Capitol Corner Update

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.

Greetings CALBO Members,

Please allow me to introduce myself as the new Public Affairs Director, a resource to you all for public policy and CALBO’s governmental affairs. This opportunity affords me the ability to continue working on the issues of importance to the CALBO community.  

I was most recently a Legislative Director in the California State Assembly, where I worked on a variety of state and regional policy issues, while serving as the primary aide advising the Assembly Member on policy positions. This experience will provide the ability to articulate the technical and crucial nature of your work to decisionmakers so that they understand our barriers to implementation for proposed legislation.

The CALBO Legislative Committee has come together and commenced our work for the year. We have looked at more than 2,000 measures that have been introduced this year and will be acted upon in the weeks ahead. As CALBO takes official positions on these items, you will be able to view them in real time here. I encourage you all to take advantage of the information that is available on our website. 

The bills the Legislative Committee will be reviewing with high priority include:

As the first year of the 2023-2024 Legislative Session warms up like the summer heat in California, CALBO’s Legislative Team has been hard at work in Sacramento.  CALBO started this year with around 25 High Priority bills, but CALBO now has around 10 bills remaining this year.   Although this year has been positive, more work is required before the legislature wraps up its first year of this legislative session in September.  Currently, the legislature is at recess until August 14th.  Before we cover a few remaining high priority bills, let’s recap the recent membership events CALBO’s Legislative Team has hosted this spring and summer. 

The Return of Leadership and Advocacy Day

After a 3-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, CALBO hosted its first Leadership and Advocacy Day (LAD) in Sacramento this May.  The event was well-attended as CALBO members met with legislative staff and elected officials to discuss who CALBO is and what some of our high-priority bills are this year.  Attendees participated in over 50 meetings with legislators and their staff, learned about the California Legislative Process, and got an understanding about the major pieces of legislation impacting CALBO members.  LAD is an important effort for CALBO’s government relations efforts as elected officials can hear from you, their voters about issues of importance in the built environment. CALBO met with not only representatives of the respective building departments in attendance, but also members of relevant policy committees to CALBO’s legislative efforts.  This was the first time CALBO got a taste of the “swing space” or the new building that legislative staff is working in as the Capitol is under renovation for the next several years.  Additionally, some attendees had their first experience talking with legislative staff, who are some of the most important people in the legislature as they provide background to their bosses on policy issues and recommend how to vote on specific bills.  CALBO looks forward to continuing this annual tradition next year for our members. Keep your eyes out for registration and event details later this year so YOU can participate in this important event in May 2024. 

CALBO Legislative Webinars: Spring and Summer 2023