BOMA California Advocacy Update: Proposition 13 Weathers Attacks & 2017 Legislative Results

All BOMAs in California are part of BOMA California based in Sacramento. The focus of BOMA California is strictly advocacy and - thanks to the involvement of BOMA members - they are really good at protecting the industry's interests.

It has been a VERY busy time in Sacramento as the legislative session has come to close. Please take a moment to review the information below from our California advocate, Matthew Hargrove, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for BOMA California.

Proposition 13 Weathers Attacks By Two Gubernatorial Candidates 

Next year you will help choose the next Governor of the State of California. Although the election is more than a year away, four Democrats are already vying for the position.

The candidates include current Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and current State Treasurer John Chiang, as well as former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, and former Speaker of the Assembly and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

In their first “debate” in a question regarding taxes, two of the candidate – Villaraigosa and Eastin - went out of their way to criticize Proposition 13, the law that keeps your property taxes from seeing gigantic spikes each year.

Villaraigosa and Eastin said reforms are needed in the 1978 measure that capped property-tax increases for homes and businesses. Villaraigosa said the law was “broken” and protections for both residential and commercial needed to be revisited.

Eastin claimed that “Disneyland is paying what they paid in 1975,” which is a false talking point used by political groups seeking to implement a split roll property tax.

Click here to read a story about the debate.


It's a Wrap: Legislative Session is Over For The Year

Sunday was the final night for the Governor to sign or veto bills on his desk. In 2017 the Legislature sent 977 bills to his desk. He signed 88% of the bills (859) and vetoed 12% (118).

Last year, Governor Brown vetoed 159 out of 1059 bills, for a 15% veto rate. To put this year’s actions in context (lowest year to highest year of vetoes):

Between 2011 and 2016, Governor Brown vetoed between 10.7% and 15% of the bills

Between 2004 and 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed between 22.3% and 35% of the bills

Between 1999 and 2003, Governor Davis vetoed between 6% and 25% of the bills

Between 1991 and 1998, Governor Wilson vetoed between 8.6% and 24.5% of the bills

Now, here are some of the bills we followed closely. 

Bills Signed By the Governor We Opposed

This is the most important category of bills to look at. Our industry opposed these measures, yet they were signed into law. These are the bills that are most likely to have a negative impact on your operations:

AB 168 (Eggman D) Employers: salary information. (OPPOSE)

AB 1180 (Holden D) Los Angeles County Flood Control District: taxes. (OPPOSE)

AB 1701 (Thurmond D) Labor-related wage liabilities. (OPPOSE)

SB 2 (Atkins D) Building Homes and Jobs Act. (OPPOSE)

SB 63 (Jackson D) Unlawful employment practice: parental leave. (OPPOSE)

Bills Signed By The Governor We Supported  

Here are some bills signed by the Governor. Our industry was in support of all these measures:

AB 72 (Santiago D) Housing. (SUPPORT)

AB 73 (Chiu D) Planning and zoning: housing sustainability districts. (SUPPORT)

AB 246 (Santiago D) Environmental quality: Jobs and Economic Improvement ACT (SUPPORT)

AB 879 (Grayson D) Planning and zoning: housing element. (SUPPORT)

AB 1223 (Caballero D) Construction contract payments: Internet Web site posting. (SUPPORT)

AB 1284 (Dababneh D) California Financing Law: Property Assessed Clean Energy program (SUPPORT)

AB 1515 (Daly D) Planning and zoning: housing. (SUPPORT)

AB 1553 (Cervantes D) Economic development: Capital Access Loan Program. (SUPPORT)

AB 1583 (Chau D) Proposition 65: enforcement: certificate of merit: factual basis. (SUPPORT)

AB 1598 (Mullin D) Affordable housing authorities. (SUPPORT)

SB 145 (Hill D) Autonomous vehicles: testing on public roads. (SUPPORT)

SB 167 (Skinner D) Housing Accountability Act. (SUPPORT)

SB 205 ((G&F) Local Government Omnibus Act of 2017. (SUPPORT)

SB 229 (Wieckowski D) Accessory dwelling units. (SUPPORT)

SB 242 (Skinner D) Property Assessed Clean Energy program (SUPPORT)

SB 329 (Leyva D) Manufactured homes: financial assistance programs. (SUPPORT)

SB 540 (Roth D) Workforce Housing Opportunity Zone. (SUPPORT)

SB 564 (McGuire D) Joint powers authorities: Water Bill Savings Act. (SUPPORT)

SB 653 (Moorlach R (County tax collectors: notices: publication. (SUPPORT)

SB 711 (Hill D) Electrical corporations and gas corporations: rates and charges. (SUPPORT)

 
Bills Vetoed By The Governor

Finally, here are some bills vetoed by the Governor that we were happy he did not sign into law, as we opposed most of them:

AB 248 (Reyes D) Hazardous waste: facilities: permits. (OPPOSE)

AB 890 (Medina D) Land use: planning and zoning: initiatives. (OPPOSE)

AB 978 (Limón D) Employment safety: injury and illness prevention program. (OPPOSE)

AB 1179 (Kalra D) Hazardous waste facilities: inspections. (OPPOSE)

AB 1239 (Holden D) Building standards: electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (NEUTRAL)

SB 42 (Hill D) Public lands: Martins Beach: property acquisition. (OPPOSE)