California Building Industry Association

2008 Bill Summaries

CBIA 2008 Legislative Program

SB 1185: Map Extension Measure to Aid Homebuilders, Housing Recovery

SB 1185 (Lowenthal) proposes to extend the life of expiring subdivision maps for a period of two years. Subdivision maps are the principal vehicles used by local governments to “entitle” proposed housing development projects and as activity in the state’s housing markets has ebbed substantially, many of these maps are languishing and are set to expire before they’re needed. If the maps are left to expire, the housing contained in those maps will be taken out of the marketplace, forcing homebuilders to start the time-consuming entitlement process all over again and delaying an awaited housing recovery. SB 1185 is proposed for quick action in the Legislature and, therefore, carries a 2/3 vote requirement.

AB 2604: Simple Fee Deferral to Deliver Relief to Cash-Strapped Builders

Another element of CBIA’s industry-recovery effort at the Capitol calls for a deferral in the payment of millions of dollars in local impact fees. AB 2604 (Torrico) proposes no discount on the fees – typically charged earlier on in the development process – but, instead, seeks to have the requirement to pay them deferred until homes are sold and the cash to pay the fees is in hand. AB 2604 aims at making the fee-payment obligation more manageable until markets improve.

AJR 45: Homebuilders Seek Permanent Increase in Federal Loan Limits

California homebuilders cheered recent action by Congress and the President to increase the federal “conforming loan limit” as a way to stimulate home sales in sluggish, high-cost housing markets like those in California. But, the increase – which means in some California markets lenders can make lower-interest loans for as much as $729,750 as opposed to the previous $417,000 – is only temporary and will expire at the end of this calendar year. CBIA is sponsoring AJR 45 (Coto), a resolution, which calls on Congress and the President to make the conforming loan limit increase permanent.

AB 2219: CBIA-Sponsored Bill to Promote Increased Water Conservation

AB 2219 (Parra) is the CBIA-sponsored measure to promote increased water conservation in new single-family homes. The strategy employed by AB 2219 is to give homebuilders credit for reduced water consumption in proposed subdivisions when local water-supply assessments are being done, pursuant to state law. CBIA is aware that current water-assessment practices often employ out-dated water-consumption models, even when new water-saving technologies are used by homebuilders. AB 2219 ensures that when water consumption is reduced, homebuilders get reasonable credit.

SB 1231: Fire-Safe Subdivisions Promoted in CBIA-Sponsored Measure

Last year’s wildfires in Southern California were devastating – destroying property of all kinds. But, the disaster also revealed that good planning and intelligent design can save homes and save lives. Indeed, over a half-dozen subdivisions in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego escaped harm thanks to the use of fire-safety housing-design strategies such as defensible space and “shelter in place.” SB 1231 (Correa), sponsored by CBIA, seeks to make these strategies the standard in California for building fire-safe subdivisions and to better map the in areas of wildfire risk.

SB 1210: Homebuilder-Backed Bill Advances Incentives for Infill Housing

As California homebuilders ply urban and infill areas for housing development opportunities, they continue to encounter substantial fiscal and legal constraints. While progress is being made to improve infrastructure in these areas, NIMBY lawsuits, supported by continued misappropriation of CEQA, remain a serious obstacle to housing production. SB 1210 (Dutton) seeks, again, to correct these abuses of the law while ensuring that all necessary environmental reviews are done.

SB 1473: CBIA’s Greenbuilding Program to Set Standard for State Codes

Establishing workable standards for greenbuilding in California is the goal of SB 1473 (R. Calderon). Sponsored this year by CBIA, SB 1473 seeks to imbed innovative energy-saving and environmentally friendly construction standards in the state’s homebuilding code. While other greenbuilding programs promise substantial benefits, in fact they don’t work in California. Indeed, the Governor said last year in vetoing one of several bills that embraced these ill-considered standards, “if implemented provisions in this bill would put the health and safety of Californians at risk.” He went on to say greenbuilding standards should be developed by the Building Standards Commission. SB 1473 follows that advice.

AB 2309: Legislation to Measure Carbon Footprint of All Housing

AB 2309 (DeSaulnier) is a CBIA-sponsored measure designed to call attention to the low level of energy efficiency in and, consequently, high rate of carbon emissions coming from existing homes. While several initiatives are aimed at squeezing more savings out the relatively small number of already energy-efficient newly constructed homes, lawmakers and policy makers overlook the poor performance of millions existing homes against the AB 32 carbon-emission-reduction goals. AB 2309 looks to scrutinize that performance and foster better efforts to reduce existing home emissions.

AB 2683: CBIA Seeks Legislation to Protect Homebuyers from Liens

Deficiencies in existing mechanics’ lien law are producing inequitable treatment of buyers of new homes in certain instances and homebuilders will seek to eliminate them. A recent situation in Sacramento, which would make those homebuyers liable for unpaid bills to subcontractors, argues for a change in the law. Accordingly, CBIA is sponsoring legislation in 2008 that would require that title insurance policies sold with new homes include protection for homebuyers against claims made against homebuilders. CBIA will use AB 1574 (Houston) to advance the reform.

Major Builders Council Reforms Remain High Industry Priority

The ongoing legislative objectives of the California Major Builders Council – establishing a workable regional blueprint planning regime and advancing new strategies for management of stormwater runoff – remain top priorities of CBIA in what has become an ambitious legislative program for 2008. SB 303 (Ducheny), last year’s comprehensive land-use reform measure, is standing by as a vehicle to advance a transportation and land-use planning strategy that would serve as a reasonable and workable alternative to SB 375 (Steinberg), a Dream Killer that the homebuilding industry is seeking to amend. Simultaneously, CBIA is working to support CMBC’s efforts to pass AB 938 (C. Calderon), the industry-sponsored measure to encourage state and regional water quality regulatory bodies to adopt new, innovative strategies to managing stormwater runoff, including those that utilize economies and efficiencies of watershed-based approaches.