Asm. Richard Bloom

Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and sets forth its powers and duties, including, among other things, responsibility for coordinating federal-state relationships in housing and community development and assisting communities and persons to avail themselves of state housing programs. This bill would require the department to designate areas in this state as high-opportunity areas and sensitive communities, as provided, by January 1, 2023, in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require the department to update those designations every 5 years, or more frequently at the discretion of the department..

Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with possession and control of the state highway system and associated property. Existing law provides for cooperative agreements between the department and public entities for the performance of work by the department and those entities and apportionment of associated expenses. This bill would, on and before June 30, 2024, prohibit the department from charging for administration indirect cost recovery, as outlined in the department's Indirect Cost Recovery Proposal, for any wildlife crossing project that receives private funding for more than 50% of the project cost, and would require the department to charge these projects for functional overhead. The bill would require the department to report, on or before July 1, 2024, to the Legislature on the amount of private funding invested in wildlife crossing projects for the 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24 fiscal years.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) , which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Existing law requires CHHSA to enter into partnerships to increase patient access to affordable drugs and to produce or distribute generic prescription drugs and at least one form of insulin, as specified. This bill would create the Affordable Prescription Drug Importation Program in CHHSA, under which the state would be a licensed wholesaler that imports prescription drugs, as specified, for the exclusive purpose of dispensing those drugs to program participants. The bill would require CHHSA to seek federal approval for the importation program on or before June 1, 2022, and would require CHHSA to contract with at least one contracted importer to provide services under the importation program within 6 months of receiving federal approval. The bill would require a contracted importer to, among other things, establish a wholesale prescription drug importation list that identifies the prescription drugs that have the highest potential for cost savings to the state and identify and contract with eligible Canadian suppliers who have agreed to export prescription drugs on that list. This bill would authorize a contracted importer to import a prescription drug from a Canadian supplier if specified requirements are met. The bill would authorize CHHSA to expand the importation program to authorize a manufacturer, wholesale distributor, or pharmacy in a foreign country other than Canada to export prescription drugs to California if specified requirements are met, including a change in federal law. If the importation program is expanded, the bill would authorize a contracted importer to import prescription drugs from a manufacturer, wholesale distributor, or pharmacy in a foreign country other than Canada.

Existing law provides for officers and employees of the state to receive travel expenses when away from their headquarters for state business. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would prohibit state-sponsored travel to any state that enacts any law that limits or reduces access to voting.

(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, including, among other solid waste, single-use plastic straws. The Sustainable Packaging for the State of California Act of 2018 prohibits a food service facility located in a state-owned facility, operating on or acting as a concessionaire on state property, or under contract to provide food service to a state agency from dispensing prepared food using a type of food service packaging unless the type of food service packaging is on a list that the department publishes and maintains on its internet website that contains types of approved food service packaging that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Existing law makes a legislative declaration that it is the policy goal of the state that not less than 75% of solid waste generated be source reduced, recycled, or composted by 2020. This bill would enact the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, which would establish a comprehensive regulatory scheme for producers, retailers, and wholesalers of single-use packaging, as defined, and single-use products, as defined, made partially or entirely of plastic, to be administered by the department. The bill would require producers, within 6 months of the department's adoption of regulations to implement the act, to individually, or to collectively form or join a stewardship organization that will, develop, finance, and implement a convenient and cost-effective program to source reduce, recover, and recycle single-use packaging and single-use products discarded in the state, and develop and submit to the department a stewardship plan, annual report, and budget, as prescribed. The bill would require the stewardship plan to include funding to support, among other things, mechanisms necessary to achieve a 75% recycling rate of single-use packaging and single-use products by 2032 and annually thereafter. The bill would require, starting in 2025, a stewardship organization to collect from its member producers funding for the purposes of paying the administrative and operational costs of the stewardship program. The bill would require, on or before the end of the 2022–23 fiscal year, and once every 3 months thereafter, a stewardship organization to pay to the department an administrative fee to cover the department's full costs of administering and enforcing the act, not to exceed the department's actual and reasonable regulatory costs. This bill would authorize the department to impose an administrative civil penalty, except as specified, not to exceed $50,000 per day per violation on an entity that is not in compliance with the act's requirements. The bill would require the department to deposit those administrative civil penalties into the Circular Economy Penalty Account, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that the moneys in the account shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes that further the act. This bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2022, to post a list of packaging categories, as defined, and product categories, as defined, for single-use packaging and single-use products that are easily recyclable or easily compostable, hard to recycle or hard to compost, or nonrecyclable or noncompostable, and specifies the types of plastics to be included on the initial list posted by the department. The bill would require the department to develop criteria to determine if single-use packaging and single-use products are easily recyclable or easily compostable, hard to recycle or hard to compost, or nonrecyclable or noncompostable, as provided. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2023, require all single-use packaging and single-use products sold, offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state to be easily recyclable or easily compostable in the state. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2035, require all single-use packaging and single-use products sold, offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state to include 75% postconsumer recycled content. The bill would require the department, beginning in 2023, to impose an administrative civil penalty on producers per unit sold, offered for sale, imported, or distributed in or into the state of $0.01 for hard to recycle or hard to compost single-use packaging and single-use products, $0.02 for nonrecyclable or noncompostable single-use packaging and single-use products, and, additionally, beginning in 2035, of $0.01 for single-use packaging and single-use products that do not include 75% postconsumer recycled content. The bill would require the department to deposit those administrative civil penalties into the Single-Use Plastic Packaging and Products Penalty Account, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that the moneys in the account shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for projects with demonstrated environmental or environmental health benefits, and that prioritize projects within the state. The bill would impose on producers, among other requirements, registration, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. The bill would require reports and data provided by producers to the department to be accurate and attested to under penalty of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by expanding the crime of perjury. (2) 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. (3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

