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SACRAMENTO – Today, members of the California Senate Republican Caucus voted against Assembly Bill 520 because it will drive the cost of housing construction up and will benefit labor unions at the expense of hardworking Californians. AB 520 passed on a partisan vote.
Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) issued the following statement:
“This legislation will decrease jobs and worsen our housing and homelessness crisis. Sacramento Democrats’ ill-conceived legislation will only add more costs onto already high development fees for the construction of new homes.
“Senate Republicans voted against AB 520 because we want real solutions such as comprehensive CEQA reforms to help Californians who grapple with the state’s affordability problems and housing shortage. If the governor is serious about solving California’s housing crisis, this legislation is not the answer. I urge him to veto AB 520 when it comes across his desk,” said Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove.
AB 520 is substantially similar to Assembly Bill 302 (2014) and Assembly Bill 251 (2015), except that they both had a different subsidy threshold. Governor Brown vetoed both measures.
The impact of Assembly Bill 520:
- Would require employers to pay a prevailing wage on housing development that receives a public subsidy in the amount of $500,000 or that is less than 2 percent of the total project’s cost.
- Would impact California’s landmark New Solar Home Partnership (NSHP) program because the state’s homebuilders would lose an important incentive under NSHP to apply solar to new residential construction.