Exciting news from Sacramento! Today three HAC-sponsored bills successfully passed out of the California State Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee and are moving on to their next respective committees.
The first measure, Assembly Bill 1485 (Haney), would give the Attorney General’s office the unconditional right to intervene in any lawsuit filed over a potential violation of state housing law. With California needing to build 2.5 million homes by 2031, equipping the AG with every tool necessary to enforce state housing laws will help ensure that all cities across our state will be held accountable for building their fair share of housing. Read more about AB 1485 here!
Our other two bills that passed out of committee today are Assembly Bill 1114 (Haney) and Assembly Bill 281 (Grayson).
AB 1114 will prevent unnecessary and costly delays in San Francisco housing construction by closing an only-in-SF loophole that currently allows any individual or group to delay a housing project by appealing its already-issued building permits. SF is the only city in California that allows this absurd stalling tactic, and we are putting a stop to it this year! Read more here.
AB 281 extends the permit review timelines created by HAC-sponsored Assembly Bill 2234 (2022) to California’s more than 3,300 “Special Districts” (e.g. water districts, sewer districts), giving them 30 or 60 days (depending on project size) to comment on permit applications for new housing developments.
In addition to these pieces of legislation, HAC has three more co-sponsored bills this session: Senate Bill 83 (Wiener), which establishes utility connection timelines, Assembly Bill 990 (Grayson), which creates new Bay Area Water Board regulations and Assembly Bill 1630 (Garcia) which accelerates student housing production.
All three will have hearings in the coming weeks, and we look forward to sharing updates as those proceed. Onward!
