2021-2022 Legislative Session

The 2021-2022 legislative session was a little unusual, as it was the first legislative session that began after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Competing priorities battled for attention in the legislature, slowing momentum on housing legislation.

Even still, an exciting six bills endorsed by East Bay Housing Organizations were signed into law this year — AB 2244, AB 252, AB 1837, AB 2094, AB 2011, and SB 948.

EBHO-endorsed legislation to repeal Article 34 of the California constitution also passed out of the legislature. Because it is a proposed constitutional amendment, it will be voted on at the ballot in 2024.

Read on to learn more about this year’s wins, as well as bills we definitely anticipate returning in the new legislative year. You can also download and print this recap in PDF form.

Lastly, as EBHO participates in regional conversations and various coalitional strategy discussions, we want to be sure to accurately reflect member interests. If you have ideas for advocacy you want to see in the Legislature, contact Megan Nguyen (megan@ebho.org).

Legislative Wins

Signed Into Law

AB 2244 (Wicks) – Faith Parking Spaces & Affordable Housing
Allows a developer of a new place of worship, when also constructing housing, to reduce by 50% the number of religious use parking spaces required.

AB 252 (Bonta)- Rent & Vacancy Control for Floating Homes
Extends rent and vacancy control protections for floating homes in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin counties.

AB 1837 (Bonta) – Improvements to Residential Foreclosure Law
Strengthens provisions in SB 1079 (Skinner), which provides tenants and nonprofits an opportunity to match investor bids at a foreclosure auction.

AB 2094 (Rivas) – Adding Extremely Low-Income to APRs
Requires local jurisdictions to report their progress towards ELI units to HCD as part of their annual Housing Element progress reports.

AB 2011 (Wicks) – Affordable Housing & High Road Jobs Act
Establishes by-right zoning to permit affordable housing on land zoned for commercial uses and mixed-income housing along commercial corridors.

SB 948 (Becker) – Creation of Statewide Project Reserves Pool
Replaces individual project transition reserves for the development of affordable housing to a pooled reserve model, operated by HCD.

To the Ballot in 2024

SCA-2 (Allen) – Statewide Repeal of Article 34

Inactive Bills

Vetoed by the Governor 

AB 1685 (Bryan) – Parking Ticket Relief for People Experiencing Homelessness 

AB 1288 (Quirk-Silva) – Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

AB 2817 (Reyes) – House California Challenge Program

AB 1487 (Gabriel) – Statewide Eviction Defense Program 

Ordered to Inactive File/Withdrawn

AB 1816 (Bryan) – Reentry Housing Program 

AB 1961 (Gabriel) – Statewide Affordable Housing Database

AB 2050 (Lee) – Ellis Act Reform 

AB 2357 (Ting) – Surplus Land Act Amendments 

AB 2710 (Kalra) – Tenant & Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA/COPA) 

AB 2713 (Wicks) – Improvements to AB 1482, Just Cause Eviction Protections 

SB 490 (Caballero) – TA for Acquisition/Rehab (bill was gut & amended)

Held in Appropriations/On Suspense

ACA-14 (Wicks) – Housing Opportunities for Everyone Act

AB 1911 (Gabriel) – Affordable Housing Tax Credit

AB 1961 (Gabriel) – Statewide Affordable Housing Database

SB 917 (Becker) – Regional Seamless Transit Act 

Held in Committee 

AB 2053 (Lee) – Social Housing Act — Senate Governance & Finance

AB 1850 (Ward) – Min. Standards for JPAs — Senate Gov. & Finance

SB 1336 (Wiener) – Faith Institutions to Build AH — Assembly Natural Resources

SB 1176 (Limon) – California Community Reinvestment Act — Assembly Banking & Finance