Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Records, 1977-1998

Summary

Title:

California State Senate Housing and Land Use Committee records

Dates:

1977-1998

Creators:

Senate Housing and Land Use Committee Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee

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.

Extent:

24 cubic feet

Language:

Languages represented in the collection: English

Preferred citation:

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

Background

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

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.

Accruals:

No further accruals are expected.

Physical location:

California State Archives

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

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

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.

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.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Housing--Law and legislation--California
Land use--Law and legislation (Calif.)

Names:

California--Legislature--Senate--Committee on Housing and Land Use
California--Legislature--Senate--Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Lola Aguilar and Archives Staff

Date Prepared:

© 2005

Date Encoded:

Machine-readable finding aid created by Lola Aguilar. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Access Database. Date of source: June 23, 2005.

Restrictions:

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

Terms of access:

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.

Location of this collection:

California State Archives

1020 "O" Street

Sacramento, CA 95814, US

Contact:

(916) 653-2246

reference@sos.ca.gov

Website