2025 - Assembly Bill 650 (Papan, Diane), Planning and Zoning: Housing Element: Regional Housing Needs Allocation (Vetoed)
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Extends a number of timelines in the process of determining regional housing needs, regional housing needs allocations, and housing element revisions, and requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide specific analysis or text to local governments to remedy deficiencies in their draft housing element revisions.
To the Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning Assembly Bill 650 without my signature.
This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), if it finds that a draft housing element is deficient, to provide the specific analysis and the draft text that should be included in the jurisdiction's housing element.
I share the author's interest in improving the housing element process. In partnership with the Legislature, we have enacted numerous reforms to strengthen this process by demanding more rigorous site inventories, enforceable rezoning, and stronger accountability mechanisms to uphold state law.
Although intended to build on these recent efforts, I am concerned that this bill would inappropriately shift responsibility for preparing housing elements from local jurisdictions to HCD. While HCD provides technical assistance when requested and in response to inadequate housing elements, that support is no substitute to the local government's fundamental responsibility to plan for its share of housing needs. Further, shifting these duties to the state would add at least $11 million in new annual costs.
Housing element law has advanced considerably through recent legislation, much of which is now being implemented in the current planning cycle. As these changes take hold, it is critical to preserve the fundamental structure of local planning responsibility under state oversight. However, I look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature on additional opportunities to further improve this process.
For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.
Sincerely,
Gavin Newsom