April 12, 2019
Once again, we are dealing with a bill in the legislature that mandates expanded access to Lactation Rooms in commercial buildings. The bill, AB 142 by Senator Weiner from San Francisco, is very similar to a bill he carried last year that was vetoed by Governor Brown. As an industry our main concerns with the bill is that it brings building owners … More »
As you know from past eWeeklys there are over 200 bills trying to address the “housing” crisis. We think the best way to address the shortage of housing in California is to build more housing by reforming laws that make homebuilding so difficult and expensive. However, many legislators have some other unique and interesting ideas, many of which … More »
This week we testified against AB 485 by Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside) which is a re-introduction of a bill from last year that our industry opposed and was vetoed by Governor Brown. The bill comes up with a complicated set of reporting requirements that certain industrial projects must provide before a city can offer economic incentives … More »
SB 288 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) a measure designed to reduce barriers to the deployment of distributed energy resources by addressing needed changes in utility tariffs and reducing interconnection challenges. This bill is dubbed the Solar Bill of Rights. It passed the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Commerce Committee this week on a unanimous vote. SB … More »
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is tasked with leading the state’s effort to reduce carbon emissions. Many strategies are being employed but one that impacts our industry the most is increased energy efficiency through the state building code. CARB is collecting anonymous data to measure the conversion rate of electric vehicle (EV) Capable … More »
March 1, 2019
This week the Board of Directors for the California Business Properties Association met in Sacramento for its annual meeting, had lunch with several new legislators to discuss issues important to the commercial, retail, and industrial real estate industry, and heartily endorsed long time President and CEO Rex Hime in his bid to earn the Senate District … More »
Fires now floods. As severe winter storms continue across California, Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an emergency proclamation for the counties of Amador, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma to help communities respond to and recover from dangerous flooding, mudslides and damage to critical infrastructure. On February 21, the Governor previously issued … More »
Legislation clarifying the new rules-of-the-road for collection of online sales tax passed committee earlier this week. Years ago, CBPA was one of the first to support legislation in California that forced online retailers to collect sales tax in the same manner that brick-and-mortar California businesses had to. California Retailers Association are … More »
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are accepting public comments on proposed revisions to what defines “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under federal law. The changes are intended to provide clarity as to which bodies of water should be covered by the Clean Water Act. This move replaces an earlier revision announced … More »
Our industry has submitted comments on new regulations the state is drafting regarding Indoor Heat Illness. In 2005, California became the first state—and still the only state in the nation—to adopt a heat illness prevention standard to protect outdoor workers (California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3395). The outdoor heat illness prevention … More »