By Vanguard Staff
Sacramento, CA – On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 1037, authored by Senator Scott Wiener and sponsored by Attorney General Bonta to enhance the Attorney General’s ability to seek civil penalties in court against local governments that violate state housing law.
Loopholes currently allow cities to delay and ultimately evade fines for violations of state housing law, even deeply bad faith violations. SB 1037 closes these loopholes and creates incentive for cities to follow the law.
The committee supported the bill on a 9-2 vote.
“We’ve made great progress reforming California’s housing laws, but some cities continue to dodge compliance because they know they can easily escape fines even if they force the state to sue and even if they lose the lawsuit,” said Senator Wiener. “This bill allows the Attorney General to hold cities acting in bad faith accountable, removing critical blocks to the pipeline of desperately needed affordable housing.”
SB 1037 enhances the Attorney General’s ability to seek civil penalties in court against local governments that violate state housing law. Currently, when a court finds a locality in violation of state housing law, monetary penalties can only be imposed 60 days, or in some cases up to a year, after a court has ordered compliance.
Local governments thus have no real incentive to follow the law since they can force the state to sue, lose, and then simply remedy the violation at that point and avoid penalties. This is a huge waste of taxpayer resources and undermines California’s housing goals.
Under SB 1037, the Attorney General can instead seek penalties that are assessed from the date that the housing law violation began. Those penalties would be earmarked for affordable housing in the same jurisdiction.
SB 1037 applies to local governments that refuse to adopt a compliant housing element and/or violate a ministerial approval law. If enacted, SB 1037 will subject violators to a minimum civil penalty of $10,000 per month, and not to exceed $50,000 per month, for each violation calculated from the date the violation started. The penalty money would be earmarked to support the development of affordable housing located in the affected jurisdiction.
Under the state’s Housing Element Law, every city and county in California must periodically update its housing plan to meet its share of the regional and statewide housing needs. Laws requiring “ministerial,” or streamlined, approval include Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22, which allow homeowners to add accessory dwelling units, as well as Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 concerning affordable housing projects located in commercial zones. Ministerial review is where public officials, such as local planning staff, ensure that a proposed development meets all applicable objective standards for a proposed action.
