Sacramento, CA – On Wednesday, Governor Newsom announced he would sign into law SB 1037, a strong housing enforcement bill sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta and authored by Senator Scott Wiener.
The bill strengthens the Attorney General’s ability to enforce state housing law with fines against cities that commit egregious violations of the law. This heightened enforcement will create stronger incentives for cities to comply with state housing laws.
“When we pass state housing laws, we mean it, and when cities flagrantly violate these laws, they must know they will face consequences,” said Senator Wiener.
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.
“California has made remarkable progress reforming our broken housing approvals system in recent years, but our housing laws are only as strong as our enforcement,” the Senator said. “Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta have shown tremendous leadership holding cities like Elk Grove accountable for illegally blocking housing production.”
He added, “I’m thrilled that the Governor is continuing that commitment to meeting California’s housing goals by vowing to sign SB 1037 into law to provide the Attorney General with better tools for swift accountability when cities engage in egregious violations.”
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.
SB 1037 applies only in jurisdictions that have acted arbitrarily, not to cities that make good faith errors. The fines generated by the bill’s civil penalties will be deposited into an affordable housing fund for use in the offending city.
