Inventory of the California State Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Records

Lola Aguilar and Archives Staff
California State Archives
1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: (916) 653-2246
Fax: (916) 653-7363
Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov
URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/
© 2005
California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.

Inventory of the California State Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Records

Collection number: LP230:132, LP235:242-251, LP248:141-164, LP272:145-169, LP273:101-130, LP349:1-349

California State Archives

Office of the Secretary of State

Sacramento, California
Processed by:
Lola Aguilar and Archives Staff
Date Completed:
March 2005
Encoded by:
Lola Aguilar
© 2005 California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: California State Senate Housing and Land Use Committee records
Dates: 1977-1998
Collection number: See series description
Creator: Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee
Collection Size: 24 cubic feet
Repository: California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Records consist of 24 cubic feet of records including records under both committee names, the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Housing and Land Use Committee. The records reflect the activity of the committee in overseeing legislation and other matters affecting housing issues, community redevelopment, and land use. The records cover the years 1977-1998, with the bulk from 1983-1998. They are composed of bill files, hearing files, and correspondence files.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Administrative Information

Access

While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions will be noted in the record series descriptions.

Publication Rights

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], [Name of Committee] Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Acquisition Information

The State Archives received these records in accordance with California Government Code 9080(b) which requires legislative committees to transfer their records to the State Archives when they are no longer needed by the committee.

Processing Information

The collection was processed by staff of the California State Archives over a period of time and described in a finding aid in 2005.

Committee History

The Standing Rules of the Senate created the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in 1983. Initially the seven members of the new Housing and Urban Affairs Committee considered "Bills related to housing, community development, codes and standards, fair housing, foreclosure, housing finances, manufactured housing, housing element, and the Subdivision Map Act" (California Legislature at Sacramento, 1983, p. 95). In 1995 the committee name changed to Senate Housing and Land Use Committee to consider "Bills relating to housing and land use" (California Legislature at Sacramento, 1995, p. 103).
The committee consisted of seven members with the exception of legislative session 1997-1998, when the number decreased to five members. Senator Leroy Greene (Dem.) served as the committee's first chair from 1983 to 1992. Senator Tom Campbell (Rep.) served as committee chair in 1995. Senator Byron D. Sher served as committee chair in 1996. Senator Barbara J, Lee served as committee chair from 1997 to 1998. In 1999, the Senate changed the scope of the committee to consider "Bills relating to housing and community development" (California Legislature at Sacramento, 1999-2000, p. 111), and renamed it the Senate Housing and Community Development Committee.
The Senate Housing and Land Use Committee considered many bills relating to manufactured or mobile homes. This issue generated a substantial community response from mobile home park owners and residents throughout the state on bills that focused on occupancy restrictions, fees, sale, and transfer of ownership. The committee played an important role in creating safety guidelines for mobile homes such as, requiring the installation of vented seismic gas shutoff valves in mobile home parks, requiring inspection of mobile home parks by the Department of Housing and Community Development or a local enforcement agency every five years, and extending rental agreement protection to residents. Legislation by the committee extended to both mobile home owners and mobile home residents.
The committee conducted hearings throughout the state for public input or fact-finding purposes. California's increasing population created diverse housing issues for the state's residents, as did the potential loss of federally subsidized housing. The hearings focused on the growing problems of affordable housing, substandard housing, adequate farm worker housing, and homelessness. In response to the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 and the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, the committee heard testimonies on disaster preparedness and safety, resulting in legislation to increase California's readiness for future disasters. As California entered a recession and suffered defense and aerospace cutbacks in the early 1990s, the committee held hearings to remove obstacles for business, job, and revenue growth.

Scope and Content

The Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Records consist of 24 cubic feet of records including records under both committee names, the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Housing and Land Use Committee. The records reflect the activity of the committee in overseeing legislation and other matters affecting housing issues, community redevelopment, and land use. The records cover the years 1977-1998, with the bulk from 1983-1998. They are comprised of bill files, hearing files, and correspondence files.
Files dating from 1999-2000 can be located under the committee's current name, Senate Housing and Community Development Committee. It is anticipated that the Archives will receive further records of the Senate Housing and Community Development Committee. Researchers should check for recently received, unprocessed records of the committee.
The bill files include information on rental housing, mobile homes and mobile home parks, subdivisions, common interest developments, low rent housing, farm labor housing, emergency housing, residential hotels, senior citizen housing, housing for homeless persons, military housing, employee housing, and recreational vehicle parks. Other bill files concern safety issues including radon detection, seismic safety, noncombustible roofs, asbestos, fire protection, carbon monoxide detectors, safety devices on automatic garage door openers, un-vented heaters, handicapped access, swimming pool safety, gas burning appliances, and building codes and standards.
The committee also addressed financial issues concerning mortgage credit certificates, shared appreciation mortgages, sale or transfer of mobile homes, appropriation of housing funds, reverse annuity mortgages, predevelopment loans, deferred payment rehabilitation loans, and homes sales. Because of these subjects, the bill files often include letters from such organized groups as the Western Mobilehome Association, the Golden State Mobilhome Owners League, Inc., California Building Industry Association, the League of California Cities, the California Association of Realtors, the Regional Council of Rural Counties, the Rental Housing Association, the Urban Counties Caucus, and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.
The committee conducted hearings, special hearings, and interim hearings on low-income housing, farm labor, earthquake safety, redevelopment, common interest development, homelessness, and disabled access. Correspondence includes committee letters and memoranda of committee chairs Leroy Greene and Tom Campbell, committee members, staff, legislative counsel Bion Gregory, and legislative consultants Krist A. Lane, Teri Bressler, Peter Detwiler, and Howard Yee.
Together, these records reflect the Senate Committee trying to balance the varied and sometimes conflicting demands of California's citizens for quality housing and responsible land use.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
California--Legislature--Senate--Committee on Housing and Land Use
California--Legislature--Senate--Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs
Housing--Law and legislation--California
Land use--Law and legislation (Calif.)

