AB 571: Farmworker housing: income taxes: insurance tax: credits: low-income housing: migrant farm labor centers.

(1)Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee provides procedures and requirements for the allocation of state insurance, personal income, and corporation tax credit amounts among qualified low-income housing projects in modified conformity to federal law that have been allocated, or qualify for, a federal low-income housing tax credit, and for farmworker housing. Existing law limits the total annual amount of the state low-income housing credit for which a federal low-income housing credit is required to the sum of $70,000,000, as increased by any percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year, any unused credit for the preceding calendar years, and the amount of housing credit ceiling returned in the calendar year. Existing law additionally allows a state credit, which is not dependent on receiving a federal low-income housing credit, of $500,000 per calendar year for projects to provide farmworker housing. Existing law defines farmworker housing to mean housing for agricultural workers that is available to, and occupied by, only farmworkers and their households.

This bill, under the law governing the taxation of insurers, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law, would modify the definition of applicable percentage relating to qualified low-income buildings that are farmworker housing projects, as provided. The bill would authorize the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee to allocate the farmworker housing credit even if the taxpayer receives federal credits for buildings located in designated difficult development areas or qualified census tracts. The bill would also redefine farmworker housing to mean housing in which at least 50% of the units are available to, and occupied by, farmworkers and their households. The bill would make the aforementioned provisions operative on January 1, 2018. The bill would make specified declarations of legislative intent in this regard.

(2)Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, through its Office of Migrant Services, to assist in the development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or operation of migrant farm labor centers, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Director of Housing and Community Development to contract with specified local public and private entities, including school districts and housing authorities, for the procurement or construction of housing or shelter and to obtain specified services for migratory agricultural workers.

This bill would authorize the director to provide for advance payments of up to 20% of annual operating costs of the migrant farm labor centers to contractors, provided that the contractors do not have outstanding advance balances from prior contract periods.

Under existing law, the department designates a period of 180 days each calendar year during which migrant farm labor centers are open to migratory agricultural workers and their families for occupancy, as provided. Existing law authorizes a migrant farm labor center governed by specified law to operate for an extended period prior to or beyond the standard 180-day period after approval by the department if certain conditions are met, including, among other things, that no additional subsidies provided by the department are used for the operation or administration of the migrant farm labor center during the extended occupancy period except to the extent that state funds are appropriated or authorized for the purpose of funding all or part of the cost of subsidizing occupancy periods during the first 14 days only.

This bill would delete the limitation that funds appropriated or authorized to fund the cost of subsidizing occupancy periods be for the first 14 days only. The bill would also prohibit the standard 180-day occupancy period combined with any extended occupancy period under these provisions from exceeding a cumulative operating period of 275 days in any calendar year.

(3)This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of ²/₃ of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

(4)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.