The Corporation Tax Law allows various credits against the tax imposed by that law. This bill would allow a credit under the Corporation Tax Law for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, to a qualified taxpayer that employs an eligible individual during the taxable year, in an amount between $2,500 and $10,000 per eligible individual, not to exceed $30,000 per taxable year, depending on the amount of hours worked by the eligible individual. The bill would define various terms for purposes of the credit, including defining "eligible individual" as a person who is homeless. The bill would require an eligible employer to obtain an eligible employer certification from the Employment Development Department to receive the credit, and would require the Employment Development Department to issue a certification to eligible employers, as specified. The bill would require each continuum of care to issue certifications to eligible individuals that are homeless, as specified. By increasing the duties of local continuum of care, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would also include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law, commonly known as the Ellis Act, generally prohibits public entities from adopting any statute, ordinance, or regulation, or taking any administrative action, to compel the owner of residential real property to offer or to continue to offer accommodations, as defined, in the property for rent or lease. Existing law authorizes any public entity that has in effect any control or system of control on the price at which accommodations are offered for rent or lease to require by statute or ordinance, or by regulation, that the owner notify the entity of an intention to withdraw those accommodations from rent or lease, and to require that the notice contain specified statements. This bill would, when a public entity has a price control system in effect, prohibit an owner of accommodations from filing a notice with a public entity of an intent to withdraw accommodations or prosecuting an action to recover possession of accommodations, or threatening to do so, if not all the owners of the accommodations have been owners of record for at least 5 continuous years, with specified exceptions, or with respect to property that the owner acquired within 10 years after providing notice of an intent to withdraw accommodations at a different property. This bill would require an owner of accommodations notifying the public entity of an intention to withdraw accommodations from rent or lease, as provided, to identify each person or entity with an ownership interest in the accommodations, as provided. That information would be available for public inspection. The bill would prohibit an owner or any person or entity with an ownership interest from acting in concert with a coowner, successor owner, prospective owner, agent, employee, or assignee to circumvent these provisions. The bill would provide specified, nonexclusive remedies for a violation. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.

