Inventory of the California State Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records

Processed by Sarah Starke

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/

Inventory of the California State Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records

Collection number: LP423

California State Archives

Office of the Secretary of State

Sacramento, California

Processed by:: Sarah Starke
Date Completed:: 1 June 2011
Encoded by:: Jessica Knox

Descriptive Summary

Title: California State Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records

Dates: 1999-2004

Collection number: LP423

Creator: Senate Housing and Community Development Committee

Collection Size: 5.5 cubic feet

Repository: California State Archives

Sacramento, California

Abstract: The Senate Housing and Community Development Committee is the most recent Senate committee to oversee bills concerning housing and community development. The Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records consist of 5.5 cubic feet of textual and audiovisual records organized into the records series: Bill Files, Hearing Files, and Chronological Correspondence from the 1999-2000, 2001-2002 and 2003-2004 sessions. The records reflect the activity of the committee in overseeing legislation and other matters affecting housing issues and community development.

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], Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records, LP423:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Acquisition History

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.

Committee History

The Senate Housing and Community Development Committee is the most recent Senate committee to oversee bills concerning housing and community development. The first committee that had housing under its purview was the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which considered "bills related to housing, community development, codes and standards, fair housing, foreclosure, housing finances, manufactured housing, housing element, and the Subdivision Map Act" (SR11, introduced in January 1983). In 1995 the committee's name changed to the Senate Housing and Land Use Committee and its scope broadened to consider "bills relating to housing and land use" (SR8, introduced in December 1994).

In 1999 the Senate created the Senate Housing and Community Development Committee, which changed the scope of the committee to consider "bills relating to housing and community development" (SR4, introduced in December 1998). The committee consisted of seven members, with the exception of the 2001-2002 session when it consisted of five members. Senator Richard Alarcon (Dem.) served as the committee's first chair from 1999-2001. Senator Joseph L. Dunn (Dem.) served as chair for the 2001-2002 session. Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny (Dem.) was the chair for last session in 2003-2004. In 2005, Senate Resolution 4 created the Senate Housing and Transportation Committee, expanding the committee's scope to consider "bills relating to the operation, safety, equipment, transfer, ownership, licensing and registration of vehicles, aircraft, and vessels" as well as "bills relating to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles," "bills relating to waterways, harbors, highways, public transportation systems, and airports" and "bills relating to housing and community development."

The Senate Housing and Community Development Committee considered bills that generated substantial community responses. The committee played an important role in expanding affordable housing opportunities to more Californians, particularly by extending the time periods that low income housing would be available for families and by establishing provisions for rent control. The committee also considered bills relating to revenue and appropriations in housing and community matters. The committee appropriated money for the California Housing Trust Fund which brought more affordable housing options to residents, passed homeownership tax levies and approved tax credits for lenders that made qualified second mortgage loans to low-income homebuyers. The committee also heard bills related to mobilehome parks, multifamily rental housing, seismic safety installations, and other housing issues around the state.

Scope and Content

The Senate Housing and Community Development Committee Records consist of 5.5 cubic feet of textual and audiovisual records organized into the records series: Bill Files, Hearing Files, and Chronological Correspondence from the 1999-2000, 2001-2002 and 2003-2004 sessions. The records reflect the activity of the committee in overseeing legislation and other matters affecting housing issues and community development.

The Bill Files document the legislation directed to the committee. The files include committee analysis, letters from interested parties, and the comments of affected agencies. These files show the close involvement of the committee in such issues as condominium conversion (SB453, 1999-2000); the creation of the Housing Bond Act (SB510, 1999-2000); special consideration when reviewing and ranking enterprise zones in areas of high poverty and unemployment (SB511, 1999-2000); and provisions regarding community consideration in planning for the growth farmworkers and their housing needs (AB1505, 1999-2000). Other bill files concern issues such as appropriations of housing funds, seismic safety standards and retrofitting requirements, urban adaptive reuse zones and urban revitalization, mobilehome parks, landscaping and driveway requirements, rental housing, fair employment and housing, housing requirements for redevelopment, multifamily housing and downtown rebound programs, annual omnibus bills, camping cabins in recreational vehicle parks, and pooling of redevelopment housing funds.

The committee conducted hearings, special hearings, and interim hearings on issues such as low-income housing, farm labor, earthquake safety, redevelopment, electrical inspections, and enterprise zones. Correspondence includes committee letters and memoranda of committee chairs Senator Alarcon, Senator Dunn and Senator Ducheny, committee members, staff, legislative counsel and legislative consultant Mark Stivers.

Together, these records reflect the committee's attempt 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.

Low income housing - California

Mobile homes - California

Transportation - Planning - California

Related Collections at the California State Archives

Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Records, 1977-1998

Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee Records, 1975-1984

Assembly Urban Development and Housing Committee Records, 1968-1974

LP423:1-82

Series 1 Bill Files 1999-2004

Physical Description: 82 file folders

Arrangement

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

Scope and Content Note

Bill Files created by the committee may include bill analyses, amendments and resolutions, author's statements and resolutions, testimony, press releases, editorials and newspaper clippings, correspondence, and committee statements. Most of the bills concerned affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households, such as SB1190, 1999-2000 (community redevelopment in low and moderate income housing) and AB637, 2001-2002 (extending the time periods that low income housing would be available). Other notable bills are SB510, 1999-2000 (appropriating funds to the California Housing Trust Fund), SB948, 1999-2000 (affordable housing developments and provisions for rent control), AB862, 1999-2000 (maintenance responsibility in mobilehome parks), SB1992, 2001-2002 (seismic gas shutoff devices).

The bill files also show the committee's close in involvement with state and local agencies and interest groups such as California Building Industry Association, the League of California Cities, California Association of Realtors, Regional Council of Rural Counties, Rental Housing Association, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, California Redevelopment Association, The Western Center on Law and Poverty, Berkeley Gray Panthers, Golden State Mobilehome Owners League, Inc., Heim, Noack, Kelly and Spahn Governmental Relations, and Califorina Professional Firefighters.

1999-2000: SB453-SB2198 (15ff) LP423:1-15

1999-2000: AB51-AB2933 (20ff) LP423:16-35

2001-2002: SB73-SB1992, SJR6 (12ff) LP423:36-47

2001-2002: AB8-AB2972 (14ff) LP423:48-61

2003-2004: SB54-SB1898 (9ff) LP423:62-70

2003-2004: AB32-AB3033 (12ff) LP423:71-82

See Appendix A for LP numbers.

Series 2 Hearing Files 1999-2004

Physical Description: 18 file folders, 57 audiocassette tapes, 1 videocassette tape

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 Note

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 student housing at University of California, California State University and California Community College campuses, gas pipeline safety, efficient raw material for housing, electrical inspections for marinas, rent control, land use and affordable housing in Orange County, Homeowner Association Foreclosure, restrictions (CCandRs) and homeowner associations, the Jobs-Housing Balance Incentive Grant Program, Federal Section 8 housing, and multifamily rental housing.

See Appendix A in Master Finding Aid at the California State Archives for a list of hearing dates and topics.

LP423:120-122

Series 3 Correspondence Files 1999-2004

Physical Description: 3 file folders

Arrangement

Correspondence files are arranged chronologically by session.

Scope and Content Note

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, enterprise zones, and building codes.