While the 2023-2024 Legislative Session has adjourned, it does not quite seem to be over.

Governor Gavin Newsom called for a Special Session to deal with gas prices and pass related legislation. This could have happened while all the legislators were still in town – but the California State Senate rebuffed the request and has now said they are waiting to determine whether the California State Assembly has the requisite votes to pass the legislation before setting a date for their return. Legislators are home in their district tending to constituent affairs and some are on the campaign trail making it an inopportune moment to be hauled back to Sacramento. It does seem inevitable – if not legally required – for them to meet again this year.

CALBO weighed in on a last-minute deal providing building standards for new and existing warehouses. AB 98 (J. Carrillo) went into print in the final days of session. This follows the Speaker of the Assembly and Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes announcing in January that they would shelve existing legislation and enter stakeholder discussions led by the Chair of the Assembly Local Government Committee. While the product of those negotiations is represented by AB 98, many in the Local Government, Business and Environmental Justice community felt as though they were left out of the discussions and had no other option but to oppose. This bill barely made it off the Senate Floor and was voted on with debate limited to 30-seconds on the Assembly Floor.

The Governor has until the end of the month to decide whether to sign or veto legislation. 

He has signed AB 2114 (Irwin) allowing civil licensed engineers to perform visual inspections of balconies. After the legislature passed the requirement for regular inspections, Common Interest Developments have struggled to find qualified inspectors – so this legislation will help bring them into compliance before we enter a timeline for re-inspections. Due to the urgency clause, it is already in effect. This along with the CALBO requested ACR 201 (Alanis) declaring May as California Building Safety Month were the first of our priorities to be chaptered.

CALBO successfully worked with coalitions to defeat bills that threatened the flexibility of the Building Department. AB 2433 (Quirk-Silva) would have allowed for development proponents to hire third-party consultants to perform inspections and plan check when experiencing a delay. It was ultimately shelved by the Senate Local Government Committee; this bill would have been a drain on the resources of local governments and undermined their authority to set requirements on contracts. AB 2489 (Ward) & AB 2557 (Ortega) were labor sponsored measures that would have placed reporting requirements on jurisdictions contracting with third parties; these unnecessary requirements would have been a hinderance for jurisdictions with limited resources.

A key takeaway from this Legislative Session from CALBO’s perspective: Legislators are under political pressure to be seen as addressing California’s historic affordability crisis; the delays development projects experience in the permitting and plan check process are blamed for incurring costs, which means health and safety measures could be sacrificed to demonstrate their efforts to streamline project approvals. Meanwhile, Local Governments are continuing to experience depleted resources – which would worsen with suffering economic conditions – and the ongoing workforce shortage is a continuously unaddressed crisis for jurisdictions.

If you have any questions, please contact the CALBO Office at info@calbo.org.