1972 to 2011 · Over 39 Years of Service to the Commercial, Industrial, and Retail Real Estate Industry

Do you know that you can help protect your business from “Drive By ADA Lawsuits” by working with a California Certified Access Specialist?  Have you considered training any of your employees to become CASp Certified?  Our industry supported AB 1608 so you can do just that.

One way of becoming certified is through a comprehensive academy specifically designed for those pursuing a thorough understanding of State and Federal Access laws, codes and regulations or studying for the Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Examination.

Although we are not affiliated with this company, we do recommend you looking into the practical disabled access training they provide so you can benefit from the hard fought victory in California to assure our members are 100% ADA compliant, while providing a modicum of protection from frivolous lawsuits.  Click here for more information.

The AB 32 Implementation Group, a coalition of employers and taxpayer groups advocating for policies to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions in a manner that will protect jobs and the economy, is gravely concerned that California is not adequately protecting its industries and jobs as it moves ahead with an economy-wide cap-and-trade program with none of our neighboring states participating. Additionally, the Governor has recently announced that he is eyeing funds generated from the program to fund other projects in the state. 

Although cap-and-trade has the potential to benefit the real estate industry by creating a market to fund energy efficiency projects, the way California is going about designing the program, the fact that there are not any other states joining in the program to trade with, and the fact that we are siphoning generated funds for other purposes, is an unfortunate recipe for failure.

Click here to learn more about what is happening with AB 32.

The Building Standards Commission (BSC) has selected the Code Advisory Committee memberships for the next 3-year code-adoption cycle (2012-2014). Back in November, the BSC selection committee got together and reviewed several hundred applications and selected a slate of nominees that were sent to the full Commission for confirmation at last Wednesday’s Business Meeting.

Industry nominees fared very well and were appointed to each of the five BSC Code Advisory Committees. Industry appointees include Harry Moos (Plumbing & Mechanical), John Oglesby (Structural), Michael Gibbens (Accessibility) and Bob Raymer (Building & Fire and Green Building). In addition, Raymer will serve as Chair of the Green Building Code Advisory Committee.

As required by statute, all state amendments to the national model codes must go through at least one of these code advisory committees prior to being acted upon by the full commission. During each 18-month code cycle, these code advisory committees will sift through thousands of proposed state amendments to the national codes

Advocates of returning rent control to California were unsuccessful as SB 184 (Leno; D-San Francisco) was stopped again on the Floor of the State Senate by a close working coalition that included the California Association of REALTORS®, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, San Diego County Apartment Association and the Santa Barbara Rental Property Association.

SB 184, attempted to legitimize rent control by overturning an important court case for private property owners, failed to pass last June and action on it was suspended until this month.

You may recall CBPA lead the effort to establish guidelines and criteria to provide guidance and protection from metal being stolen from your buildings and sold.  We have sponsored several bills to increase penalties and make it harder to sell stolen metal.  Those efforts are paying off as the Sacramento Bee reports that a “crack down” on metal thieves is under way. 

The story notes that metal thieves who used to “slide in and out of the system,” have become a top priority for law enforcement. 

Through continued advocacy and education about the economic and physical damage of this type of crime, our industry is having an impact.  Click here to read more.

 As we reported earlier in the year, legislative leaders have been making noise about reopening the water bond negotiations to either delay the vote or change the funding amount.  The $11.1 billion water bond is scheduled for a vote in November. 

 Although the primary reason being given to rewrite, downsize, and/or delay the much needed funding to the state’s water infrastructure, some Capitol-insiders believe that a primary driver is part of an ongoing attempt to clear the November ballot of measures that would compete with the Governor’s proposed tax initiative.  The Governor is focused on an initiative that would increase taxes by $7 billion to purportedly support schools and public safety. 

Delaying the water bond is causing concern to many in the business community because storage and conveyance infrastructure is desperately needed to assure an adequate supply.

For more information about the ongoing Water Bond Wars click here.

Governor Brown delivered the proposed language for his 12-point pension reform plan to leaders of the state legislature’s Conference Committee on Public Employee Pensions.

In a letter to the Legislature, the governor states that “current benefits, contributions and retirement ages don’t reflect the changing demographic realities we face and are not sustainable.  Continuing these plans in their current form will put taxpayers on the hook for substantial costs now and in the future.  Urgent and decisive action is imperative.”

Click here to read the Governor’s 12-point plan.  And hold on tight just in case the Legislature actually makes any urgent and decisive actions.

