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Senate committee advances bill to clarify RV‑removal pilot for L.A. and Alameda counties
Summary
The Senate Public Safety Committee on June 10 advanced AB 647, a technical fix to last year’s pilot allowing local agencies in Los Angeles and Alameda counties to dismantle impounded inoperable recreational vehicles valued at $4,000 or less. Supporters say it enables quicker removal of public‑health hazards; opponents warned it could target people living in vehicles without housing help.
Senator Jesse Adegene, chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, presented AB 647 on behalf of Assemblymember Mark Gonzales, saying the bill corrects a drafting error in last year’s AB 630 so that local agencies in Los Angeles and Alameda counties can implement a pilot allowing certain impounded, inoperable recreational vehicles to be dismantled and disposed of.
Willie Armstrong, senior director of state affairs, testified on behalf of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, calling the measure an important follow-up and describing the pilot’s intent to address dilapidated RVs that can pose environmental and public‑health hazards. “Mayor Bass has made the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles her top priority,” Armstrong said, noting prior emergency actions and sheltering efforts.
Opponents including Tori Laurette of the National Vehicle Residency Coalition and Marshall Arnoine of ACLU California Action argued the bill, as written, targets vehicular residents and lacks required safeguards such as guaranteed social‑service referrals. Laurette said existing Vehicle Code tools already address abandoned or valueless vehicles and warned that reporting provisions that require counting people living in RVs show the law will be applied to occupied vehicles. Arnoine told the committee that towing and destroying vehicular homes is costly and worsens housing instability.
Chair Adegene acknowledged opponents’ concerns and said the bill’s purpose is limited: “All this bill does is fix a drafting error in the law that was passed last year…to ensure that abandoned RVs…have an expedited process for removal,” he said, adding that permanent housing remains the ultimate goal.
After discussion and public comment, the committee moved AB 647 out of committee (motion carried; bill kept on call for absent members), leaving the measure to proceed to the next committee for further consideration.
The committee record shows supporting testimony from the City of Los Angeles and law‑enforcement stakeholders and formal opposition from civil‑rights and tenant‑advocacy groups. The bill’s text and the committee’s amendments should be reviewed by jurisdictions that will implement the pilot to ensure required notifications and any service linkages are in place.
