We invite you to read Sustainable TamAlmonte's letter to the California Senate Appropriations Committee in opposition to Senate Bill-828 (Wiener), a high-density housing bill. Please send your own letters to the committee.
California Senate Bill 828 (Wiener) would change Housing Element law and dramatically increase the number of housing units that every jurisdiction is required to plan for. As previously reported, the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee voted in favor of SB-828 and the bill will now move on to the Senate Appropriations Committee. So, it is time to send letters of opposition to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The letter from Sustainable TamAlmonte to Senator Ricardo Lara (D, Long Beach-Huntington Park), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, urges him to oppose SB-828 and remove the bill from consideration. We sent similar letters to the rest of the members of the committee too.
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR LETTER
According to the Long Beach Report; The State Senate Appropriations Committee is "a 'non-policy' committee that's supposed to consider only fiscal impacts of proposed bills (on the State budget) but as a practical matter operates as a majority-party controlled 'gatekeeper' preventing bills from reaching the Senate floor if not supported by majority party (Dem) leadership."
Senate Bill 828 includes the following clauses:
(6) 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."
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
Therefore, the fiscal impacts of Senate Bill 828 would fall mainly on local governments rather than the State. Although, the State Housing and Community Development Agency (HCD) would incur some additional costs while overseeing a new methodology for determining the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA), etc.
Since the Senate Appropriations Committee acts as the "Gatekeeper" to the Senate floor and SB-828 would impact local communities much more than the State budget, we decided to write a letter that addressed the concerns of local jurisdictions rather than the fiscal impact of the bill on the State budget.
Our arguments for opposing SB-828 are listed below. Please read our attached letter for more details.:
1) The amount of potential build-out for housing is not the problem;
2) SB-828 sets jurisdictions up for failure and won't result in more housing being built;
3) Housing Elements and Regional Housing Need Allocations should remain planning tools rather than mandates for building housing units;
4) SB-828 would encourage sprawl and increase greenhouse gas emissions;
5) SB-828 impedes smaller cities' and counties' ability to implement lower density solutions in order to fulfill their housing need;
6) SB-828 would increase SB-35 streamlining;
7) If excessive housing units were built, then the subsequent housing densification and population growth would increase the risk of adverse impacts;
8) The bill would create unfunded mandates;
9) It would be better to wait to adopt any new housing legislation until jurisdictions have had time to implement last year's housing package of bills.
Please write your own letters to the Senators who are members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and don't forget to copy their aides.
Below you will find their email addresses:
- Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair (D-Long Beach): senator.lara@senate.ca.gov
Aide: nikita.koraddi@sen.ca.gov
- Senator Pat Bates, Vice-Chair (R-N. of San Diego): senator.bates@senate.ca.gov
Aide: abigal.gore@sen.ca.gov
- Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose): senator.beall@senate.ca.gov
Aide: sunshine.borelli@sen.ca.gov
- Senator Steven Bradford (D-South Central LA): senator.bradford@senate.ca.gov
Aide: rashad.johnson@sen.ca.gov
- Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo County, North Santa Clara County): senator.hill@senate.ca.gov
Aide: meegen.murray@sen.ca.gov
- Senator Jim Nielsen (R-North of Sacramento, Chico): senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov
Aide: colin.sueyres@sen.ca.gov
- Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco): senator.wiener@senate.ca.gov
Aide: annie.fryman@sen.ca.gov
Here's the link to the Senate Appropriation Committee's website:
http://sapro.senate.ca.gov/
Thank you in advance for taking action. Together we can make a difference!
Sharon Rushton - Chairperson - Sustainable TamAlmonte