Bill > AB36

This bill modifies California's housing element law by establishing new provisions for the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to designate jurisdictions as "prohousing." Specifically, the bill requires HCD to create permanent regulations for prohousing designations and introduces special considerations for small rural jurisdictions (defined as cities with fewer than 25,000 people or counties with fewer than 200,000 people). For these small rural jurisdictions, HCD must evaluate their housing element submissions for prohousing policies and will not require them to renew their prohousing designation for at least four years. The bill expands the definition of prohousing local policies to include additional strategies like safe parking programs, safe camping programs, and mechanisms to expedite approvals for low-barrier navigation centers, emergency shelters, and supportive housing. The bill also maintains existing provisions that provide additional points or preferences in competitive housing and infrastructure program applications for jurisdictions with prohousing policies, while ensuring that new policy points do not exceed the value of policies directly related to housing planning, approval, or construction. The legislation aims to create more flexible and supportive housing development strategies, particularly for smaller, rural communities.

Budget and Finance, Government Affairs, Housing and Urban Affairs

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB36