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8"a -23 Legislative Bill Action ................................ ............................... prevailing public entity, by authorizing a court to award damages to "any other prevailing defendant, intervenor, or real party in interest". This provision would allow the attorneys fees and damages to be paid to another party. Given that the sponsors have sought to obtain damages against local governments in prior bills, this language may be a precursor to a more direct effort to pursue dam- ages against local governments. The subject of "intervenors" receiving attorneys fees was raised by advocates with last year's SB 910 (Dunn). 4) Authorizes a lawsuit to be filed, and man- dates attorney fees, against a local government if it fails to provide an annual report on the status of its housing element to OPR and HCD. Although numerous local governments comply with this mandate, others have not partially because the state has not developed the forms as required by statute. In 1994, (SB 51, c. 1235) required HCD to prepare forms and definitions for this purpose and deliver them to the local legislative body by July 1, of each year; this has not yet occurred. 5) Prohibits the Coastal Commission from proposing density reductions below the density sought by the applicant, including density bonuses. Prohibits the commission from applying standards or conditions that would preclude the construction of second units at a defined "affordable housing cost" (an income -based formula applied to state subsidized housing, including criteria for extremely low income households at 30 percent of 30 percent of median income). This is "apples and oranges" formula where a housing subsidy definition is being applied to the cost of actual construction. This is the same formula that is being attempted to be applied to local second unit ordinances in AB 1160 (Steinberg). 6) Makes a number of proposed changes to the existing Cal -Home Program at HCD, a first -time homebuyer program, which can be administered by either public agencies or non profits. This program was allocated $205 million in the recent housing bond. Most of the changes appear oriented toward making the program more flexible to applicants. Other than the potential changes to the Cal- Home program, the rest of the bill is an aggressive move against local control. With the 150 -unit project/150% of median income threshold, many communities will be left with no opportunity for public hearings on most housing and mixed -use development projects. What happened to open.. government? Please have your city attorney read this bill extremely closely. The themes and lan- guage in this bill must also be reviewed for the many ways in which it is interwoven with other legislation drafted by legal aid advocates in SB 744 (Dunn), AB 1426 (Steinberg), AB 1160 (Steinberg) and with recognition of the effects of last year's AB 1866 (Wright). This measure will be reviewed at the upcoming League policy meeting of the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee. Staff: Dan Carrigg, Status: Assigned to Senate Housing Committee and Rules Committee, Position: Re- view and Comment SB 341 (Senate Committee on Local Gov- ernment) This bill revises and updates Public Cemetery District Law. This measure is the work of an interim task force of interested stakeholders convened by the staff of the Senate Committee on Local Government. Jack Stewart, City Manager, California City, who presented a summary of the task force's work at the January meeting of the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee, represented the League on this task force. Revising and updating this law in a consen- sus fashion will eliminate confusion that can result from outdated laws. Staff: Dan Carrigg, Status: Senate Local Government, Set April 2nd. Position: Support. AB 1192 (Dutra) Density Reduction: Devel- oper Relief. This bill allows a local government to reduce densities for a parcel if, within 30 days, it initiates action designed to achieve sufficient additional, adequate, and available sites. The bill also prohibits a local government from imposing any requirement on the property owner, the owner's agent, or a project applicant with respect to prop- erty that is subject to a reduction in residential density in connection with meeting the requirement for additional sites. Visit the League's Official Web Site -- www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS /PAGE 9