Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee

Committee History

The Standing Rules of the Senate created the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in 1983. Initially the seven members of the new Housing and Urban Affairs Committee considered "Bills related to housing, community development, codes and standards, fair housing, foreclosure, housing finances, manufactured housing, housing element, and the Subdivision Map Act" (California Legislature at Sacramento, 1983, p. 95). In 1995 the committee name changed to Senate Housing and Land Use Committee to consider "Bills relating to housing and land use" (California Legislature at Sacramento, 1995, p. 103).

The committee consisted of seven members with the exception of legislative session 1997-1998, when the number decreased to five members. Senator Leroy Greene (Dem.) served as the committee's first chair from 1983 to 1992. Senator Tom Campbell (Rep.) served as committee chair in 1995. Senator Byron D. Sher served as committee chair in 1996. Senator Barbara J, Lee served as committee chair from 1997 to 1998. In 1999, the Senate changed the scope of the committee to consider "Bills relating to housing and community development" (California Legislature at Sacramento, 1999-2000, p. 111), and renamed it the Senate Housing and Community Development Committee.

The Senate Housing and Land Use Committee considered many bills relating to manufactured or mobile homes. This issue generated a substantial community response from mobile home park owners and residents throughout the state on bills that focused on occupancy restrictions, fees, sale, and transfer of ownership. The committee played an important role in creating safety guidelines for mobile homes such as, requiring the installation of vented seismic gas shutoff valves in mobile home parks, requiring inspection of mobile home parks by the Department of Housing and Community Development or a local enforcement agency every five years, and extending rental agreement protection to residents. Legislation by the committee extended to both mobile home owners and mobile home residents.

The committee conducted hearings throughout the state for public input or fact-finding purposes. California's increasing population created diverse housing issues for the state's residents, as did the potential loss of federally subsidized housing. The hearings focused on the growing problems of affordable housing, substandard housing, adequate farm worker housing, and homelessness. In response to the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 and the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, the committee heard testimonies on disaster preparedness and safety, resulting in legislation to increase California's readiness for future disasters. As California entered a recession and suffered defense and aerospace cutbacks in the early 1990s, the committee held hearings to remove obstacles for business, job, and revenue growth.

From the guide to the California State Senate Housing and Land Use Committee records, 1977-1998, (California State Archives)