BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 840|
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                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 840
          Author:   Torres (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM.  :  8-0, 6/14/11
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, 
            Pavley, Simitian
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Rubio

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 5/19/11 (Consent) - See last page 
            for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Farmworker housing

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill clarifies that cities and counties 
          must treat specified employer-provided farmworker housing 
          the same as other agricultural uses in any zone where 
          agricultural uses are allowed.

           ANALYSIS  :    The Employee Housing Act generally provides 
          for the permitting and inspection of employer-provided 
          housing.  Agricultural employers provide the overwhelming 
          majority of employee housing for farmworkers and their 
          families.  

          A portion of the Employee Housing Act provides that any 
          farmworker housing consisting of no more than 12 units or 
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                                                                AB 840
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          2

          spaces, or 36 beds in a group quarters, is considered an 
          agricultural land use.  A city or county may not require a 
          conditional use permit, zoning variance, or other 
          discretionary zoning entitlement for this type of 
          farmworker housing that is not required of any other 
          agricultural activity in the same zone, nor may a city or 
          county impose on such housing any business taxes, local 
          registration fees, use permit fees, or other fees to which 
          other agricultural activities in the same zone are not 
          likewise subject.  Current law also specifies that the 
          permitted occupancy in employee housing in an agricultural 
          zone must include agricultural employees who do not work on 
          the property where the employee housing is located.  The 
          goal of these provisions is to ensure that farmworker 
          housing can be located in areas where farm labor is needed.
           
           This bill clarifies that the provision allowing farmworkers 
          who do not work on the property to occupy employer-provided 
          farmworker housing applies in zones where agricultural uses 
          are allowed among other uses in addition to exclusively 
          agricultural zones.
          
           Comments
           
           Purpose of the bill  .  The current provisions of the 
          Employee Housing Act that deem farmworker housing 
          consisting of no more than 12 units or spaces, or 36 beds 
          in a group quarters, an agricultural land use apply in both 
          exclusively agricultural zones and zones where agricultural 
          uses are allowed among other uses.  One sentence in the law 
          that refers to farmworkers working off the property, 
          however, uses the term "agricultural zone," which some 
          local governments have read to mean that the law applies 
          only in exclusively agricultural zones.

          This bill rephrases this one sentence to clarify generally 
          that cities and counties must treat employer-provided 
          farmworker housing the same as other agricultural uses in 
          any zone where agricultural uses are allowed and, 
          specifically, that farmworkers working off-site may occupy 
          such housing in any zone where agricultural uses are 
          allowed. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   

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                                                                Page 
          3

          Local:  No


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 5/19/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill 
            Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, 
            Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, 
            Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger 
            Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, 
            Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, 
            Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, 
            Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, 
            Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, 
            John A. P�rez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alejo, Gorell


          JJA:mw  6/15/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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