Capitol Corner Update

As the fall recess comes to an end, CALBO is preparing for the next legislative session. The second year of the 2019-2020 session will begin on Monday, January 6, 2020 and legislators will hit the ground running. The beginning of the year is always a busy time as legislators rush to move any bills that carried over from 2019. Bills that were held in committee, or marked as a 2-year bills, will have a few weeks to be amended and move to the next committee so that they may continue through the legislative cycle. In addition to amending and moving 2-year bills, legislators will also be introducing new language. The bill introduction deadline is February 21, 2020, which make the first weeks of 2020 a hectic time for capitol staff and third house stakeholders such as CALBO. Any 2-year bills that do not progress by January 31, 2020 will die and not be eligible for the governor’s signature. 

Looking ahead to 2020, CALBO will continue to advocate on public safety measures, which align with our six-point policy. This past year over 2,700 bills were introduced, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law hundreds of these bills. In 2019, CALBO tracked close to 30 pieces of legislation that would effect local building departments and public safety. Many of these bills dealt with high priority issues such as fire prevention, accessory dwelling units, and seismic resiliency. CALBO was pleased to support bills that were signed into law, and contribute necessary amendments to bills that we opposed. 

Currently, CALBO is tracking several 2-year bills which we hope move next year. Most importantly, CALBO will continue working with Assemblymember Nazarian on seismic resiliency throughout the state. Both of the Member’s seismic bills were made 2-year bills earlier this year, and did not proceed to the governor’s desk. This is most likely due to the fact that the department of finance opposed both AB 393 and AB 429 due to their large price tags. CALBO will work with the Assemblymember’s staff to see what amendments can be made to both move the bill and maintain CALBO’s support.

The first year of this legislative session concluded on Friday, September 13. This was the last day that either the State Senate or the Assembly could act on legislation. After returning from summer recess in August, the last month of session was a chaotic race to get any legislation through remaining policy and fiscal committees. This is always a busy time for last minute amendments and negotiations, not only to get current bills passed by both houses, but to also arrive on the governor’s desk before the deadline. This is Governor Newsom’s first legislative session since he was elected into office last November. He will now have a month to either sign or veto all bills that arrive at his desk. This period, in which he chooses which bills to sign into law or veto, will set a tone for the rest of his term. Since he is a new governor, his policies, priorities, and preferences will become apparent by which bills he chooses to sign into law.

This legislative session focused on many of CALBO’s legislative priorities such as: seismic resiliency, accessory dwelling units, and disaster recovery. CALBO closely monitored these issue areas, since many of the bills that were introduced would have directly affected building department’s administrative procedures and daily code implementation. In order to communicate our interests, CALBO took a strong position on several bills. CALBO leadership and staff actively engaged state legislators, partner local government organizations, and our own CALBO membership in order to communicate our positions on priority issues.  

After opposing Assembly Nazarian’s seismic inventory bill last year, CALBO collaborated with his office to introduce a bill we could fully support. CALBO supported AB 429 (Nazarian), a measure that would have required the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission (SSC) to identify funding and develop a bidding process for hiring a third-party contractor to create an inventory of potentially vulnerable buildings in California. CALBO worked closely with the author’s office to develop a local government approach that would not identify local funds as a possible funding source for the program. Other important amendments were included such as; 1) applying the inventory only to the 29 most seismically vulnerable counties, and 2) applying it to buildings approved by the city or county prior to the adoption of the 1976 edition of the Uniform Building Code. 

On Wednesday, April 17, dozens of CALBO members convened at the State Capitol to lobby and educate members of the state legislature on behalf of our organization. CALBO members met Legislator’s staff not only to discuss CALBO’s top legislative priorities, but also highlight who we are and what we do. In their meetings, members discussed the following measures that are currently moving through the capitol. 

The voices of local California Building Departments were heard today as Governor Brown vetoed AB 2681 (Nazarian). In his veto message released this afternoon, Governor Brown conveyed strong concern for seismic safety, but not at the expense of local government.  The governor believes a more collaborative approach between the California Seismic Safety Commission, local government, and building owners can yield a well-rounded seismic resiliency measure.