BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 725|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 725
Author: Lieber (D) and DeVore (R), et al
Amended: 8/11/08 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-4, 3/11/08
AYES: Lowenthal, Cedillo, Corbett, Kehoe, Simitian,
Torlakson, Yee
NOES: McClintock, Ashburn, Dutton, Harman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/10/08
AYES: Corbett, Kuehl, Steinberg
NOES: Harman, Ackerman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-20, 1/29/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Universal rental housing application
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Housing and
Community Development convene the first meeting of a
working group consisting of specified governmental agencies
and private associations, as specified, to draft a uniform
subsidized affordable housing application, and requires the
Department of Housing and Community Development take other
specified actions upon the development of a uniform
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application.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/11/08 require state agencies
that provide subsidies for affordable housing to award
additional points in the competition for housing subsidies
to those applicants that agree to use the uniform
application developed under this bill.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires a California Statewide
Housing Plan to be developed in cooperation with the
private housing industry as well as regional and local
housing and planning agencies and other agencies of the
state.
This bill:
1. Requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD), on or before April 1, 2009, to
convene a first meeting of a working group to draft a
uniform subsidized affordable housing application.
2. Requires HCD invite organizations representing
subsidized affordable housing providers, including, but
not limited to:
A. Affordable Housing Management Association of
Northern California.
B. Affordable Housing Management
Association-Pacific Southwest.
C. The Aging Services of California.
D. The Apartment Association, Southern California
Cities.
E. The California Apartment Association.
F. The California Association of Realtors.
G. The California Housing Consortium.
H. Housing California.
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I. The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern
California.
J. The Southern California Association of Nonprofit
Housing.
3. Allows the working group to organize itself as it
chooses and schedule future meetings, and specifies that
nothing in the bill requires HCD to participate in the
working group or to pay the travel or other expenses of
any person attending any meeting of the working group.
4. Requires HCD, if the working group develops a draft
uniform application, to do each of the following:
A. Review the draft for compliance with HCD policy
and, if the draft does not comply, return it to the
working group to make the necessary changes.
B. Add a statement that the uniform application is
available in a downloadable text file format and in
formats accessible to people with disabilities on
HCD's web site.
C. Provide the draft to the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing, which will review the draft
for compliance with the fair housing statutes, make
any necessary changes, and return the draft to HCD.
D. Provide the completed uniform application to the
State Council on Developmental Disabilities, which
shall do all of the following:
(1)
Select a contractor, to be paid an amount not
to exceed $4,000, to develop two accessible
formats of the uniform application, one in plain
English with large font, and the other in plain
English with large font and color illustrations.
(2)
Require the contractor to conduct at least
one test with a focus group of persons with
diverse disabilities.
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(3)
Review and approve the accessible formats
developed by the contractor and provide them to
HCD.
E. Post the application in a downloadable text file
format, including, but not limited to, in the formats
accessible to people with disabilities, on the
department's Internet web site.
F. Reconvene the working group in the future as
necessary to draft revisions in the uniform
application to comply with changes in law or in the
requirements of federal or state funding agencies.
5. Requires HCD, the California Tax Credit Allocation
Committee, and the California Housing Finance Agency to
do the following once HCD has met its requirements in #4
above:
A. Inform current and future recipients of state
affordable housing subsidies of the existence of
the uniform application, where the application is
located on the Internet web site, and the goals of
the uniform application.
B. Award additional points to future funding
applicants who agree to distribute and accept the
uniform application.
6. States that nothing in the bill requires a housing
provider to use the uniform application or shall prevent
a housing provider from requesting additional
information from rental applicants.
7. Provides that HCD's adoption of the uniform rental
housing application is not to be subject to the
Administrative Procedure Act and states that nothing in
the bill authorizes HCD to adopt or amend any
regulation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/08)
Apartment Association, Southern California Cities
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Apartment Association
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Disabled Resources Center
Housing California
Independent Living Specialists/Tri-County Independent
Living
League of California Cities
Service Center for Independent Living
Silicon Valley Independent Living Center
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Southern California Rehabilitation Services, Inc.
State Council on Developmental Disabilities
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Westside Center for Independent Living
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
"Because there is such an acute shortage of affordable
housing in California, low-income renters seeking
subsidized housing often must apply to many developments
at once in order to put their names on lengthy waiting
lists. It can be challenging to determine whether
vacancies exist or to even locate an application. When
there are vacancies, applicants must fill out a different
application for each development, even though nearly
identical information is requested for each unit.
"This lack of uniformity increases the amount of time and
inconvenience that prospective low-income renters face,
and can be a serious obstacle for persons with
disabilities, those who have limited English, and
seniors. A standardized universal housing application is
needed to streamline the bureaucratized process of
finding affordable homes."
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Berg, Brownley,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Coto, De La Torre,
De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Dymally, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Galgiani, Garcia, Hancock,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Huffman, Jones, Karnette,
Krekorian, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma,
Mendoza, Mullin, Nava, Parra, Portantino, Price, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Spitzer, Swanson, Torrico, Tran,
Wolk, Nunez
NOES: Anderson, Benoit, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Duvall,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, Maze,
Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia, Silva, Smyth, Strickland,
Villines, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Adams, Cook, Davis, Houston, Jeffries,
Sharon Runner, Soto, Vacancy
JJA:mw 8/11/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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