Capitol Corner Update

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Capitol Corner Update
A New Legislative Session Begins

As February rolls on and CALBO members get excited about the upcoming Annual Business Meeting in sunny San Diego, CALBO’s Legislative Team has been hard at work getting prepared for this legislative session. Speaking of exciting events, CALBO is pleased to announce the return of Leadership and Advocacy Day this year which will occur on May 17th in Sacramento. This year, there are over 35 new members to the legislature and our “boots on the ground” if you will have been introducing CALBO to the new staff and elected officials through meetings and outreach. You can help assist in these efforts by registering for the free event in Sacramento later this spring. February also brings Sacramento the bill introduction deadline, which will occur on February 17th this year. Although the California Legislature has another week until all bills must be introduced, the legislature has introduced over 1,100 bills so far.  CALBO can expect this number to double or triple by the time the bill introduction deadline passes. 

Currently, CALBO is closely monitoring over 100 bills although most of the bills at this point in the legislative process are “spot bills” or bills that do not have any substantive language. Despite this fact, CALBO has around 20 bills at this time that we may take a position on pending the approval of the CALBO Legislative Committee. Below are some of the common issue areas CALBO’s Legislative Team is tracking currently.

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The Return of Leadership and Advocacy Day and Resources for New State Laws
Mini Capitol Corner Update

CALBO’s Legislative Team would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! With the beginning of 2023, the California Legislature has officially reconvened for the start of the 2023-2024 legislative session. Before the new legislative session begins, CALBO would like to announce the return of Leadership and Advocacy Day in 2023 after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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Capitol Corner Update: A New Legislature and What’s to Come in 2023

As 2022 comes to an end, CALBO’s legislative team would like to wish our CALBO family a happy holiday season with your family and friends this December.  We hope you all have a restful and enjoyable December in preparation for what is expected to be a busy 2023-2024 Legislative Session.  In the November elections, California voters had the first opportunity to select their new elected officials with the newly established legislative districts in both the California State Assembly and the California State Senate.  The elections were officially certified last week and CALBO’s legislative team officially knows the make-up of the legislative body we will be working with in Sacramento next legislative session which is set begin on January 1, 2023. Before covering the specifics of the new legislature, let’s put a “bow” if you will on the 2021-2022 Legislative Session.  

CALBO’s Legislative Team has been working hard this fall and winter in providing more resources for our membership to prepare for the incoming laws that will officially hit the books in 2023.  CALBO hosted a legislative webinar on October 27th that covered the significant pieces of legislation that will impact your departments in the next couple of years.  A big thank you to the 200+ participants who attended our first legislative webinar. If you were not able to attend and would like a copy of the free PowerPoint, please email bguertin@calbo.org and I am happy to provide that to you. In 2023, CALBO’s Legislative Team plans on hosting several free webinars at critical times of the legislative session to update our membership on bills coming from Sacramento and answer any questions or concerns you all may have on the bills.  Please check your emails for these free opportunities to participate and have your voices heard. 

Additionally, CALBO launched a new project on the CALBO Website called the “Guide to Changes in State Law”.  These articles cover specific details about bills that will become law in the very near future and provide guidance on best practices that local jurisdictions can use to provide the best service to their communities while complying with new state laws.  You can find our first and second installments of the project here: https://www.calbo.org/guide-changes-state-law . CALBO’s legislative team is planning on developing several articles about the new laws local jurisdictions will have to be aware of as the new year begins since this is when most of the bills signed last year will become state law.   

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Capitol Corner Update

As the summer winds down and people like myself are excited for the start of football season and fall weather, CALBO’s Legislative Team has been hard at work as the legislature wraps up the final year of its two-year session.  At this point in the legislative process, legislators are voting on the over 2,000 bills remaining and deciding if they should or should not be sent to Governor Newsom’s desk for a signature or veto. While the legislature is busy with floor sessions and votes, CALBO’s Legislative Team is hard at work behind the scenes getting last minute amendments into bills, while making our elected officials aware of the thoughts and concerns of our membership. 

