Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City staff outlines state legislative bills of interest, flags parking and housing measures
Summary
Communications Director Carmen Palmer briefed the council on a range of state bills under consideration that could affect parking regulation, housing elements, judicial accountability and other issues; the city has submitted feedback on selected measures and has sent opposition letters where noted.
City communications director Carmen Palmer gave the council an update on state legislative activity, highlighting several bills that could affect local regulation and planning.
Palmer said the Legislature is at the committee cutoff and that many bills will die if they do not move out of committee by Friday. She called the volume of introduced bills an "avalanche" and said staff are focusing on those that are moving. On parking regulation, Palmer noted House Bill 1491 (transportation-oriented development) and Senate Bill 5184, the latter of which already moved out of committee. Palmer said the city sent a message to its two senators in the 25th and 31st districts expressing opposition because the bill could limit the city's ability to require parking stalls in some contexts, such as certain affordable housing projects, which the city said could shift parking pressure to surrounding businesses and streets.
Palmer also mentioned House Bill 5148 (housing element changes) that would send housing elements of comprehensive plans to the state, and that the mayor signed in opposition for the city's hearing on that measure. She described House Bill 1252 (accountability for judges with pretrial release) and said Deputy Chief McCurdy testified in favor of that bill at a hearing; local TV (Fox 13) aired a clip of the deputy chief's testimony. Palmer flagged House Bill 1710 as a newly scheduled hearing that, in her words, could increase litigation risk for local governments by expanding voter challenges to election outcomes.
Palmer said the city submitted a local capital projects request for Stuart Road bridge funding to Representative Silksbury and Senator Fortunato and that staff are planning legislator visits in March. She closed by noting staff will return with a more focused update after the committee cutoff.
