Join us for our upcoming AAPI Heritage Month Virtual Celebration on Thursday, May 27 at 6:00 pm. The event will be honoring community members and organizations in Assembly District 25:
- Mimi Nguyen
- Muneerah Lalani
- Razelle Buenavista
- Wesley Mukoyama
- Emerald Rubio
- San Jose Taiko
Register by clicking here or join by phone: 1-669-900-6833; Access Code: 957 9439 1568
Bills Update
It's been a busy few months up in Sacramento, and I want to provide you an update on just a few of the 16 bills I've introduced this session.
AB 339 - KEEPING DIGITAL/CALL-IN OPTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT MEETINGS
During the pandemic, we've seen local governments transform the way they do meetings, allowing the public to make comments and have their voices heard through remote options from the comfort of their homes. We've seen participation in meetings soar from school board meetings to county meetings. Our bill AB 339 aims to preserve that ability to make your voice heard through call-in and digital options after the pandemic because democratic governments work best when we have ALL voices at the table and not just those who are able to take time out of their days to travel to meetings to make comments in-person.
While our bill had to accept amendments, the importance of preserving the right for people to participate in meetings would be preserved for cities and counties with populations of 250,000 or more. We hope to continue to build off this in the future.
The bill passed through the local government committee, Appropriations, and will be voted on by the full Assembly floor.
Read about impact for remote participation on people with disabilities: SacBee Op-ed
AB 762 - PROTECTING SCHOOLS & STUDENTS FROM TOXIC SUBSTANCES
In our district, a private school was built right NEXT to a cement plant. How did this happen? Public schools need to meet certain requirements before approving and building a new school, but private schools and some charter schools can build without knowing all the dangers. This means that they can potentially be built at unsafe locations near sources of hazardous or toxic emissions, substances, or waste which can be particularly harmful for young kids.
AB 762 would require charter schools and private schools to follow the same siting requirements as public schools to ensure the public health and safety of ALL students, regardless of what type of school they attend.
Watch the NBC Coverage by Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban about AB 762
The bill passed through the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, Education Committee, Appropriations, and is headed to the full Assembly floor.
AB 1061 - PROTECTING MOBILEHOME RESIDENTS
Mobilehomes provide affordable homes to some of our most vulnerable residents such as seniors on fixed incomes, low-income families, immigrants, people with disabilities, veterans, and others in need of low-cost housing. It's crucial to protect affordable housing and our residents in the Bay Area, where the cost of living is among the most expensive in the world.
AB 1061 protects mobilehome residents from unfair water service charges. These ambiguous fees often increase without explanation and with many residents being low income or on fixed incomes, these fees can add up and be burdensome. The bill makes it so that mobilehome parks don't profit off the basic right of clean water to their residents.
The bill passed out of the Housing and Community Development Committee as well as the full floor and is now headed to the Senate.
AB 1337 - KEEPING OUR BART STATIONS SAFE
With the new Milpitas and Berryessa/North San Jose stations, it's unclear whether BART police have the authority to enforce certain measures because Santa Clara County is not part of the three-county District and VTA's ownership of the extension. AB 1337 makes changes to allow BART police to implement transit security measures to keep our BART stations safe.
The bill made it out of the Public Safety Committee, the Transportation Committee, and passed out of the Assembly. It is headed to the Senate.
AB 1444 - PROTECTING SMALL BUSINESSES FROM BIG TECH
While small businesses can't hire expensive lobbyists in Sacramento like big tech can, we must do all we can to protect them. Our small businesses have been devastated and have had to pivot to third-party delivery apps out of necessity during the pandemic. Listing websites like Yelp are partnering with Grubhub and not informing consumers when calls are being tracked or monitored so that they can charge a referral commission to the restaurant.
When a call is rerouted through these third parties, customers might not be aware that when they're calling their local restaurant to place an order, it may actually be costing the restaurant money. Small businesses are barely staying afloat with their narrow margins becoming increasingly smaller due to high fees from third-party ordering apps.
AB 1444 to protect small businesses passed the Privacy Committee and the Assembly and is now in the Senate.
AB 1509 - UNDOING HARMFUL MASS INCARCERATION
AB 1509, the Anti-Racism Sentencing Reform Act, aims to correct decades of harm done to communities of color through sentencing "add-ons" that have not had significant impacts in deterring crime or enhancing public safety. These enhancements disproportionately impact people of color, who make up more than 89% of those serving time with these add-ons. If the goal is to create safer communities, then extremely long sentences have been proven to run counter to that objective by increasing recidivism rates by 4 to 7% while costing the state over $112,000 a year for a person to be incarcerated.
The state could instead invest in resources for reentry assistance and other services that can help to promote rehabilitation, reduce poverty, strengthen communities, and tackle some of the root causes of crime such as hunger and housing insecurity.
The bill passed through the Public Safety Committee, but was held in Appropriations.
Two Year Bills (in committee that we are continuing to work on)
AB 20 - BANNING CORPORATION POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Corporate-free Elections Act - Each year, business entities contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to campaigns across California, with over $785 million spent on the 2020 election in California alone. In order to stay competitive in their races, many candidates are pressured to accept the money from these business entities. Whose priorities are these elected officials enacting, the will of the people or these businesses? This bill aims to restore power to ban business entities, who have an undue influence on our elections, from contributing to candidates for office. This way, more power can be restored to everyday individuals.
AB 387 - BUILDING HOUSING FOR ALL
Social Housing Act of 2021- California needs new, innovative ways to address the severe shortage of affordable homes for both low- and moderate-income households. California could lead a national paradigm shift by funding and building social housing, a concept which has been successfully implemented in Asia and Europe.
Currently in America, the closest thing to social housing is what is known as public housing which is often in old, crumbling buildings filled only with low-income residents. But in Europe, South America, Asia and elsewhere, it's state-built homes, generally on publicly owned land, well-maintained, and for people of all incomes. Through social housing, we have an opportunity to reshape how we view housing: not as a commodity, but as a fundamental human right.
AB 946 - CREATING MORE HOMEOWNERSHIP
While Mortgage Interest Deductions are important for first-time homeowners, people are receiving additional deductions for their empty vacation homes. Currently, California is spending approximately $250 million to subsidize empty homes to the primary benefit of wealthier individuals while we're facing a housing shortage. By reallocating this money to a first-time home buyer program, we foster a new generation of homeowners in California that can build generational wealth. By directing funds to first-time homebuyers, the state will make it easier for renters to put a down payment for their first home and fill currently vacant housing units.
CalMatters deep dive into affordable housing
AB 854 - PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS & EXPLOITATIVE EVICTIONS
In the past few years, the Ellis Act's loopholes have been used to buy up rent control housing, evict tenants, and sell the property for a higher profit. These tenants that are evicted are usually some of our most vulnerable including low-income and senior residents that are quickly at risk of becoming homeless.
The Ellis Act is a 1985 California state law that allows landlords to evict residential tenants to exit the rental business. While the Act was originally intended to protect small mom and pop landlords who could no longer maintain their rental properties, more recently, speculators have been buying buildings and then "going out of the rental housing business" soon after. AB 854 reforms the Ellis Act and ends the speculator eviction loophole by requiring a 5-year holding period before the Ellis Act can be invoked to evict tenants.
Sincerely,
Alex Lee
Assemblymember, 25th District
