CAI-CLAC Legislative Update: July 2021

BY: MR. LOUIE BROWN, JR. CAI-CLAC’S LEGISLATIVE ADVOCATE

Happy New Fiscal Year! July 1 is the start of the State’s fiscal year and the Governor has signed the largest State budget in history. The Legislature is working to wrap up policy committees before leaving on Summer Recess which begins July 16.

Our CAI-CLAC legislative priorities continue to move. Here’s an update on where we stand:

AB 502 (Davies)

would provide for election by acclamation for all associations. The bill passed the Senate Housing Committee on a 7-1 vote. It will be heard in early July in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Negotiations with committee staff continue in earnest to find a pathway for this bill to continue to move. Our past efforts to move election by acclamation have always stalled in this committee, so these negotiations are critical. Keep your fingers crossed!

AB 1101 (Irwin)

is our CAI-CLAC sponsored bill to provide greater clarity to the financial protections placed in law three years ago. It has passed the Senate Housing and Judiciary Committee on unanimous votes and will be headed to the Senate Floor for a vote very soon.

AB 1584 (Housing Committee)

is the omnibus housing bill which includes language drafted by CAI-CLAC to allow associations to amend their documents without a membership vote in order to comply with the rental provisions in AB 3182 from last year. This bill also extends the time to make those changes to July 1, 2022. The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Housing Committee this month.

SB 9 (Atkins)

is the lot splitting bill. We continue to work with a coalition in an effort to get a statement in writing from the author making it clear her intent is not to impact Common Interest Developments (CIDs). She has made this statement multiple times when presenting the bill. The bill has received bipartisan support and has passed the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committees.

SB 10 (Wiener)

is the bill that would allow lots to be rezoned for multifamily buildings of 4 – 10 units. The bill included language prohibiting governing documents from restricting the building provided for in the bill, but that language was deleted in the Assembly. This is HUGE victory for our communities.

SB 391 (Min)

is the bill to provide for videoconferencing of Association meetings. CAI-CLAC has been principally involved with this bill since introduction and it has moved through the policy committees with little issue. Unfortunately, the Governor’s office has expressed concern about the breadth of the bill and it will now be amended to limit its application to only those emergencies that make meeting in person impossible. The bill will create the proverbial ‘foot in the door’ and provide us the opportunity to expand on it in future legislative sessions.

SB 432 (Wieckowski)

has been amended to address a number of the vagaries in the election bill from a couple years ago, including how a recall election can proceed under the timelines set forth in SB 323. The bill has passed the Assembly Housing and Judiciary Committees and is now on the Assembly Floor.

Thank you to everyone who has engaged on our priority issues this year. Without your support and engagement, we would not have achieved the success we have seen so far.

Louie A. Brown, Jr. is CAICLAC’s legislative advocate in Sacramento and specializes in maneuvering through California’s complex legislative and administrative process. Louie’s expertise is a true asset to CAI-CLAC, which resulted in several 2018 Legislative Accomplishments and continues to inform our legislative priorities.