It’s time to mark your calendars and plan to attend CBPA’s first board meeting of 2012. The joint board and legislative committee meeting will be held at the California Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, March 8, 2012 in Sacramento. Please complete the attached registration form to confirm your attendance.

NAIOP, Sacramento Valley Chapter will be honoring our very own, Rex Hime, as their “Man of the Year” at their 2012 Roast to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This exciting event will be held on the same day as our board meeting, at 5:30pm on Thursday, March 8th at the Dante Club in Sacramento.

This event was scheduled in conjunction with the CBPA board meeting to facilitate attendance. Please join us after our board meeting for a fun-filled evening of Rex bashing – it’s for a great cause!

Click here for more information on the event and sponsorship opportunities.

Stating that “Like California, CEQA must be more nimble,” Governor Brown has released new California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines to implement two bills that were signed into law in 2011, SB 226 (Simitian; D-Palo Alto) and AB 900 (Buchannan; D-San Ramon).

SB 226 also removes hurdles to harnessing solar energy and growing green-collar jobs by exempting solar projects located on existing rooftops and parking lots.

According to a press release from the Governor’s Office, Brown stated “these reforms will fast-track key projects that put Californians to work.” The release further states that “once these draft reforms are finalized, they will simplify the approval process for infill projects by eliminating repetitive studies of environmental effects already addressed in other planning documents, such as general plans and zoning codes. This will help reduce the time and cost often associated with infill projects, while also allowing cities to focus on new or unique projects that help create jobs, revitalize cities and promote transit.”

“Together, CEQA reforms in SB 226 and AB 900 will reduce repetitive documentation and expedite litigation timelines while preserving informed decision-making and mitigation of environmental harm.”

The SB 226 guidelines can be found here and the AB 900 guidelines can be found here.

In an effort to push back on the Governor’s courting of business groups, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) have released an “open letter” to address to Business Leaders that outlines an argument that the state is in such dire straits because of mismanagement and public funding giveaways, not because of lack of revenue.

They state, in part, “it is difficult to understand why, given California’s heavy tax burden, any private sector entity doing business in California would support even higher taxes. Though the idea of a “tax on the wealthy” may have a populist appeal, we should remember that small business owners will be hit especially hard since many of them file taxes as individuals. These are the job creators who should be protected. In fact, two thirds of all jobs being created right now are by small businesses. Likewise, a higher sales tax will needlessly inflict even more harm on California consumers who are also the employees and customers of the business community.”

Click here to read the full letter by NFIB and HJTA.

Last night in a speech to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Governor Brown called on business leaders to stand with him on two major priorities for 2012: passing his balanced budget plan and persuading the legislature to enact his 12-point pension reform proposal.

In the past two weeks, the Governor has visited with several business groups in an attempt to build support for his initiative to raise statewide sales taxes and income taxes over the next five years. He also is pitching his plan to reform public pensions.

“The numbers just don’t add up,” said Governor Brown of the public pension system. “Benefits, contributions and the age of retirement don’t reflect today’s realities, putting taxpayers on the hook for huge costs in the future. The cracks are showing and this dam will burst unless the legislature gets serious and takes urgent and decisive action.”

Governor Brown’s pension reform plan, introduced in October 2011, will apply to all California state, local, school and other public employers, new public employees and current employees as legally permissible.

Click here for the full details of the plan. Click here for a new account of the meeting.

Legislative leadership announced yesterday that SB 659 (Padilla; D-Los Angeles), the bill we have strongly been supporting to extend the Feb. 1 deadline to dissolve Redevelopment Agencies, will not move forward. While this is disappointing news and leaves a lot of unanswered questions and potential problems, it is not the end of our fight.

Our goal has always been to create a new local job-creation and neighborhood revitalization tool to replace redevelopment. Senate President pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John Perez and many other bi-partisan legislators have indicated their desire to work on a future program over the coming months. We must work as partners with the legislature to ensure we provide local communities the tools they need to create jobs and revitalize urban communities

As the dissolution process continues forward, it is also probable that we will need clean-up legislation to address the many uncertainties and problems with AB 1x 26.

In just a few short weeks, a broad and impressive coalition of labor, business, affordable housing and local government has come together to support our goal of a future economic development tool. Your continued support throughout the coming months will be vital for us to succeed.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! Your calls to legislators and the Governor have shown the deep support this program has. Please stay engaged, we will need more help in the future. We promise to keep you updated as matters develop.

Click here to read more