BILL NUMBER: SB 805 CHAPTERED 09/02/99 CHAPTER 308 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 2, 1999 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 1, 1999 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 19, 1999 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 15, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 29, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 17, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 12, 1999 INTRODUCED BY Senator McPherson FEBRUARY 25, 1999 An act to amend Section 50710.1 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 805, McPherson. Migrant farm labor centers. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to contract with local public and private nonprofit agencies to provide housing services, including shelter, education, sanitation, and day care services for migratory agricultural workers, through the development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or operation of a migrant farm labor center. Existing law also authorizes the operation of a migrant farm labor center for an extended period beyond 180 days if specified conditions are met. This bill would revise those specified conditions and would require the department to approve the operation of a center for an extended period and would appropriate $60,000 from the General Fund to the department for the Office of Migrant Services to fund, during the 1999-2000 fiscal year, the extended occupancy periods authorized by the bill. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 50710.1 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 50710.1. (a) If all the development costs of any migrant farm labor center assisted pursuant to this chapter are provided by federal, state, or local grants, and if inadequate funds are available from any federal, state, or local service to write-down operating costs, the department may approve rents for that center which are in excess of rents charged in other centers assisted by the Office of Migrant Services. However, prior to approving these rents, the department shall consider the adequacy of evidence presented by the entity operating the center that the rents reimburse actual, reasonable, and necessary costs of operation. (b) At the end of each fiscal year, any entity operating a migrant farm labor center pursuant to this chapter may establish a reserve account comprised of the excess funds provided through the annual operating contract received from the department, if the department certifies there is no need to address reasonable general maintenance requirements or repairs, rehabilitation, and replacement needs of the requesting migrant farm labor center which affect the immediate health and safety of residents. The cumulative balance of the reserve account shall not exceed 10 percent of the annual operating funds annually committed to the entity by the department. Funds in the reserve account shall be used only for capital improvements such as replacing or repairing structural elements, furniture, fixtures, or equipment of the migrant farm labor center, the replacement or repair of which are reasonably required to preserve the migrant farm labor center. Withdrawals from the reserve account shall be made only upon the written approval of the department of the amount and nature of expenditures. (c) A migrant farm labor center governed by this chapter may be operated for an extended period beyond 180 days after approval by the department, provided that all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) No additional subsidies provided by the department are used for the operation or administration of the migrant farm center during the extended occupancy period except to the extent that state funds are appropriated or authorized for the purpose of funding all or part of the cost of subsidizing extended occupancy periods during the first 14 days only. (2) Rents are not to be increased above the rents charged during the period immediately prior to the extended occupancy period unless the department finds that an increase is necessary to cover the difference between reasonable operating costs necessary to keep the center open during the extended occupancy period and the amount of state funds available pursuant to paragraph (1) and any contributions from agricultural employers or other federal, local, or private sources. These contributions shall not be used to reduce the amount of state funds that otherwise would be made available to the center to subsidize rents during an extended occupancy period. (3) In no event shall the rent during the extended occupancy period exceed the average daily operating cost of the center, less any subsidy funds available pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2). Households representing at least 25 percent of the units in the center shall have indicated their desire and intention to remain in residency during an extended occupancy period by signing a petition to the local entity to keep the center open for an extended period at rents that are the same or higher than rents during the regular period of occupancy. Each household shall receive a clear bilingual notice describing the extended occupancy options attached to the lease. The Legislature finds and declares that because the number of residents may be substantially reduced during the extended occupancy period, a rent increase may be necessary to cover operating costs. It is the intent of the Legislature that the public sector, private sector, and farmworkers should each play an important role in ensuring the financial viability of this important source of needed housing. (4) An extended occupancy period is requested by an entity operating the migrant farm labor center and received by the department no earlier than 30 days and no later than 15 days prior to the center's scheduled closing date. The department shall notify the entity and petitioning residents of the final decision no later than seven days prior to the center's scheduled closing date. During the extended occupancy period, occupancy shall be limited to migrant farmworkers and their families who resided at a migrant center during the regular period of occupancy. (5) Before approving or denying an extension and establishing the rents for the extended occupancy period, both of which shall be within the sole discretion of the department, the department shall take into consideration all of the following factors: (A) The structural and physical condition of the center, including water and sewer pond capacity and the capacity and willingness of the local entity to operate the center during the extended occupancy period. (B) Whether local approvals are required, and whether there are competing demands for the use of the center's facilities. (C) Whether there is adequate documentation that there is a need for residents of the migrant center to continue work in the area, as confirmed by the local entity. (D) The climate during the extended occupancy period. (E) The amount of subsidy funds available that can be allocated to each center to subsidize rents below the operating costs and the cost of operating each center during the extended occupancy period. (F) The extended occupancy period is deemed necessary for the health and safety of the migrant farmworkers and their families. (G) Other relevant factors affecting the migrant farmworkers and their families and the operation of the centers. (6) The rents collected during the extended occupancy period shall be remitted to the department. However, based on financial records to the satisfaction of the department, the department may reduce the amount to be remitted by an amount it determines the local entity has expended during the extended occupancy period that is not being reimbursed by department funds. (7) The occupancy during the extended occupancy period represents a new tenancy and is not subject to existing and statutory and regulatory limitations governing rents. Prior to the beginning of the extended occupancy period, residents shall be provided at least two days' advance written notice of any rent increase and of the expected length of the extended occupancy period, including the scheduled date of closure of the center, and prior to being eligible for residency during the extended occupancy period, residents shall sign rental documents deemed necessary by the department. (d) The Legislature finds and declares that variable annual climates and changing agricultural techniques create an inability to accurately predict the end of a harvest season for the purposes of housing migrant farmworkers and their families. Because of these factors, in any part of this state, and in any specific year, one or more migrant farmworker housing centers governed by this chapter need to remain open for up to two additional weeks to allow the residents to provide critical assistance to growers in harvesting crops while also fulfilling work expectations that encouraged them to migrate to the areas of the centers. In addition, if the centers close prematurely, the migrant farmworkers often must remain in the areas to work for up to two weeks. During this time they will not be able to obtain decent, safe, and affordable housing and the health and safety of their families and the surrounding community will be threatened. The Legislature therefore finds and declares that, for the purposes of any public or private right, obligation, or authorization related to the use of property and improvements thereon as a 180-day migrant center, an extended use of any housing center governed by this chapter pursuant to this section is deemed to be the same as the 180-day use generally authorized by this chapter. SEC. 2. The sum of sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Housing and Community Development for the Office of Migrant Services for the purpose of funding during the 1999-2000 fiscal year the extended occupancy periods authorized by subdivision (c) of Section 50710.1 of the Health and Safety Code, as amended by Section 1 of this act. This appropriation shall be in addition to any sums allocated to the Office of Migrant Services in the Budget Act of 1999. SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to overcome the delay of the 1999 agricultural season due to the 1998-99 winter freezes and the heavy rains in early 1999 and make funds available so that migrant farmworkers and their families will be able to obtain housing to complete the harvest before the end of the 1999 growing season, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.