August 2024 marks the last month of the 2023-2024 California State Legislative Session. So far, Black legislators have already successfully chaptered about 100 bills that have been signed into law across areas that include health, transportation, the environment, commerce, co-labor and the workforce, justice, and education.
There are still more than 300 bills being actively considered by the California Assembly and California Senate this month. Below is a review of selected bills surrounding housing, elections and voting rights as initially proposed.
ELECTIONS & VOTING
Safety, Security and Campaign Funds
California Senator Steven Bradford has proposed SB-1328: Elections. The bill seeks to increase the security of the voting process. The bill regulates the technology around voting. In addition, county and local election officials would be required to preserve all paper and electronic federal election records for 22 months.
State Assemblymember Mia Bonta has introduced AB-2041: Political Reform Act of 1974: Campaign Funds: Security Expenses. If passed, the bill would mean that campaign funds could be used to ensure the safety of elected officials and candidates who contend with great opposition. Also related to funding,
Assemblymember Tina McKinnor proposed with AB-2911: Campaign Contributions: Agency Officers which regulates donations to agency officers which could be returned to donors who might benefit from the granting of permits or licenses.
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Voting Rights
Assemblymember Isaac Bryan introduced AB-544: Voting Pilot Program: County Jails. This pilot would allow citizens within jails selected for the pilot to exercise voting rights and “the bill would require the county sheriff or jail facility administrator to designate an employee as a voting coordinator at each facility.” This would expand voter access to incarcerated individuals who retain the right to vote.
Seeking change at California’s constitutional level, Isaac Bryan’s ACA-4: Elections: Eligibility to Vote is a proposed amendment that expands the eligibility requirements for California voters in ways that could invigorate electorate voting across the State.
EDUCATION
College Funding and HBCUs
AB-25: Student Financial Aid: Middle Class Scholarship Program aims to redefine the scope of existing legislation to include requirements for how and when scholarships are funded by the Department of Finance.
Pathways to College: Dual Enrollment, Allied Health Programs, Cal-Bridge, CCC to UC Transfers
Addressing the need for greater access and streamlined options for high school students, State Assemblymember Christopher Holden authored AB-359: Pupil Instruction: Dual Enrollment: College and Career Access Pathways Partnerships which modifies existing legislation to expand dual enrollment in ways that increase access for all students and remove existing administrative barriers for enrollment.
Concerning the mandated Community Colleges: Student Equity Plan, AB-2403, by Assemblymember Bonta, proposes modifications to existing requirements for campuses getting funding. The new law would require more details and clarity on how funds are being spent across campus units that contribute to student equity toward “improving access, retention, and completion rates for underrepresented students.”
HOUSING
Affordable and Income-Responsive Housing
An income-responsive bill in support of labor unions and worker rights is Holden’s AB-1017: Homelessness: Striking Worker Emergency Homelessness Prevention Program. It provides “temporary financial assistance and housing support” for seasons when workers are involved in labor disputes. Also concerned with low income residents maintaining shelter,
Bonta introduced AB-846: Low-Income Housing Credit: Rent Increases, which would modify the low-income housing credit in ways that limit rent hikes, “ensuring that low-income tenants are protected from excessive rent hikes.”
Bonta also proposed AB-1321: California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Grant Program for providing neighborhood and community support services at the local level.
College Housing and Unhoused College Students
Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson introduced AB-1818: Public Postsecondary Education: Overnight Student Parking as “a pilot program to allow overnight parking for students at public postsecondary institutions, addressing the needs of homeless students who may be living out of their vehicles.”
Toward the housing of college students, in 2022 legislators passed the law to allow zero interest loans to colleges and universities for low income housing for students. However it seems that the funds accumulated for this purpose have not been fully allocated.
The new law proposed by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, AB-2076: California Student Housing Revolving Loan Fund Act of 2022: State Fund Loan, would requires the Controller to “transfer $200,000,000 in the 2024–25 fiscal year to the California Student Housing Revolving Loan Fund from the Surplus Money Investment Fund and other funds in the Pooled Money Investment Account that accrue interest to the General Fund” so that affordable housing projects for students can commence.
Administrative Continuity and Ongoing Solutions
AB-86 and AB-2338: Homelessness: Statewide Homelessness Coordinator, State Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer proposed the creation of a position to manage and centralize efforts to abate homelessness.
With AB-1801: Supportive Housing: Administrative Office Space, Jackson introduced a bill that would allow “supportive housing developments to include administrative office space, ensuring that services can be effectively managed and delivered on-site.”
Toward institutional change, Bryan proposed AB-2187: Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections. The bill presents as justification that “California has the second highest rate of renters in the United States, with 46 percent of households renting their homes. That number is even higher in Los Angeles, with around 62 percent of households being renters,” and “Californians spend at least one-third of their paycheck on rent” while “twenty percent of California renters spend over one-half of their paycheck on rent.”
If passed, Californians would witness the creation of a statewide government unit that is dedicated to the advocacy and protection of tenants in California with resources to help prevent unfair evictions.
Next Steps
Legislative activity in our California State Capital is in high gear as elected officials work to get laws passed before closing session deadlines at the end of the month. You can follow this activity by visiting https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
