Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for being here and welcome to the Assembly Local Government Committee hearing of January 14th. I see the author is here, but before we get to the agenda, we're going to go through some housekeeping items. Again, welcome to the Committee. Testimony for this hearing will be in person.

We also accept written testimony through the position letter portal on the Committee's website. As we proceed with the witnesses and public comment, I want to make sure everyone understands that the Assembly has rules to ensure we maintain order and run an efficient and fair hearing.

We apply these rules consistently to all people who participate in our proceedings, regardless of the viewpoint they express, in order to facilitate the goal of hearing as much as possible from the public. Within the limits of our time, we will not permit conduct that disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the legislative proceedings.

We will not accept disruptive behavior or behavior that incites or threatens violence. The rules for today's hearing include the following. No talking or loud noises from the audience. Public comment may be provided only at the destiny, time and place and as permitted by the Chair.

Public comment must relate to the subject of the bills or on information being discussed today. No engaging in conduct that disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of this hearing. Please be aware that violations of these rules may be subject to their removal and other enforcement actions.

Again, welcome to the local community government committees for Syria 2026. We have one bill on our agenda. AB 748 by Assemblymember Herbidian. Please proceed. Assemblymember. Assemblymember Wilson will be absent in today's hearings. We will take up to two primary witnesses in support and two primary witnesses in opposition for the remaining Bill.

These witnesses will have three minutes each to provide their testimony. All subsequent witnesses should state their name, their organization and their position on the bill. I believe we do have a quorum. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Assemblymember. Please proceed, Mr. Chair. Thank you for having me. And this, this. I know this is our only agenda item and this will be fairly quick. This is a bill that you might have deja vu when you see it.

Similar bill idea was before this Committee last year which was passed out unanimously and it really steals a great idea from a very smart legislator who is our chair who passed AB 1332 and established a pre approval program for accessory dwelling units which is probably has been pointed to by many as one of the most Successful housing policies that the state has done over the last few years.

And all this bill does is simply extend that program into single family and small multifamily developments. Anything less than 10 units. And we have worked pertinent to this Committee to ensure that there is no opposition from local government anymore. And I appreciate the League of Cities and all the work that they did.

But I come here with good news, which is no opposition. Since we were first talked about this bill, we have seen proof of concept. In Altadena, where the Eaton fires unfortunately occurred, there was a nonprofit group called the Foothill Catalog that actually came up with their own catalog of pre approved designs.

And more importantly, Los Angeles county, in response to the Palisades and Eaton fire, has actually launched a pre approved program for all fire survivors to rebuild their homes. I think that what that shows is the market wants this.

People do not want to spend time and money on bespoke unique plans that they have to go back and forth with the Planning Department on. They want to build on their properties. They want to do it in a cost effective time effective way. And this program shouldn't just be for fire survivors.

If it's good for fire survivors, it should be good for all of our residents. We have delayed implementation, especially for small cities and counties, which was important. And a lot of the feedback we got from local cities was give us time to implement it, which we're fine with, obviously. Ideally, Mr. Chair, we talked about this last year.

We would want this to happen right away. We do think that our housing crisis is urgent and the more we can do with these types of measures, the better. But we are cognizant that city councils and county government need time to figure this out.

I will also say that local control is at the heart of this bill. We do not dictate what designs or what type of development any city or county will approve. They get to do it themselves and they get to approve what they want.

This is really just about following local guidelines, following local design review, but doing it in a way that helps everyone. And local government continues to be able to charge the same permitting fees that they would before, so there's no loss of revenue. And so we think this is a win win for local government.

I'm going to stop there. With me is Debbie Arkel, who's the CEO of Habitat for Humanity, which I'm very honored for her to be here to speak on the bill.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Committee Members. Thank you for the opportunity to share. My name is Debbie Arakel with Habitat for Humanity, California. And I'm here representing the view of our Habitat chapters statewide. And as you are probably aware, we are focused on providing affordable homeownership opportunities for lower income households.

And we're doing that in 41 counties. Habitat is uniquely positioned in this space as an affordable builder. And we are proud to support AB478 as an affordable builder, community developer and mortgage lender. This legislation will help expedite the first phase of the architecture, architectural design and plan review.

And this can often be labor intensive and time intensive and very costly. Habitat is always looking for ways to reduce costs and make the process of building homes more efficient.

And the model envisioned in this bill has been successful in communities that we have helped rebuild in partnership with Habitat for Humanity after natural disasters and most recently in Altadena. And we believe strongly that the rest of the state shouldn't have to face a disaster to be able to benefit from some of the streamlining cost savings.

As the author noted, this bill would require local agencies to develop programs for pre approval of housing plans for single family and small multifamily developments, which includes condos and townhouses, just like one of our Habitat chapters is currently building throughout the state.

So I wanted to emphasize that even modest smaller home developments can really face long costly extensions during the plan review process. So these pre approved catalogs mentioned may even include a design from some habitats, architectural designs that are already naturally affordable and taking cost considerations into place.

So the low cost design standards could be built by a nonprofit home developer or individuals who have a vacant lot that want, that don't have the time and the cost or the funds to invest in specific custom design homes.

The bill provides predictability and allows a home builder to go straight to the building permit stage of the process, which really can be transformative to every city. Therefore, we urge support of the Committee and we are proud to support this bill. Thank you.

Thank you for that. Anybody in the audience that wants to add on support, please state your name, affiliation and position on the bill.

Holly Fraumeni De Jesus with Lighthouse Public affairs on behalf of Bennett Housing Los Angeles and SPUR and Support.

Thank you. Seeing no one else, is there any primary opposition the other mentioned? There was nothing. There's nobody on the record. Anybody in opposition on the room? Seeing none. Take it back, Committee Members. Any comments, questions? Assembly Member Ward Just want to thank.

The author for reintroducing this bill. I know good ideas sometimes take a couple straight swings at it, but I'm glad that. I'm really glad that you're Focusing on this one to waste no time.

The matter is urgent and I appreciate all the work you've done in the fall month period to be able to reduce any opposition on their pad. To be a co author if you'll have me. And happy to move the bill. Mr. Chairs.

Would love to have you. Thank you.

Anybody else? There's a motion and a Harabedian. Nobody else. Would you like to close? Assembly Member Harabedian? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Appreciate the comments. Would I respectfully ask for an Aye vote? Thank you, Assemblymember Harabedian for presenting your bill today.

I appreciate your commitment to this issue and thank you for mentioning on AB 1332. Happy to have been part of that. I will be supporting bill today. We do have a first and a second. The motion is due pass to the Appropriations Committee. Would you please call the roll? Madam Secretary

The motion is due pass to appropriation. [Roll Call]

The vote is 7-0. The Bill is out. Thank you. Good luck, and we'll leave the roll open for a couple of minutes to see if Assemblymember Ramos and—okay.

She had to present her Bill and said she was going to come.

A couple—five minutes. Thank you.

I didn't know she's presenting a Bill, so.

Madam Secretary, would you call the roll? Those that just need to be added on.

[Roll Call]

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Going to keep it open for a couple more minutes. Waiting for Assemblymember Ramos. I understand he's on his way. Thank you. We're going to close the roll and that concludes today's hearing. Thank you.