To this point, 2022 has brought a mixed bag of results for CALBO’s advocacy efforts including some major wins and other losses as is always the case in Sacramento. This year, our membership took positions on nearly 40 bills and with less than two weeks before session wraps up, less than 10 bills remain that CALBO has an interest in as they continue to move through the process.  Below are some of the highlights of this year’s session and a preview of what is to come as CALBO looks towards next legislative session which will begin in January 2023.  

CALBO’s most significant legislative win this year was on Senate Bill 897 by Senator Wieckowski. Due to the overwhelming number of letters sent by our departments to elected officials, CALBO was finally able to get amendments into the bill in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and remove our opposition to this piece of legislation. 

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Capitol Corner Update
House of Origin Deadline 2022

Just as the weather gets hot in Sacramento during this time of year, so does the legislature as May 27th this year was the deadline for bills authored in their original house to pass to the other house. This deadline is called the “House of Origin” deadline by policy-wonks in Sacramento. Outside of the fiscal deadline, this is one of the most important deadlines in the California Legislature where bills face a key halfway point for their fates in the final year of this two-year legislative session. 

The house of origin deadline for CALBO was a good one as 11 bills we had a position on met their fate and have stopped moving through the legislative process including several high priority bills.  Additionally, several high priority bills were amended and have shifted CALBO from oppose to a neutral/watch position.  Below are summaries of a few bills CALBO has received amendments on to remove our opposition and a list of bills that CALBO’s legislative team will continue to advocate for in Sacramento. Let’s begin with the accomplishments of bills that CALBO has moved from Oppose to Neutral on since our amendments were accepted:

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Capitol Corner Update
Reviewing the end of the 2021 Session and What to Expect in 2022

The beginning of the last year for the 2021-2022 legislative session began with a fast-paced January where elected officials had their final deadlines to move bills introduced last year through the house of origin or the house where bills were first introduced. By January 31, legislative staff and elected officials had to get their bills from last year passed on the respective floor if their bills were going to continue and CALBO’s legislative team was on top of responding as bills were discussed.  Additionally, February provides the bill introduction deadline for legislation for the 2022 legislative session. CALBO’s legislative team has already met to adopt our priority bills for the upcoming year and will be having our second meeting Tuesday March 8th to discuss the last list of bills with substantive language before committee hearings begin at the end of the month. Below are some highlights of what happened in January and what to expect for this session. 

Governor Newsom had until October 10th to sign bills that were passed last year or to let them become law without his signature.  To find more info about what was signed and has become law please see my previous legislative update. In January, CALBO had one big bill fight that the legislative team worked closely on to improve the language and eliminate some of the major concerns with SB 379. This bill piggybacks off what was developed via SB 617 in 2021 which mandated automated permitting systems for residential solar energy systems but died in Senate Appropriations.  SB 379 was an improvement, but CALBO does still have concerns with the bill, however our legislative team agreed to amendments to the bill and have moved to neutral on the piece of legislation that is now sitting in the California State Assembly.  

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Capitol Corner Update
2021 Legislative Wrap Up

On October 8, Governor Newsom reached the deadline to sign legislation passed during the first year of the 2021-2022 legislative session. As mentioned in previous updates, this is the first of two-years in the current legislative session where bills that were introduced this year can carry over to next year beginning in January 2022. In total Governor Newsom signed 770 bills, which was 92% of the legislation passed by the Democratic legislature, which holds a super-majority in both the Senate and the Assembly. Of the 836 proposals introduced, CALBO managed 40+ bills this year as they moved through the legislative process. Of these bills of CALBO interest, three were chaptered by the governor and will become law on January 1,, 2022.  Below you will find a summary and explanation of the bills to be aware of for future laws impacting local building departments.

