BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  ACR 32
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 11, 2013

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                 ACR 32 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced:  March 12, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :   Building and Safety Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Declares May 2013, Building and Safety Month and  
          encourages all local governments to recognize the provisions in  
          city and county government building and safety codes relegating  
          illegal garage conversions as "Aviles Law."  Specifically,  this  
          resolution  makes the following legislative findings:

          1)In neighborhoods and workplaces across the State of  
            California, professionals throughout government and private  
            industries work to implement building safety solutions that  
            strengthen resilience and meet community needs; and, by  
            designing and implementing state-of-the-art building safety,  
            energy efficiency, and fire prevention codes and standards,  
            governments and laws help save lives and prevent disruption in  
            the wake of disaster and accidents.

          2)Despite established building codes, a tragedy occurred in the  
            City of Long Beach on December 14, 2007, in which three young  
            sisters, Jasmine Aviles, Jocelyn Aviles, and Stephanie Aviles,  
            lost their lives in a fire that occurred inside a garage that  
            had been illegally converted into an apartment. 
                
           3)Immediately following the Aviles tragedy, the city commenced  
            an aggressive code enforcement operation led by fire  
            department officials and building and safety code  
            investigators to identify structures that were ignoring rigid  
            fire and building code standards in an effort to eliminate the  
            use of illegally converted garages as living spaces.

          4)Proper building and safety code enforcement, including those  
            that regulate illegal garage conversions, may save lives; and,  
            by renaming them "Aviles Law", the City of Long Beach hopes to  
            educate the public and reinforce the dangers of illegal garage  
            conversions along with memorializing the Aviles sisters.
                
            FISCAL EFFECT  :   None.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   








                                                                  ACR 32
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           Support 
           
          City of Long Beach

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800