California’s 2021 Legislative Session: End of Session Review

As we reflect back on the 2021 legislative session, we recognize the unusual challenges but also the many wins we achieved through the State Budget as well as many key bills signed into law. Please find NPH’s summary analysis of the state budget from the end of June here. Below is a summary of key bills signed into law.

About NPH-Sponsored Bills: In May, AB 528 (Wicks) (Utilizing Tax Defaulted Properties for Affordable Housing), co-sponsored with the City of Oakland, was stalled in Assembly Appropriations. AB 1271 (Ting) (Surplus Land Act), co-sponsored with EBHO, San Diego Housing Federation, and Public Interest Law Project, became a two year bill. 

Want to help NPH shape our policy priorities next year? Then join our Legislative Issues Working Group! (NPH working groups are for members only. Click here to become a member and click here to join our Legislative Issues Working Group.)

Below is a summary of key housing bills signed into law:

The following are NPH-supported bills:

• SB 8 (Skinner): Extends the provisions of the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 through 2030. The Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which was scheduled to expire in 2025, accelerates the approval process for housing projects, curtails local governments’ ability to downzone and limits fee increases on housing applications, and more.
  
• SB 9 (Atkins): Streamlines the process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot in all residential areas.
  
• SB 478 (Wiener): Prohibits a local government from imposing certain floor area ratio (FAR) standards on housing projects of 3-10 units.
  
• AB 1466 (McCarty): Requires county recorder offices to redact any unlawfully discriminatory restrictive covenants in that county’s property records and authorizes the imposition of a fee to fund the program.
  
• AB 1584 (Chiu): Gives descendants of people previously displaced by San Francisco urban renewal and other redevelopment projects priority in state affordable housing programs. “As residents displaced by redevelopment have gotten older, it makes sense to extend this program to their children and grandchildren so a new generation has the opportunity to afford to live in San Francisco,” said Assemblyman Chiu.

• SB 791 (Cortese): Creates the Surplus Land Unit within the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to facilitate the development and construction of housing on local surplus property.

• AB 602 (Grayson): Adds new requirements to impact fee nexus studies. Requires cities and counties to request certain information from development proponents and requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to develop a nexus study template.

• SB 591 (Becker): Allows affordable housing developers to build intergenerational housing serving seniors and transition age youth. Co-sponsored by NPH member EAH Housing and the City of Emeryville.

Housing bills of interest (not NPH-sponsored bills):

• SB 10 (Wiener) Creates a voluntary process for local governments to access a streamlined zoning process for new multi-unit housing near transit or in urban infill areas, with up to 10 units per parcel.
  
• AB 1584 (Chiu)Gives descendants of people previously displaced by San Francisco urban renewal and other redevelopment projects priority in state affordable housing programs. “As residents displaced by redevelopment have gotten older, it makes sense to extend this program to their children and grandchildren so a new generation has the opportunity to afford to live in San Francisco,” said Assemblyman Chiu.
  
• AB 816 (Chiu) Requires HCD to allocate National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) monies to projects serving individuals experiencing homelessness, to the extent that a sufficient number of projects exist. Authorizes HCD to alter priority for funding in order to align eligibility for benefits, such as Medi-Cal, that are intended to fund services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
  
• AB 215 (Chiu) Provides the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) with additional enforcement authority for local agency violations of specified housing laws and increases public review for housing elements.