PCL Insider – May 2019

Announcing the PCL Watchlist!

Visit pcl.org/watchlist to learn more about the bills we are tracking in the California Legislature.

PCL is proud to announce that our legislative watchlist is now available for you to visit on our website. This watchlist is composed of a list of bills we are actively working on or tracking in the California legislature. We are actively tracking 100 bills ranging on topics of CEQA, land use, transportation, water, climate change, and more. We are also proud to announce the release of the PCL Legislative Scorecard which ranks California legislators based on their support of PCL’s work. You can visit and learn more about the scorecard here.

Here’s a spotlight of our top priority bills (support or oppose):

  • AB 36 – Reforms the Costa Hawkins Act, to remove the prohibition of jurisdictions adopting rent stabilization ordinances for buildings built after 1995.
  • AB 600 – Each city/county/district is required to develop a plan on how to improve water, wastewater, and storm-water services for areas lacking adequate service, in coordination with their respective Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
  • AB 782 – The bill would add a section establishing a statutory exemption for acquisition, sale, or other transfer by a public agency for the purposes of conservation of natural/historic resources.
  • AB 1481 – Requires that landlords must have a “Just Cause” for termination of tenancy, and sets notification requirement for such termination.
  • AB 1482 – Landlords may not increase rent more than 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living.
  • SB 1 – Previously SB 49: incorporating parts of the federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and worker protections into CA law.
  • SB 25 – Would establish a severe expedited judicial review of the environmental review of projects in federally designated “Opportunity Zones.” – OPPOSE
  • SB 45 – A climate resilience bond proposal
  • SB 200 – This bill would establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury, and methods for its appropriation and distribution.
  • SB 307 – This bill would prohibit the transferring of water from a groundwater basin underlying a desert unless the Department of Fish and Wildlife finds that the transfer of the water will not adversely affect the federal and state land. Relates to the proposed Cadiz water mining project in the Mojave Desert.
  • SB 384 – Contains expedited judicial review on injunctive relief for CEQA challenges to housing development projects with 50+ units. – OPPOSE
  • SB 526 –  Enacts recommendations from the Air Resources Board report on the progress of SB 375 (2008): requires Sustainable Communities Strategies to meet California climate and equity goals and for the CA Transportation Commission to prioritize funding of VMT reducing projects.
  • SB 669 – An alternative proposal for a Safe Drinking Water Fund, with an unreliable funding source that would cover many communities in need. – OPPOSE

We hope that our Watchlist and Scorecard will help you be informed about the policy process that is currently happening at the Legislature. Feel free to send any questions you have regarding the bills and the legislative process to legteam@pcl.org or through our contact form.

Click here to learn how you can get involved in helping us with these bills!