AgdaPkt 2005-09-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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9� -� State Fiscal Reform. While the governor called a special session to deal with this issue, and proposed a legistative altemative to Proposition 76, there was no movement on his proposal. Hearings produced testimony from detractors to the govemor's ideas, but no serious altematives. It should be noted that the special sessions called by the govemor on both fiscal reform and pension reform have not recessed. While not expected, the governor could again activate these during the legislative interim this fall. Housing Reform. A number of ideas surfaced in this area this year, with proposals from Business, Transportation and Housing Secretary Sunne McPeak, Senate Pro Tempore Don Perata and a number of other legislators. The League also worked hard on this issue, with its HousinglGeneral Plan Task Force conducting intense discussions over many months with representatives of the building industry in an effort to identify changes to the housing approval process and new sources of funding that cities need to pay for local services and infrastructure. These reform discussions are still ongoing, and will continue throughout the fall and into next year. One measure that did pass, however, was SB 575 (Torlakson), which restricts local abiliry to unreasonably deny affordable housing developments. The bill is the result of discussions between a task force of city attomeys and housing advocates to update existing state anti-NIMBY law. The measure now tightens existing law to limit local denials of affordable housing developments, and authorizes courts to impose fines on those communities when courts deem their actions to be in "bad faith." Central to the success of this effort was the goodwill demonstrated by Sen. Torlakson, who agreed to delete controversial elements that collaborative discussions could occur. Eminent Domain. This issue surfaced in late June, in reaction to the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Kelo vs. New London, where the media and some legislators erroneously interpreted as an expansion of state and local governments' eminent domain authority. In response, Sen. Tom McClintock introduced SCA 15, along with more than 40-co-authors. The proposed constitutional amendment would prohibit the use of eminent domain for any property that will not be owned and occupied by a govemment agency. The measure was opposed by the League, the Westem Center on Law and Poverty, the Califomia Redevelopment Association (CRA), and a number of individual cities. Although SCA 15 did not move out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the issue was the topic of numerous hearings. Various other legislative proposals were also introduced. The Senate Local Govemment Committee held an oversight hearing on the Kelo case, and heard testimony from property rights advocates who argued strenuousty that reforms to the eminent domain process were badly needed. Two virtually identical measures, AB 1162 (Mullin) and SB 1026 (Kehce), would have imposed a iwo-year moratorium on the use of eminent domain for owner-occupied housing, during which time the state would undertake a study of how eminent domain was applied in Califomia. The measures appeared to gain momentum during the final days of the Session, but eventually stalled. Interim hearings on the eminent domain issue will occur during the fall. Meanwhile, it is anticipated that Senator McClintock may begin efforts to qualify the contents of his SCA 15 as an initiative measure in 2006. 4