BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 562|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 562
Author: Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
Amended: 3/29/11
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/12/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Rubio, Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Transportation and Housing Committee omnibus
bill of 2011
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes non-controversial changes to
sections of law relating to housing.
ANALYSIS : This bill includes the following provisions:
1. CDLAC cleanup �Section 1] . The California Debt Limit
Allocation Committee (CDLAC) administers the tax-exempt
private activity bond program for the state. Current
law states that if a bond issuer that received a private
activity bond allocation from CDLAC ultimately issues
bonds in an amount less than what was awarded by CDLAC,
then a proportional share of a performance deposit held
for that issuance shall be forfeited to CDLAC. The
intent of the performance deposit is to insure that bond
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issuers make use of the limitedly available private
activity bond allocation awarded to them for a given
project or program. The reality of project finance is
that the funding sources are often in-flux up to the day
of bond issuance, so bond issuers will often apply to
CDLAC for an allocation amount slightly above what they
believe at the time they may eventually need. This
slight difference is the industry norm and reduces the
need for the bond issuer to reapply to CDLAC for small
amounts of additional allocation if needed.
Historically, CDLAC's policy has been that if the
issuance amount was at least 80 percent of the awarded
allocation amount, then no portion of the performance
deposit would be forfeited. The amendments revise
statute to reflect this past CDLAC practice.
CDLAC also seeks to clarify its option to waive the
forfeiture of the performance deposit when some portion
of the bonds have been issued if the committee should
determine there is good cause to do so. Existing
statute only provides for this discretion when none of
the bonds have been issued. This creates a situation
where an applicant may be able to have its performance
deposit returned if no bonds are issued but cannot have
it returned if a portion of the bonds are issued. The
amendments provide CDLAC with the ability to return the
deposit when less than 100 percent of the allocation
amount is issued but not when no bonds are issued.
�Diane Stanton, State Treasurer's Office]
2. Manufactured Home Recovery Fund �Section 2] .
Legislative amendments in 2004 expanded the ability of
aggrieved buyers and sellers of manufactured homes to
file claims and simplified some processes, and the
current economy has created additional purchase and
sales problems. Currently, there is roughly $800,000 in
the Manufactured Home Recovery Fund but roughly the same
amount of pending claims. When the fund runs low on
cash, it reduces the timeliness of potential payments
when claims are found to be valid and has a spiraling
effect on even later claims. Current law that has been
in place for 30 years, however, allows for a reduction
in the fee whenever the balance exceeds $1 million. The
amendments increase the threshold at which fees may be
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reduced from $1 million to $2 million. �Mark Stivers,
Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
3. Mobilehome Parks Act cleanup �Sections 3, 4, and 5] .
The Mobilehome Parks Act governs health and safety
issues in mobilehome parks. The act includes an
outdated term that is no longer used: commercial coach.
The modern term is commercial modular. The amendments
update the definitions in the act to reflect this modern
term. �Deborah Gore, Department of Housing and
Community Development]
4. Special Occupancy Parks Act cross reference �Section
6] . Current law makes various violations of the Special
Occupancy Parks Act a misdemeanor. When issuing a
citation, an enforcement agency must include a statement
about the relevant penalties. Current statute contains
an incorrect cross-reference to the existing penalty
section. The amendments corrects this cross-reference.
�Deborah Gore, Department of Housing and Community
Development]
5. Repeal outdated statute on Redding Veterans' Home
�Section 7] . Current law allows redevelopment agencies
in Shasta County to borrow and use up to $2,300,000 from
their Low and Moderate Income Housing Funds to provide
financial assistance for the acquisition of property for
a veterans home in the City of Redding. This land has
been purchased with non-redevelopment funds, and the
home is currently under construction. This section is
no longer needed. The amendments repeal this obsolete
section of law. �Peter Detwiler, Senate Local
Government Committee]
6. Seismic Safety Retrofits �Section 8] . Current law
dealing with seismic safety retrofit rehabilitation or
alternations relies on building code references no
longer adopted in California. The amendments update the
requirements to refer to current building codes in use
in California. �Mark Stivers, Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee]
7. Strong Motion Instrumentation Fee cleanup �Sections 9
and 10] . Current law requires each applicant for a
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building permit to pay a minimal fee (1/100th or 2/100th
of a percent of the value of the work) to support
earthquake mapping work. Two separate sections of law
require that these fee revenues be deposited into the
Strong-Motion Instrumentation and Seismic Hazards
Mapping Fund. The amendments combine these two
repetitive sections into one. �Mark Stivers, Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
Comments
Purpose of the bill . The Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee is authoring this bill as a means of combining
multiple, non-controversial changes to statutes into one
bill, so that the Legislature can make minor amendments in
a cost-effective manner. There is no known opposition to
any item in the bill, and if concerns arise that cannot be
resolved, the provision of concern will be deleted from the
bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
RJG:kc 5/3/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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