Asm. Phil Ting

Under existing law, several agencies have prescribed responsibilities relating to homeless persons. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer California's Emergency Solutions Grants Program and make grants under the program to qualifying recipients to implement activities that address the needs of homeless individuals and families and assist them to regain stability in permanent housing as quickly as possible. This bill would establish the Local Homelessness Solutions Program and create the Local Homelessness Solutions Account for the purpose of providing funding to cities, as defined, to create innovative and immediate solutions to the problems caused by homelessness, as specified. The bill would appropriate an unspecified sum from the General Fund to the Local Homelessness Solutions Account and direct the Controller to apportion those funds to cities in proportion to each city's most recent homeless population, as specified. The bill would require cities to match any funds received from the program. The bill would authorize these funds to be expended for, among other things, shelter diversion, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing.

Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities for regulation by the State Department of Public Health and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce those provisions. Existing law defines "food facility" as an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption at the retail level. Existing law defines "retail" as storing, preparing, serving, manufacturing, packaging, transporting, salvaging, or otherwise handling food for dispensing or sale directly to the consumer or indirectly through a delivery service. Under existing law, a violation of the California Retail Food Code is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, imprisonment in the county jail, or both. This bill would add subscription-based meal delivery services, as specified, to the existing definition of "retail." By expanding the definition of "retail," the bill would expand the applicability of an existing crime. The bill would also make a technical change to the definition of "food facility" for purposes of the California Retail Food Code by including a specific crossreference to the existing definition of "retail." The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires, when an applicant proposes a housing development within the jurisdiction of a local government, that the city, county, or city and county provide the developer with a density bonus and other incentives or concessions for the production of lower income housing units or for the donation of land within the development if the developer, among other things, agrees to construct a specified percentage of units for very low, low-, or moderate-income households or qualifying residents. This bill would require a local government to, if requested, grant a development proponent of a transit-rich housing project a transit-rich housing bonus if that development at the time of submittal meets specified planning standards, including complying with demolition permit requirements, complying with any local inclusionary housing ordinance or, if the local government has not adopted an inclusionary housing ordinance, agreeing to provide a specified percentage of awarded units as onsite affordable housing, preparing a relocation benefits and assistance plan, complying with any locally adopted objective zoning standards, complying with any locally adopted minimum unit mix requirements, and if the development includes specified types of parcels, agreeing to replace those units and to offer units at one of 2 specified affordable rates. The bill would define a transit-rich housing project as a residential development project the parcels of which are all within a 12 mile radius of a major transit stop or a 14 mile radius of a stop on a high-quality bus corridor. The bill would exempt an eligible applicant who receives a transit-rich housing bonus from various requirements, including maximum controls on residential density, maximum controls on floor area ratio that are lower than a specified amount, minimum automobile parking requirements except as provided, maximum height limitations that are less than a specified amount unless those increases would have a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety, and zoning or design controls that have the effect of limiting additions onto existing structures or lots that comply with those maximum floor area ratios and height limitations. The bill would require an eligible applicant, which this bill would define to mean a development proponent who receives a transit-rich housing bonus, to provide each resident of the development with a recurring monthly transit pass with the applicable transit agency that provides service to the major transit stop or high quality transit corridor that qualified the applicant for the bonus at no cost to the residents. The bill would require an eligible applicant to provide benefits to eligible displaced persons who are displaced by the development, including requiring the applicant to offer a right to remain guarantee to those tenants, and to make payments to eligible displaced persons for moving and related expenses as well as for relocation benefits. The bill would also require an eligible applicant to submit a relocation benefit and assistance plan for approval to the applicable local government to that effect, and to provide specified information and assistance to eligible displaced persons. This bill would provide that the provisions described above become operative on January 1, 2021, in order to provide an opportunity for local governments to conduct studies and to adopt or update any ordinances as necessary. The bill would authorize a local government, no later than July 1, 2020, to apply to the Department of Housing and Community Development for a one-time one-year extension in order to delay the operation of those provisions with respect to parcels located within the jurisdictional boundaries of that local government until January 1, 2022. The bill would require the department to review any application submitted, and to grant it if the department makes specified findings. The bill would require the department to post on its Internet Web site the final decision of any application that the department granted to delay the operation of these provisions. This bill, commencing January 1, 2019, would provide that if a local government adopts any ordinance on or after January 1, 2018, that eliminates zoning designations or decreases residential zoning capacity within an existing zoning district, then any development proponent who submits an application for a transit-rich housing bonus on or after the operative date of these provisions as described above, will be deemed to be consistent with the requirements of these provisions if that development complies with zoning designations that were authorized on January 1, 2018. The bill would declare that its provisions address a matter of statewide concern and apply equally to all cities and counties in this state, including a charter city. By adding to the duties of local planning officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to require the administration, until January 1, 2021, of a self-generation incentive program to increase the development of distributed generation resources and energy storage technologies, and authorizes the annual collection of moneys for the program, through December 31, 2019, not to exceed double the amount authorized for the program in the 2008 calendar year. Existing law requires the commission, on January 1, 2021, to provide for repayment of all unallocated funds collected to pay for the program to reduce ratepayer costs. This bill would, in addition to the moneys already authorized to be collected to pay for the self-generation incentive program, authorize an additional annual collection of not more than $140,000,000 by the 3 largest electrical corporations to provide for energy storage systems, as specified. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2019, require that the commission direct those corporations to reserve not less than 40% of the additional moneys collected for those corporations to develop, own, and operate energy storage system projects located within, and benefiting customers in, low-income communities, low-income households, or multifamily residences. The bill would require the commission to direct those corporations to reserve the remaining 60% of the additional moneys collected for projects located within, and benefiting customers in, census tracts with median household incomes at or below an unspecified percent of the statewide median income. The bill would require the commission to optimize the value for customers and the electrical system by requiring customers receiving or benefiting from incentives to be on a time-of-use rate and by directing electrical corporations to operate storage so as to minimize the bills of customers and overall system costs by considering periods of high solar generation system ramping demands.

Existing law prohibits a person from driving any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer unless it is registered and the appropriate fees have been paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Existing law requires the owner of a vehicle of a type required to be registered under the Vehicle Code to submit an application for the original or renewal registration of that vehicle to the department upon the appropriate form furnished by the department. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2040, prohibit the department from accepting an application for original registration of a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is a zero emissions vehicle, as defined. The bill would exempt from that prohibition, a commercial vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, and a vehicle brought into the state from outside of the state for original registration, as specified.

This measure would designate March 2018 as Irish American Heritage Month in honor of the multitude of contributions that Irish Americans have made to the country and state.