One of the major fights that CALBO was heavily involved in was AB 1124 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman. This bill changed the definition of solar energy systems to include solar carports, solar shade structures, and other structural systems into the same definition as residential solar energy systems. This bill will have serious implications for future legislation regarding these systems. CALBO supports California’s green energy goals, but they must be done in a feasible and safe manner and this bill does not do that. Unfortunately, this bill was signed by the governor and will become law in 2022. This bill further caps permit fees for solar energy systems and establishes a new “commercial permit fee” for systems that are installed on the property of multifamily housing with more than 2 family dwellings. This bill has a significant impact on public health and safety, which is why the CALBO legislative team reached out to our members to send letters to elected officials on the bill.  Unfortunately, these efforts were not rewarded but I want to personally thank all of those who participated in these efforts and returned letters to me earlier this year.  From a policy perspective, the new definition will have an impact on future legislation regarding these systems and as always, the legislative team will continue to be on top of new bills as California looks to achieve these green energy goals. Developing definitions via statute without debate among experts in the regulatory process has unintended consequences for public safety and CALBO would rather see this done through the rigorous process by those on-the-ground whose jobs are to analyze the complexity of these varying systems and establish safe, effective definitions in the building code.

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Capitol Corner Update
The Homestretch of the 2021 Legislative Session

Every year, the month of August is a hectic time for the state legislature. At this stage in the process, legislators decide on what bills will move to the final step of the Governor’s desk awaiting signature or veto. Between the return from summer recess to the end of session in early September, legislators are in a sprint to the finish for year one of this two-year legislative session. CALBO has had a productive year so far with only three bills of interest remaining.

CALBO’s priority is AB 1124 by Assemblymember Friedman. I want to thank all the members who sent letters of opposition on the bill to me which I forwarded your Senators requesting a NO vote on AB 1124. As you may recall, AB 1124 would redefine solar energy systems to include large-scale solar energy systems including solar carports and shade structures. As mentioned in the member template we sent out a couple of weeks ago to our membership, CALBO supports California’s goals to address climate change and to achieve our green energy goals if it is done safely and feasibly. Unfortunately, this bill is trying to combine two distinct systems into one definition which could lead to a host of future policy issues if it is enacted into law due to the differences in safety and plan checks required for the varying systems that are needed to promote public safety and health. Solar energy will continue to be a hot topic in California, and I urge everyone to participate in the legislative process as we continue to deal with the ever-changing needs of California energy when the opportunity arises.

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CALBO In Action: Summer Recess

Every year the California State Legislature takes a break from July to August to get some away time from the hectic months of Sacramento policy work and to avoid some of the hot Sacramento summers. This year was no different despite the pressing challenges facing our state, as this past week was the last week before the usual summer holiday. As a result, the CALBO Legislative Team wanted to update our members on what has been happening in the Capitol since my last Capitol Corner Update. 

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Capitol Corner Update
House of Origin Deadline

With the first official day of summer occurring on June 20th and California reopening on June 15th, it’s time to address one of the key deadlines that occurs in the legislative process: the house of origin deadline. This deadline occurred on June 4th this year and is a good measurement of what bills are moving through the legislative process for this session. The house of origin, or the location where a bill was introduced, has a deadline every year. This deadline requires the respective house to vote and move bills introduced in their body to the other house or the bill is considered “dead”. However, as mentioned in my previous update, this is the first of two years in the 2021-2022 legislative session, meaning bills that do not pass the house of origin can still be heard and moved next year without reintroduction (unless the bill was voted down by the legislature). 

CALBO continues to be a fierce advocate for the needs of our members in Sacramento. CALBO took positions on many bills at the beginning of this legislative session, but after the various legislative deadlines, only four bills remain for this year. I am happy to share with you another major win for the CALBO legislative team and our members that occurred in May. Due to CALBO’s advocacy efforts, our most significant bill fight, SB 617 died in the Senate Appropriations Committee and will not be moving any further for this legislative session. This was a huge victory for CALBO as this bill would have mandated an automated permitting system for residential solar energy systems. With that said, CALBO still has two important measures we are still fighting in Sacramento and hope this winning streak can continue. 

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Capitol Corner Update

As 2021 continues to fly by, so too does the legislative session. As mentioned in my previous update, this is the first of two years of the 2021-2022 legislative session. This means that bills that have not met legislative deadlines can still be heard next year. Right now, the State Legislature is at about the halfway point for a bill to become a law. For the last couple of months, there have been policy committee hearings on the bills CALBO is tracking. During this time frame, CALBO has provided bill position letters, offered amendments, given public comment, and in many cases, committee testimony.

