MO 2015-049 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

2015 State Legislative Summary Page 2 of 7 Assembly Bill 35 (Chiu) Income Taxes: Credits: Low Income Housing. This bill, which was supported by Mayor Cutter, would have provided $100 million in low income housing funding in the form of tax credits over the next five years. This was one of the main bills in a larger affordable housing package that was pushed by Speaker Atkins, Asm. Chiu, and the Assembly leadership. TPA was an active supporter of this bill on the city’s behalf and is working as part of a large coalition to support this bill. Unfortunately Governor Brown vetoed this and all other tax credit legislation, stating that a carefully balanced budget could require him to cut these new programs if the state’s finances changed in the upcoming years. Assembly Bill 90 (Chau) Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This bill, which was supported by Mayor Cutter, designates the Department of Housing and Community Development as the agency responsible for administering federal Housing Trust Funds and designates how the agency must allocate affordable housing monies. TPA lobbied on behalf of the City in conjunction with other stakeholders to support this bill. Governor Brown signed this bill into law. Assembly Bill 744 (Chau). This bill would require a local government, upon the request of a developer who receives a density bonus, to reduce the minimum parking requirements for certain types of housing developments. Specifically, if a housing development is 100% affordable, the ratio shall not exceed 0.5 spaces per unit if the development is located within a half-mile of a major transit stop. AB 744 enjoyed support from numerous regional planning organizations and affordable housing advocates that see parking as a significant barrier to the construction of many types of housing developments, especially in the East Bay. Governor Brown signed this bill into law. Assembly Bill 1335 (Atkins) Building Homes and Jobs Act was Speaker Atkin’s bill to push for affordable housing funding. It proposed a $75 fee on paper transactions for commercial real estate that would create $400 million annually. Due to this proposal being a new revenue source, it needed a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and Assembly. The bill is currently on hold and could be brought back next session. Medical Cannabis Statewide Regulations A comprehensive, thorough approach to statewide medicinal cannabis guidelines has been a priority for the San Leandro over the last few years. The medical marijuana regulatory framework includes three bills, Senate Bill 643 (McGuire), Assembly Bill 266 (Bonta) and Assembly Bill 243 (Wood). TPA served as an instrumental member of a statewide coalition that supported the views of both local government and the industry and provided the City with prompt, ongoing updates, helped explain the various proposals and its impact on the City, and kept the City abreast of the ever changing proposals. In addition, TPA actively drafted language and lobbied legislators and staff to ensure statewide regulations would be in the best interest of the City and its approved operator. Prior versions of this legislation contained key dates related to provisional licensing that could have negatively impacted the implementation of San Leandro’s dispensary ordinance, which were ultimately struck from the final version of the legislation that was signed into law by the Governor. The approved framework provides protections for cities and existing, approved operators, various local control protections, explicit taxation authority, mechanism for funding environmental clean-up, employer protections for workplace use of medical marijuana, and a strict licensure scheme involving a requirement for both a state and local license, with a local license being required first. The purpose of each of the three bills is summarized below: SB 643 (McGuire) Medical Marijuana