Following are several recent news items about state and local legislation that could have national, trend-setting implications.
Calif. Grants Eviction Legal Representation
Under legislation signed in Oct. by Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), the state’s Judicial Council must, by July 1, 2011, create a pilot program to provide the state’s poor with legal representation in civil cases “affecting basic human needs,” including eviction proceedings.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright entitled the poor to legal defense in criminal proceedings. California’s new law represents the nation’s first successful attempt to extend that right to such persons in civil proceedings.
NJAA Secures ‘Green’ Bill Amendments
The New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA) on Dec. 3 successfully sought amendments in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee to S-1066, a proposal regarding the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s new, low-interest loan program for high-performance “green buildings.”
The bill, as amended and released by the Committee, includes a specific reference to ANSI’s National Green Building Standard--a more appropriate standard for “green” multifamily housing development than the USGBC’s LEED standard--as well as a specific reference to “mixed-use” development. The inclusion of a specific reference to mixed-use developments expands the program to include new multi-family development in that setting.
NYC Purges Green Upgrade Mandates
The New York Times reports that a successful bout of “intense” lobbying efforts by New York City building owners forced the city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg (I), to purge from his ambitious greenhouse reduction ordinance package a provision requiring owners of existing buildings over 50,000 square feet to pay for auditor-recommended, energy efficient upgrades. That provision, according to the Times, represented the package’s “most far-reaching initiative.”
The ordinances, which were passed by the City Council Dec. 9, still, however, mandate that owners of such structures pay to have their buildings audited for energy performance, make energy-efficient lighting upgrades to the buildings and provide to the public an analysis of their buildings’ annual energy consumption.
One of the package’s four measures also creates a green building code, which governs energy efficient renovations to existing buildings.
Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Impact Fee Moratorium
The Arizona League of Cities and Towns’ legal challenge to an impact fee moratorium passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer (R) was rejected Dec. 3 by the state Supreme Court.
The Arizona Republic reports the court’s decision stemmed not from the league’s legal argument, but rather the way the suit was brought. “The cities,” according to the Republic, “did not lay the groundwork for why the case should” be brought to the Supreme Court.
According to the league, the inclusion of the fee moratorium provision by legislators in a bill aimed at plugging the state’s budget deficit is a violation of the state constitution, which provides that unrelated measures may not be addressed in a single bill. The measure also contained provisions addressing immigration enforcement.
As reported by the Associated Press, the Supreme Court maintains the league may bring the suit in a lower court.
Information collected by NAA’s Government Affairs Department and distributed in December through its HotSheet e-newsletter. For information, contact NAA’s Scot Haislip at scot@naahq.org.