The Public Interest Law Project

Legislation
PILP engages in ongoing legislative and administrative advocacy involving affordable housing and public benefits, such as:

Appointments to the state's Housing Element Working Group that ensured that all communities zone sites for affordable housing development "by right" and at minimum densities
Negotiation of redevelopment legislation to ensure the production, preservation, and replacement of affordable housing in redevelopment project areas
Appointment to statewide workgroup that developed Best Practice Guidelines to assist foster care youth in gaining access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) prior to emancipation out of the state's care
Development of SSI Transitions Project to ensure successful transition of foster youth with disabilities from foster care, improve transition planning for these youth, and develop comprehensive state and federal policies to address systemic issues

2007 Legislation

AB 976 prohibits discrimination against non-citizens by cities and landlords.

The Governor signed AB 976 (Calderon) making it illegal for cities to adopt ordinances requiring landlords to check immigration and citizenship status of prospective tenants and prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to provide documentation of citizenship or immigration status. The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Calderon in response to the nationwide spate of cities, including the City of Escondido adopting ordinances making it illegal for landlords to rent to undocumented tenants. PILP/CAHLP staff drafted the legislation with help from Western Center on Law & Poverty. The bill was sponsored by the ACLU, the National Immigration Law Center and many other immigrants’ rights groups as well as the Los Angeles Apartment Owners Association. It was shepherded through the Legislature by the ACLU, which also was victorious in its court challenge of the Escondido ordinance.

Related Documents:

PDF copy of AB 976

AB 987 (Jones) strengthens the long-term affordability restrictions imposed on affordable housing that results from redevelopment activities.

The Community Redevelopment Law (CRL) requires redevelopment agencies to ensure that all affordable housing units produced as a result of redevelopment remain affordable for the longest feasible time, and at least 55 years for rental units and 45 years for ownership units. AB 987 was introduced by Assemblymember Dave Jones to ensure compliance with these “long-term affordability” requirements. Effective January 1, 2008, the legislation will: (1) permit residents of the restricted units and other interested persons to enforce long-term affordability covenants against owners and their successors; (2) require the recording of a detailed “notice” of the affordability restrictions (in addition to the existing recording requirements); and (3) expand the “affordable housing” reporting requirements of redevelopment agencies to include the development of an internet database containing specific information as to all “restricted” affordable housing units. PILP/CAHLP staff assisted co-sponsors Western Center on Law and Poverty and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation with analysis, drafting and negotiation of the legislation. More than 35 affordable housing organizations supported the bill.

Related Documents:

PDF copy of 987

AB 1331 provides a safety net to foster care youth with disabilities who are exiting the state’s foster care system.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed historic legislation on October 11, 2007 that leads the nation in ensuring that disabled youth in foster care receive the necessary assistance when they exit the State’s foster care system. The legislation, Assembly Bill 1331, authored by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), creates a safety net for severely physically and mentally disabled foster youth by requiring county child welfare agencies to screen all youth in foster care at age 16.5 for a mental or physical disability and apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) on behalf of those who are likely to qualify. SSI is a federal program that provides a monthly cash benefit to low-income, seriously disabled individuals. Prior to passage of AB 1331, youth with disabilities as serious as mental retardation, paraplegia and schizophrenia commonly “aged out” of California’s foster care system without a place to live or a source of income. AB 1331 will ensure that seriously disabled youth in each of the State’s 58 counties exit foster care with the vital support of SSI, along with the supportive services SSI entitles them to, such as affordable housing and rehabilitative services. In passing AB 1331, California is the first state in the nation to develop a solution to the barriers preventing youth in foster care from exiting foster with SSI in hand. Congressman Pete Stark (D-California) has introduced federal legislation that may bring California’s solution to the rest of the nation.

Check out the SSI Transitions Project