents.
• AB 552 by Assemblymember Jacqui V. Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) – United Water Conservation District.
• AB 609 by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) – Alcoholic beverages: licensee promotion events: sunset.
• AB 618 by Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) – Local Agency Public Construction Act: job order contracting: school districts: community college districts.
• AB 1222 by Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) – Vehicles: electronic wireless communications devices.
• AB 1325 by the Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security – State teachers’ retirement.
• AB 1418 by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) – City prosecutors.
• AB 1422 by Assemblymember Tom F. Daly (D-Anaheim) – Workers’ compensation insurance: fraud. A signing message can be found here.
• AB 1439 by the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials – Hazardous materials: reporting.
• AB 1541 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Examination of prospective jurors.
• AB 1604 by Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-Sherman Oaks) – CalWORKs: welfare-to-work: education.
• AB 1709 by the Committee on Veterans Affairs – Armories: sales: local agencies.
• SB 144 by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) – Fish and wildlife: steelhead trout: fishing report-restoration card.
• SB 214 by Senator Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) – San Diego River Conservancy.
• SB 438 by Senator Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside) – Juveniles: legal guardianship: successor guardian.
• SB 486 by Senator William W. Monning (D-Carmel) – Contractors’ State License Law: letter of admonishment
• SB 580 by Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) – Water development projects: Sacramento-San Joaquin watersheds

For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

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Photo: Gov. Brown in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2017. Credit: Joe McHugh, California Highway Patrol.