So far, several lawmakers have indicated that they will either pursue efforts to alter Proposition 13, making it easier to pass local taxes for schools, and/or create a split roll or have stated they would support such efforts.   Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has already introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow local parcel taxes for schools to pass with 55% of the vote, instead of the two-thirds currently required.  See the bill here: SCA 3 (Leno) Taxation: educational ...

One bill causing quite a stir right out of the gate is Assemblymember Tom Ammiano’s (D-San Francisco) AB 5 – the “Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act.”   This sweeping law proposes to amend multiple areas of the civil and government codes to create a new protected class of individuals and confer them a wide variety of “rights,” including the right to access and occupy virtually any public space in the state, including sidewalks, parks, bus stops and plazas in our ...

In 2012, Governor Brown signed 876 bills into law, most of them taking effect on January 1.  The process starts all over again with the bill introduction period running until the deadline on February 22.   We expect more than 3,000 new bills to be introduced.  Your Sacramento representatives must read each one of these proposed laws and determine if they impact the commercial, industrial, retail real estate industry. If they do, we then classify each bill and ask experts in our membership ...

The California Legislature has returned to a flurry of activity after swearing in 38 new members of the Legislature – almost a one-third turnover in its total membership – and Supermajorities for Democrats in both the State Senate and Assembly.   Almost immediately upon returning for their opening Session on Wednesday, scores of new bills were introduced on a wide variety of issues ranging from Parcel Taxes, to Homelessness, to Economic Development.  Read More →

“Fiscal discipline is not the enemy of democratic governance, but rather its fundamental predicate.” Governor Jerry Brown, January 10, 2013   “The deficit is gone,” is the major headline coming out of Governor Jerry Brown’s release of his 2013-14 spending plan.  But that surprising declaration is backed by some major hedging – it only comes to fruition if all goes well with expected revenue from the federal government, that new taxes recently passed by voters come in at planned ...

The Division of the State Architect (DSA) has released to the public draft building standards for disabled accessibility in commercial and government buildings.  As reported earlier, DSA has decided to rewrite California’s Disabled Accessibility Standards, using the federal Department of Justice regulations as the basis for our state regulations.   DSA’s rewrite includes amendments to DOJ’s regulations where California’s current standards are more stringent.  Over the past 8 months, ...

Before the sweeping change brought about by this week’s election, the Governor and California Legislative Leaders indicated they were planning on tackling reform to the the state’s environmental laws with an eye toward speeding up proposed development projects.  The Governor has stated that he expects lawmakers to vote next year on changes to the California Environmental Quality Act, the 1970 law that requires the state and local governments to weigh environmental consequences when considering ...

  Funding for residential solar incentives cleared an important hurdle Wednesday when the California Energy Commission approved a 3-year investment plan that includes another $50 million in funding for the New Solar Home Partnership program (NSHP).   As required by a 2012 budget trailer bill (SB 1018), the CEC is required to develop an investment plan for the funds collected via the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC).  Read More →

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Two days after the election, Governor Brown held a press conference to discuss the results. When asked by reporters, he initially said no tax increases without a vote of the people, but would not commit to a veto of any tax increases sent to him by the Legislature.  The Governor also said tax reform should be considered.   Governor Brown said the following are his five priorities for next session:   1. Calibrate our regulations to balance competing interests 2. Water 3. High-speed rail 4. ...