Senate Housing Committee advances a package of housing bills; votes at a glance

The Senate Standing Committee on Housing considered more than a dozen bills in a packed hearing and ultimately advanced the majority on unanimous or near‑unanimous votes. Highlights and formal actions below summarize motions taken and next committees for each bill.

Votes at a glance (action and next stop):
- AB 17 51 (Quirk Silva / Wicks) — Passed as amended to Local Government (committee accepted amendments limiting unit size to 1,750 sq ft, capping projects at 150 units and striking the private‑sector wage provision). Reported out 10–0.

- AB 7 50 (Quirk Silva / Wicks) — Passed to Appropriations (expands HCD’s Portfolio Reinvestment Program); reported out 9–0/10–0 on subsequent roll calls.

- AB 306 (Schultz) — Passed to Local Government (creates appeals/pathway for CBSC code interpretations); reported out 10–0.

- AB 2612 (Schultz) — Passed to Appropriations (directs HCD/CBSC to develop plug‑in PV standards for possible inclusion in the 2031 code); reported out 10–0.

- AB 1070 (Ward) — Passed to Appropriations (study on applying residential code to 3–10 unit projects); reported out 10–0.

- AB 1237 (McKinnon) — Passed to Health (clarifies private in‑unit pools, adds safety requirements); reported out 10–0.

- AB 1556 (Haney) — Passed to Senate Health with amendments (clarifies return‑to‑use policies, removes eviction‑only language and aligns with Cal ICH guidance); reported out 10–0.

- AB 2181 (Ziburr) — Passed to Local Government (limits density bonus valuation use for hotel/motel lease resets); reported out 10–0.

- AB 2296 (Pappan) — Passed to Appropriations (moves RHNA and related deadlines earlier by six months; splits Bay Area cohorts); reported out 10–0.

- AB 1915 (Gabriel) — Passed to Business, Professions & Economic Development (food facility code modernization; concerns from CSLB about self‑certification remain but authors will address them); reported out 10–0 and to additional committees.

- AB 2433 (Alvarez) — Passed as amended to Environmental Quality (density bonus and for‑sale affordable housing incentives; ministerial provisions were removed in committee); reported out 10–0.

- AB 2576 (Harabedian) — Passed to Local Government (historic resource protections related to SB 79); reported out 10–0.

- AB 2601 (Lee) — Passed to Local Government (concurrent review for certain ministerial/lot split projects); reported out 8–1.

Committee procedure and common themes: Many bills included negotiated amendments in committee to address concerns from labor unions, cities, preservationists and safety boards. Where ministerial or self‑certification language drew opposition (notably in bills about permitting and equipment replacement), authors removed or narrowed the provisions and committed to further work with stakeholders in subsequent committees. Preservation and displacement issues surfaced repeatedly in both missing‑middle and TOD/historic‑district discussions.

Next steps: Each bill will proceed to the committees named above (Appropriations, Local Government, Health, Environmental Quality, or Business/Professions) for fiscal review, further amendments, or floor scheduling.