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Owners say bill to let businesses recoup cleanup costs would help ease repeated encampment damage
Summary
Assembly Bill 1435 would allow small businesses and property owners to recoup costs from cleanup after unauthorized encampments and illegal dumping; the committee took AB 1435 as a suspense candidate after multiple small-business owners described repeated damage and cleanup expenses.
Assemblymember Wen presented Assembly Bill 1435 as a measure to help small businesses and property owners recoup costs from cleanup after unauthorized encampments and illegal dumping. Wen said the bill aims to assist property owners who have repeatedly paid for cleanup that the speaker described as beyond normal maintenance.
Tina Wen, who identified herself as a restaurant owner, testified she had a homeless encampment next to her business for three years, and said employees and customers faced hazardous waste and syringes. "It costs money to clean that up," she said, urging the committee to support the bill so business owners can recoup some costs.
Lap Liu, a small business and property owner in South Sacramento, described spending thousands on private security, fence repairs and contractor work after vandalism and hazardous dumping near his property. "I've spent thousands out of my pocket just to keep my business going," Liu said. He asked the committee for relief while longer-term solutions for homelessness are developed.
A range of industry groups and local officials registered support, including Union Pacific Railroad, the California Trucking Association, Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange, California Retailers Association and representatives of the Sacramento mayor's office.
Chair Gibson announced AB 1435 is a suspense candidate and referred it to the committee's suspense file; no vote on the bill's merits was taken at the hearing.
