Political Update - Redistricting Passed by Legislature and Signed by Governor Newsom
The Legislature reconvened from Summer Recess on August 18th and immediately passed a redistricting package. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 (Rivas, McGuire): allows Californians the ability to adopt a new, temporary Congressional map, in response to the congressional redistricting in Texas. Senate Bill 280 (Cervantes, Pellerin): establishes timelines and procedures to conduct a statewide special election for Proposition 50, and provides the funding for the special election, set to take place on November 4, 2025. Assembly Bill 604 (Aguiar-Curry, Gonzalez): establishes the temporary Congressional District Maps that would take effect if the people vote to pass ACA 8 on November 4.
Legislative Update - Appropriations Suspense Calendar Action this Friday/Final Two Weeks of Floor Session
This week, the Legislature is focused on bills that are pending in the Appropriations Committees of both houses. We will know their fate, whether they pass or fail Appropriations and how they may be amended, this Friday, August 29th. Priority bills that CalRHA is engaged on and/or that are still moving, include:
AB 380 (Gonzalez) - Price Gouging - Doubles from 30 days to 60 days the prohibition applicable to housing rental prices. Removes from the definition of “housing” the requirement that rental housing have an initial lease term of no longer than one year. Provides that upon the proclamation of a state of emergency, or upon the declaration of a local emergency, and for a period of 60 days following that proclamation or declaration, it is unlawful for any person, business, or other entity, to increase the rental price advertised, offered, or charged for commercial real property, to an existing or prospective tenant, by more than 10%. However, a greater rental price increase is not unlawful if that person can prove that the increase is directly attributable to additional costs for repairs or additions beyond normal maintenance that were amortized over the rental term that caused the rent to be increased greater than 10%, or that an increase was contractually agreed to by the commercial tenant prior to the proclamation or declaration. CalRHA is opposed to AB 380, which is pending on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File and will be acted upon Friday, August 29th.
AB 628 (McKinnor) - Habitability: Stoves and Refrigerators - This bill makes a dwelling that substantially lacks a stove or refrigerator that is maintained in good working order and capable of safely generating heat for cooking or safely storing food untenantable. CalRHA is working with the author’s office on further clarifying Floor amendments to the bill, which is pending a vote on the Senate Floor.
AB 863 (Kalra) - Residential Rental Properties: Language Requirements - Requires a landlord terminating a lease to provide the tenant with a notice in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, as well as in English, if the lease was originally negotiated in one of those languages, or if the landlord has been notified by the tenant that one of those languages is the tenant's primary language. Amendments were taken to instead have the Judicial Council create a summons containing the languages and make it available on their website. With these amendments, CalRHA was able to go neutral on AB 863.
AB 878 (Kalra) - Reasonable Accommodations for Victims of Domestic Violence - Provides that a landlord or a landlord’s agent shall, upon request, provide a reasonable accommodation to a tenant who is a victim or whose family or household member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, etc. The bill has been amended, but still contains a private right of action so CalRHA remains opposed. The bill is pending on the Senate Appropriations Suspense calendar and will be acted upon this Friday, August 29th.
AB 1018 (Bauer Kahan) - Automated Decision Systems - AB 1018 would regulate the development and deployment of automated decision systems, many of which are used in the rental housing space. AB 1018 has a wide group of opposition and is pending on the Senate Appropriations Suspense calendar and will be acted upon this Friday, August 29th.
SB 36 (Umberg) - Price Gouging: State of Emergency - Among other things, SB 36 codifies the crime of price gouging during a state of emergency, including by expanding the restrictions on hotel and motel price increases, rental price increases, and evictions of tenants of residential housing to all counties in the proclamation or declaration of emergency and all counties within a 25-mile radius of the counties in the declared emergency. SB 36 is pending on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense Calendar and will be acted upon Friday, August 29th.
SB 52 (Perez) - Rental Rate Algorithms - SB 52 restricts the use of rental pricing algorithms. Specifically, it bans offering such algorithms to competitors in the same or related market, prohibits knowingly using these algorithms, and forbids incorporating non-public competitor data into any rental pricing algorithm. CalRHA is opposed to SB 52, which is pending on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense Calendar and will be acted upon Friday, August 29th.
SB 384 (Wahab) - Preventing Algorithmic Price Fixing Act: prohibition on price-fixing algorithm use - This legislation would ban the creation and employment of pricing algorithms that use the confidential, competitive data of rival companies. CalRHA is opposed to SB 384, which is pending on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense calendar and will be acted upon Friday, August 29th.
SB 522 (Wahab) - Housing: Tenant Protections - This bill excludes, from the exemption to California’s just-cause eviction protections for housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the last 15 years, housing that is built to replace a housing unit substantially damaged or destroyed by a disaster, as specified. Unfortunately, SB 522 will have the unintended consequence of discouraging the reconstruction of housing destroyed by disasters. CalRHA is opposed to SB 522, which is pending on the Assembly Floor.
