BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1403
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Ed Chau, Chair
AB 1403
(Maienschein) - As Amended April 7, 2015
SUBJECT: Housing: joint powers agreement
SUMMARY: Allows one or more private, non-profit 501 (c) (3)
corporations that provide services to homeless persons for the
prevention of homelessness to form a joint powers agency (JPA),
or enter into a joint powers agreement, with one or more public
agencies. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "frequent user coordinated care housing services" to
mean housing combined with other supportive services for
homeless persons identified by a city or county as the most
costly, frequent users of publicly funded emergency services.
2)Defines "supportive services" as including, but not limited
to, a combination of subsidized permanent housing, intensive
case management, medical and mental health care, substance
abuse treatment, employment services, and benefits advocacy.
3)Allows one or more private, non-profit 501 (c) (3)
corporations that provide services to homeless persons for the
prevention of homelessness to form a JPA or enter into a joint
powers agreement with one or more public agencies.
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4)Gives the JPA formed by the non-profit(s) and public agency(s)
all the powers under the Joint Powers Authority Act except the
newly formed agency will not have the power to incur debt.
5)Provides that the purpose of the JPA or joint powers agreement
is to encourage and ease the sharing of information between
public agencies and non-profit corporations necessary to
identify the most costly, frequent users of publicly funded
emergency services in order to provide frequent user
coordinated care housing services to homeless persons or to
prevent homelessness.
6)Provides that the JPA formed will be governed by a board of
directors with the members determined by the participating
public agency or agencies.
7)Provides that the representation of private nonprofit
corporations on the JPA board will not be more than 50% of the
membership.
8)Provides that a housing element analysis of any special
housing needs may include an analysis of the need for frequent
user coordinated care housing services.
EXISTING LAW:
1)The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes two or more public
agencies by agreement to jointly exercise any power common to
the contracting parties, including, but not limited to, the
authority to levy a fee, assessment, or tax, even though one
or more of the contracting agencies may be located outside
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this state (Government Code 6502).
2)Requires every city and county to prepare and adopt a general
plan containing seven mandatory elements, including a housing
element (Government Code Sections 65300 and 65302).
3)Requires a jurisdiction's housing element to identify and
analyze existing and projected housing needs, identify
adequate sites with appropriate zoning to meet the housing
needs of all income segments of the community, and ensure that
regulatory systems provide opportunities for, and do not
unduly constrain, housing development (Government Code Section
65583).
4)Requires cities and counties located within the territory of a
metropolitan planning organization (MPO) to revise their
housing elements every eight years following the adoption of
every other regional transportation plan. Cities and counties
in rural non-MPO regions must revise their housing elements
every five years (Government Code 65588).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Background : The Joint Exercise of Powers Act provides the basic
legal authority for public entities to create and use JPAs. A
JPA is a new government entity created by the member agencies
but is legally independent from them. Like a joint powers
agreement in which one agency administers the terms of the
agreement, a JPA exercises powers common to the member agencies
and those powers are outlined in the joint powers agreement.
Examples of areas where JPAs are commonly used include
groundwater management, road construction, habitat conservation,
airport expansion, stadium construction, mental health
facilities construction, educational programs, employee benefit
services, insurance coverage, and regional transportation
projects.
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JPAs are formed voluntarily by action of their member agencies
and can exercise only those powers that are common to their
member agencies. JPA meetings are open and are subject to the
Ralph M. Brown Act. As a legally separate public agency a JPA
can sue or be sued, hire staff, obtain financing to build public
facilities, and manage properties.
Public agencies authorized to enter into joint powers agreements
include the federal government or any federal department or
agency, this state, another state or any state department or
agency, a
county, county board of education, county superintendent of
schools, city, public corporation, public district, regional
transportation commission of this state or another state, a
federally recognized Indian tribe, or any joint powers
authority. Special legislation can also authorize certain
nongovernmental organizations to participate in joint powers
agreements, even though they are not public agencies. For
instance, to help nonprofit hospitals keep pace with changes in
the health care industry, the Legislature has allowed them to
enter joint powers agreements to provide health care services in
Fresno, Contra Costa, Kings, Tuolumne, San Diego, and Tulare
counties. Another enacted bill allowed mutual water companies to
enter joint powers agreements with public water agencies.
AB 1403 would authorize a nonprofit corporation that provides
services to homeless persons or for the prevention of
homelessness to form a JPA or enter into a joint powers
agreement with one or more public agencies. The purpose of the
JPA or agreement would be to encourage and ease information
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sharing between the public agencies and nonprofit corporations
specifically to identify frequent users of publicly funded
emergency services in order to provide those users coordinated
care services.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, AB 1403 is needed
to ease the ability of local government agencies and interested
private, nonprofits to share information amongst each other to
identify the most costly homeless individuals and more easily
provide the appropriate services necessary to reduce
homelessness.
Differences between this new agency and a JPA : Under existing
law, JPAs can issue debt and the member agencies could levy
taxes or assessments and contribute those revenues to the JPA's
operation. This bill would prohibit the new JPA formed under
this bill from incurring debt. This bill also provides that the
representation of private nonprofit corporations on the JPA
board will not be more than 50% of the membership.
Housing element provisions : Every local government is required
to prepare a housing element as part of its general plan. The
housing element process starts when HCD determines the number of
new housing units a region is projected to need at all income
levels (very low-, low-, moderate-, and above-moderate income)
over the course of the next housing element planning period to
accommodate population growth and overcome existing deficiencies
in the housing supply. This number is known as the regional
housing needs assessment (RHNA). The Council of Governments
(COG) for the region, or HCD for areas with no COG, then assigns
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a share of the RHNA number to every city and county in the
region based on a variety of factors.
In preparing its housing element, a city or county must show how
it plans to accommodate its share of the RHNA. The housing
element must include an inventory of sites already zoned for
housing. A city or county is required to analyze any special
housing needs for the elderly, persons with disabilities, large
families, farmworkers, female head of households, and persons in
need of emergency shelter.
AB 1403 would require the analysis to include the needs for
frequent user coordinated care housing services. Frequent user
coordinated care housing services is defined as housing combined
with other supportive services for homeless persons that the
city or county has identified as the most costly, frequent users
of publicly funded emergency services. Supportive services
could include but are not limited to a combination of subsidized
permanent housing, intensive case management, medical and mental
health care, substance abuse treatment, employment services, and
benefits advocacy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Housing California
AB 1403
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Easter Seals
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085