Related Materials at the California State Archives

Leroy Greene Papers, 1963-1982
Barbara J. Lee Papers, 1986-1998
Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee Records, 1975-1984
Assembly Urban Development and Housing Committee Records, 1968-1974
Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records, 1999-2002

Oral Histories

Leroy F. Greene, oral history interview conducted by Donald B. Seney, 1999, Center for California Studies, California State University, Sacramento for the State Oral History Program, California State Archives.

Related Material at Other Repositories

Records for Byron D. Sher, the 1996 Chair of the Committee, may be found in the Byron D. Sher Papers, 1950-2004 at the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University, 557 Escondido Mall, Stanford, California 94305-6004.

See Series Description for LP numbers

Series 1 Bill Files 1983-1994

Physical Description: 303 file folders

Arrangement

Bill files are arranged chronologically by legislative session and numerically by bill number.

Scope and Content

Bill files created by the committee may include analyses, amendments and resolutions, author's statements, testimony, press releases, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and committee statements. Many of the bills concerned mobile homes and mobile home parks, a subject generating a large volume of correspondence from constituents statewide. Other notable bills include Housing Programs (SB2126, 1984), Farm worker Housing (SB1243, 1987), Mobile Homes (SB1802, 1989), Common Interest Development Management (AB1317, 1995), Developer Fees (SB1066, 1995), and Construction Defects and Building Codes (AB2552, 1996).

Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, 1983-1994

1983-1984: SB19-SB2321, SCA22, SCR61, SR12 (16ff) LP248:141-157
1983-1984: SB2126 (1ff) LP349:1
1983-1984: AB54-AB4025; ACR82 (7ff) LP248:158-164
1985-1986: SB26-SB2584; SCA33 (14ff) LP272:145-158
1985-1986: AB51-AB4392; AJR56; AJR88 (11ff) LP272:159-169
1987-1988: SB41-SB2896; SCR27; SB1X (16ff) LP273:101-116
1987-1988: AB26-AB4625; ACR32; AJR71;AB2X-AB9X (14ff) LP273:117-130
1989-1990: SB12-SB2908; SCR30; SJR1 (31ff) LP349:2-32
1989-1990: AB212-AB4236; ACR146 (30ff) LP349:33-62
1991-1992: SB58-SB2052; SCA17 (22ff) LP349:65-86
1991-1992: AB29-AB3792 (29ff) LP349:87-115
1993-1994: SB110-SB1041; SJR7 (6ff) LP349:117-122
1993-1994: AB51-AB2324 (8ff) LP349:123-130

Senate Housing and Land Use Committee, 1995-1998

1995-1996: SB77-SB2133; SJR12 (30ff) LP349:131-160
1995-1996: AB46-AB3503; ACR11; AJR7 (31ff) LP349:161-191
1997-1998: SB71-SB2227; SJR5 (8ff) LP349:193-210
1997-1998: AB64-AB1527; AB6X LP349:211-224
See Appendix A for LP numbers

Series 2 Hearing Files 1977-1996

Physical Description: 50 file folders and 14 audiotapes

Arrangement

Hearing files are arranged chronologically by date of hearing.

Access Information

Access to audiovisual material requires the production of use copies.

Scope and Content

Hearing files include agendas, audiotapes, transcripts, testimony, background reports, and working files for regular session hearings, interim hearings, and joint hearings. Audiotapes have been moved to a cold-storage vault for preservation purposes and separation sheets are included in the hearing file folders to alert the researcher to the existence of the tapes.
The files contain hearings on California's homeless population, farm labor housing problems, low-income housing, and accessibility for the disabled. Other topics include earthquake safety and building codes, the California Coastal Act of 1976 and common interest developments. "Common Interest Development after Nahrstedt" hearing files concerns the effects on CIDs after the California Supreme Court upheld an association's right to enforce restrictions in covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC and R) in the Narstedt v. Lakeside Village Condominium decision.
For a list of hearing dates and topics see Master Finding Aid at the California State Archives.
LP349:275-316

Series 3 Correspondence 1987-1998

Physical Description: 42 file folders

Arrangement

Correspondence files are arranged chronologically by month and year.

Scope and Content

Correspondence includes letters and memoranda written and received by the Committee chairs, members, consultants, staff, and lobbyists. The correspondence documents the wide-ranging interests of the committee including matters regarding housing, homeowner's associations, earthquake safety, fire safety, and building codes.

Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee

Committee Correspondence, 1987-1991 (19 ff) LP349:274-293

Senate Housing and Land Use Committee

Committee Correspondence, 1995-1998 (23 ff) LP349:294-316