The highest priority of the CALBO legislative team continues to be SB 617 by Senator Wiener. This bill would mandate all local governments to develop an automated permitting process for residential solar energy systems. Just last week, CALBO President Shane Diller and CALBO Past President Ron Takiguchi sat down with the sponsors of the bill and again provided our concerns and recommendations to amend the bill and remove our opposition.

Unfortunately, CALBO has yet to see these changes in writing. Our concerns focused on the safety aspect of the technology used for automatic permitting of residential solar energy systems. CALBO has concerns that this technology has not been tested enough for safety, nor has it been used by the majority of our building departments, so we believe that a required mandate for this technology is not in order yet in California. CALBO believes without proper testing, there is no need for an inflexible, unfunded mandate for local government on this technology. The developers of SolarAPP, which is the technology recommended in the bill are working with CALBO on providing opportunities for local building departments to test this technology. CALBO will be in touch with our members once we get more information on these opportunities for you all.

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CALBO In-Action: 2021 Legislative Update

Hello CALBO Members,

As you know with a full-time state legislature, the work in Sacramento never stops. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to you as I kick off my tenure at CALBO in the midst of a surprisingly busy year for legislative bills.

As way of introduction, my name is Brady Guertin and I am the new Public Affairs Manager for CALBO. I am tasked with the day-to-day governmental affairs priorities, which means, I’m working on your behalf each day in Sacramento. My work involves the direction and analysis of the CALBO Legislative Committee, the CALBO Board of Directors – and of course you – the members. Given that a new two-year legislative term just commenced in January, the CALBO Legislative Team thought a few of the pivotal measures that might impact the operations of your department might be of interest to you.

To date, we have been on top of tracking the over 2,000 bills that have been introduced in the California State Legislature this year and have narrowed down our list to 44 bills to keep an eye on through the legislative process. Of these 44 bills, CALBO has taken a formal Support or Oppose position on nine of them. Of all measures of CALBO interest, we have already provided bill position letters, offered amendments, given public comment, and in many cases, committee testimony.

CALBO’s efforts have been rewarded so far in this legislative session. As of April 23, nearly one-third of our priority bills have become two-year bills (meaning they will be acted upon next year as opposed to this year). Additionally, these bills have brought CALBO to the table as the authors look to shore up their language and move their respective bills forward next year. I’ve been working with several legislative offices and plan to keep the dialogue open in the coming months relative to CALBO bills of interest. 

Without a doubt, our largest priority bill this year is SB 617 by Senator Wiener of San Francisco. This bill would mandate all local governments to develop an automated permitting process for residential solar energy systems. CALBO has engaged heavily with the bill sponsor and author’s office. Further, we have offered two-rounds of substantive amendments along with the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) but have yet to have our concerns addressed. Thus, CALBO remains opposed to SB 617. I have submitted our position letter on the bill to the respective stakeholders and have worked to keep a coalition of like-minded local government advocates working lock-step with CALBO. You can find our opposition letter here. Additionally, I have provided public comment stating CALBO’s position to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. CALBO Past President and Building Official for the City of Burbank Ron Takiguchi will be providing expert testimony on this bill to the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee on April 26. CALBO continues to be open to thoughtful and prudent efforts to address climate change; however, jeopardizing the safety of the public by circumventing the building department is not the way to achieve this goal.

