The California State Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees dispensed with their Suspense Files and determined which fiscally impactful bills will advance. Two noteworthy priority measures opposed by CSDA were held in committee, meaning both measures are dead.
AB 1276 (Carillo) This measure extended a "reasonable person" standard to the entire Permit Streamlining Act for reviews of housing development projects by all public agencies, by deeming such projects consistent with applicable plans or requirements if substantial evidence existed that would allow a "reasonable person" to reach that conclusion.
Additionally, it added to the list of "ordinances, policies, and standards" that are "vested" or "locked-in " through the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) once a developer submits a complete application within 180 days of a preliminary application: "Any rules, regulations, determinations, and other requirements adopted or implemented by other public agencies", including special districts and adds post-entitlement permits. CSDA, in partnership with other local government organizations, advocated in opposition to this measure.
SB 445 (Wiener) required the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to develop and adopt regulations governing third-party permits and approvals. These CHSRA regulations would include requirements on both investor-owned (IOU) and publicly-owned (POU) utilities – broadly inclusive of electric, gas, water, telecommunications, and other utilities – and largely involved relocation agreements between utilities and the CHSRA to move utility infrastructure in the project's path. This measure had many controversial and outstanding issues regarding utility relocation costs, reliability challenges, granting new broad regulatory authority, and the creation of a vague binding arbitration process. CSDA joined a broad coalition in opposition of this measure.