(1) Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and designates successor agencies to, among other things, continue to make payments due for enforceable obligations and expeditiously wind down the affairs of dissolved redevelopment agencies. Existing law also provides for the designation of a housing successor to assume the housing function of a former redevelopment agency and generally requires that funds transferred to the housing successor, together with any funds generated from housing assets, be maintained in a separate Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund and used subject to the provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law relating to the Low and Moderate Income Fund of the former redevelopment agency, except as provided. Existing law requires the county auditor-controller to create within the county treasury a Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, to determine and deposit that fund the amount of property taxes that would have been allocated to each redevelopment agency within the county, and to allocate moneys in that fund for passthrough payments to local agencies and school entities and payments listed on the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule for each successor agency, as provided. Under existing law, on June 1, 2012, and each January 2 and June 1 thereafter, any moneys remaining in the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund after all other authorized payments and transfers are made, other than moneys attributable to certain property tax rates approved by the voters for specified purposes, are distributed to local agencies and school entities, in accordance with specified requirements, including a requirement that property tax shares of local agencies be determined based on the property tax allocation laws in effect on the date of distribution, as provided. This bill would modify the requirement to distribute remaining moneys in the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, as described above, by requiring, for the period commencing on January 2, 2025, until the successor is dissolved as provided, that 20% of the amount that would otherwise be allocated to local agencies and school entities that exceeds the amount transferred between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, inclusive, be deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund if specified conditions are met. Among other things, the bill would require that the successor agency have received a finding of completion from the Department of Finance, and that the housing successor or sponsoring entity comply with specified reporting requirements. The bill, on and after January 2, 2025, and until the successor agency is dissolved as provided, would require the county auditor to allocate a corresponding amount of revenues, designated as the affordable housing and community development investment amount, to the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund in each fiscal year and to commensurately decrease the amount of ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated among all other local agencies in the county, as provided. This bill would require the housing successor to designate the use of any proceeds deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund under the bill's provisions in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would limit the eligible uses of those funds to the predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable housing, as defined. (2) Existing law requires the housing successor of a former redevelopment agency to annually conduct, and provide to its governing body, an independent financial audit of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, which is required to be posted on the internet website of the housing successor, as specified. Existing law requires that the independent financial audit include, among other information, the amount deposited to the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, distinguishing between amounts deposited pursuant to specified law, amounts deposited for other items listed on the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule, and other amounts deposited. This bill would require that the independent financial audit also distinguish amounts deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund as provided in this bill. The bill would also require that the independent financial audit include a description of how the amounts deposited as provided in this bill have been used to meet the housing successor's share of regional housing need, determined as provided. (3) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires that the housing element include, among other things, an analysis of existing housing developments that are eligible to change from low-income housing uses during the next 10 years due to termination of subsidy contracts, mortgage prepayment, or expiration of restrictions on use. Existing law requires that the analysis identify and consider the use of all federal, state, and local financing and subsidy programs that can be used to preserve, for lower income households, the assisted housing developments, including tax increment funds received by a redevelopment agency of the community. This bill would delete the requirement that this analysis identify tax increment funds received by a redevelopment agency of the community and, instead, require that the analysis identify Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund funds received by a housing successor, as provided in the bill. (4) The bill would make legislative findings with regard to its provisions. (5) By adding to the duties of local officials with respect to the wind down of former redevelopment agencies and the use of moneys in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill, the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Act, would, commencing July 1, 2023, and subject to an appropriation as specified, impose an excise tax in the amount of 10% of the sales price of a handgun and 11% of the sales price of a long gun, rifle, firearm precursor part, and ammunition, as specified. The tax would be collected by the state pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require that the revenues collected be deposited in the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency in state government, consisting of, among other entities, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) . Existing law requires HCD to administer various programs intended to promote the development of housing, including the Multifamily Housing Program, pursuant to which HCD provides financial assistance in the form of deferred payment loans to pay for the eligible costs of development for specified activities. Existing law also establishes the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) within HCD with the primary purpose of meeting the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law also establishes the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) , composed of specified members, and requires that CTCAC, among other things, allocate specified federal low-income housing tax credits, as provided. This bill would enact the State of California Housing Allocation Act, which would require the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, HCD, CalHFA, and CTCAC, no later than January 1, 2023, to jointly establish and operate a single, centralized housing funding allocation committee, which would be within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and comprised of representatives of those entities. The bill would require the committee to be responsible for allocating state controlled financing to housing developments and to serve as the point of contact for developers seeking to build affordable housing in California. The bill, no later than December 31, 2023, would require the committee to create a unified application and award process for the allocation of state-controlled affordable housing funds and, to the extent permitted by any applicable law governing the allocation and use of those state-controlled affordable housing funds, make applications and awards at least twice per calendar year. The bill would authorize the committee to exclude state-controlled affordable housing funds from this unified application and award process for specified reasons. The bill would require the Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing to develop a new organizational plan for the housing departments in the agency to streamline processes and eliminate redundant tasks between departments, as provided, and to submit a report on that plan to the Legislature no later than December 31, 2022.