The CALBO Legislative Team wanted to share a few other priority bills with you:

  • AB 970 would allow automatic approval of electric vehicle charging stations after 15 business days if a building official has not made a finding that the proposed installation could harm public health or safety. CALBO is opposed to this bill and has been working with the League of California Cities, Rural County Representatives of California, California State Association of Counties, and numerous others in a joint coalition opposed to this bill. The coalition’s efforts have stalled this bill in the Assembly Committee on Local Government and the bill must be heard and passed through the committee by May 7th otherwise it will be moved to next year.
  • SB 55 would limit new development in high fire hazard severity zones. You can find our opposition letter here. CALBO provided testimony in opposition to SB 55 but the measure was not voted on in committee making it a two-year bill. CALBO will be looking to meet with the author’s office later this year to discuss the bill with them before it is heard again.
  • SB 736 would set new training requirements for local building officials on drowning prevention to maintain certification as a building official every three years. You can find our opposition letter here. This is a tough bill for CALBO, as we support efforts to reduce and mitigate drowning in all swimming pools and spas; yet with SB 736, onerous requirements are placed on the building department that will not work to achieve the desired goal of increased drowning prevention. CALBO has opened dialogue with the author’s office and will remain in touch, however; it does not appear that the bill is slated to move this year. 

For a full listing of legislative items of interest to CALBO members, please check out our All Bills Report on the CALBO website. There are other notable measures that are of high-interest to CALBO and our stakeholders, which is why we have kept them on our radar and are actively monitoring their progress. 

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns at bguertin@calbo.org. I look forward to continuing to advocate for our members in Sacramento and sincerely appreciate the support I have received from you all.

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Capitol Corner Update
March 2021

The State Legislature reconvened on January 11, 2021 for the 2021-2022 legislative session in Sacramento. As this is the first year of the biennial session, lawmakers and stakeholders, like CALBO, have a clean slate to consider and vet new legislative proposals. Over the interim since last year, CALBO has met with various stakeholders to address upcoming bills that will impact our industry and local communities. Although we hear that it will be a “quiet” year legislatively as the pandemic continues to dominate lawmakers time, of the over 2,000 bills introduced thus far, our work is cut out for us.

Starting this week, both legislative houses will begin policy committee hearings, as many bills were introduced in January and February. These hearings will be held in a condensed timeframe this year due to strict COVID-19 guidelines and the lack of socially distanced hearing rooms available. While in-person access to these upcoming hearings will be very limited, CALBO will remain vigilant and well represented.   

CALBO continues to focus on the policy areas of wildfire mitigation, affordable and alternative housing, and in addition to the safety of the public. To read more about CALBO’s legislative efforts, please visit the CALBO Legislative webpage, which is updated in real-time while the state legislature is in session. For a full overview of CALBO bills of interest, you can also reference our Online Bill Reports.

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Capitol Corner Update
End of 2019-2020 Session Report

Senate Floor Session

This year has brought many new and unique challenges in light of COVID-19, and the State Legislature was not immune to this reality. April brought a halt to all legislative activity due to the state’s shelter-in-place orders. This is usually a busy time for state legislators who are trying to get their dozens of bills through various policy committees. This activity was delayed until the middle of May 2020, and even that activity was very limited. Lawmakers knew they would have to limit the number of bills moving forward due to shortened deadlines, limited committee hearings, and ultimately a tightened state budget. Only bills considered high priority continued through the process; this list included wildfire mitigation, affordable housing, and healthcare initiatives. 

After about a month of expedited hearings and socially distant testimonies, the Capitol closed again. It remained closed through the month of July with a few legislators and staff members testing positive for the virus. Once business was able to resume for the last month on session in August, even more bills were cut from the docket – never even making it to the second house. Even though the amount of bills had been severely cut, lawmakers struggled to get bills through the proper processes. The Senate argued that there were too many Assembly bills to address, and not enough time. This was due to the fact that there are twice as many Assemblymembers than Senators, and therefore twice as many bills to hear, amend, and vote on.

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Capitol Corner Update
Summer 2020

July marks the beginning of Summer recess for the State Legislature. This year their recess will be shorter than normal, as there was a long recess in the spring due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This last month has been filled with policy and fiscal committee hearings, ensuring bills move forward in the legislative process. However, almost two-thirds of bills that were introduced earlier this year failed passage and ultimately died. 

The COVID-19 crisis forced law makers to narrow their bill scope and move only top priority bills. The state budget is a major concern, and funding will mainly focus on relief efforts. The bills that made it through their house of origin, and are now assigned to the opposite house, are mostly emergency response bills, public safety measures, and law enforcement focused bills.