This is an incredible victory, with Assemblyman Richard Bloom of SoCal pulling his two terrible bills. (We left his two Bad Bill descriptions below, see strikethroughs).

Call to testify tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 6 in the Senate Housing Committee chaired by Scott Wiener: 3 Bad Bills will be heard in the bill lineup shown below. The start time is “late morning” and remains unknown. We are told “call in during late morning” to join the virtual queue.

You must follow the instructions (see below the lineup of the Bad Bills), then be given a “line number,” then listen for your “line number” to be called, then unmute your phone and start talking. When your “number” is said, it means you can start talking!

How to speak: Do NOT say your name and “I oppose” or the chair will cut off your mic. Use the word “oppose” or “against” only at the END of your comment.

Instead: A. Say your name, B. say any group or area you belong to, C. say what you believe is needed — and that this bill fails to achieve what is needed. THEN say “oppose.” THEN you’ll get cut off! This is “transparency” in Sacramento.

Say your name, say your piece quickly, then say “I/We Oppose.” Good Luck!

Here’s the lineup for Aug. 6 in the Senate Housing Committee. It will begin in late morning. No hearing start time has been set! “Transparency” in Sacramento:

AB 168 - 29.10 (b)
AB 69 - 29.10 (c)
AB 434
AB 725 forces 400 cities to upzone single-family areas to four houses per lot to anticipate “future growth” that the state has claimed is coming. And AB 725 brings density and upheaval to existing dense areas in the 400 cities. These cities have not attracted enough housing to reach the state’s erroneous growth dictates known as RHNA (reenuh). RHNA is wrong. California’s growth slowed long before the pandemic, the Census confirms. AB 725 destabilizes stable communities amidst COVID-19 yet provides no way to create affordable housing.
AB 831
~~AB 1279 WITHDRAWN:~~ Targets high-education ‘Opportunity Areas’ by allowing 50- to 120-unit projects, purportedly to mix low-income people into middle-class single-family areas. Two loopholes negate these lofty promises in this year of COVID-19: 1) An insufficient “In-lieu” fee lets developers build NO affordable units in the better-off areas. Instead, developers can erect 10-unit luxury buildings. 2) Second, developers can opt for condos. And after the “initial occupants” move out, the affordable condo units revert to luxury units. AB 1279 does not create diverse areas. It only helps developers reap bigger profits in middle-class areas.
AB 1923
AB 2345 50% bigger buildings, but just 1% more units for the poor. A legislative failure in the year of COVID-19, AB 2345 offers a very slight nod to low-income housing while allowing developers to override city standards on height, open space, parking, setbacks, side yards and other careful planning — to overbuild even more looming luxury housing.
AB 2405
AB 2553
AB 2960
AB 3040: Targeting older homes, AB 3040 lets cities “upzone” single-family areas to fourplexes, with no affordable housing. Detailed mapping makes clear this can displace Latino and Black homeowners in vast, diverse SoCal equity communities such as South L.A., East L.A., Paramount, Pico Rivera, Compton and most of the older racially diverse suburbs of L.A. County. Urban Footprint (2020) found that 6.8M homes are vulnerable to destruction under AB 3040.
~~AB 3107~~ ~~WITHDRAWN~~: Wreaks havoc by allowing tall apartments where cafes or shops are now, even if adjacent to homes. Towers would contain 20% affordable units — too low to address COVID-19. Each city faces a different fate because AB 3107 randomly increases building height based on the tallest commercial or resident height allowed ½ mile away. In Inglewood, it means 75-foot towers near some neighborhoods. In L.A., it means 9-story towers on retail land citywide.

Senate Committee on Housing hearing call-in information for August 6, 2020.

(Participant number: 1-844-291-6364) (ACCESS CODE: 9516389)

Please note: In order to be heard clearly, MUTE any devices you are using to livestream the hearing BEFORE calling the phone number. Don’t use speakerphone or Bluetooth due to acoustic feedback.

Upon calling in, you will be placed in a “waiting room” where you will be muted but you can listen to the hearing as you wait.
When a committee moves to public comment, a moderator will ask for anyone wishing to testify in “Support” of the bill to press 1-0. After the SUPPORTERS speak, the moderator will ask those waiting in “Opposition” to press 1-0. DO NOT press 1-0 during the Support segment. And do NOT press 1-0 TWICE “to be sure,” or the system will remove you from the queue!
Once you press 1-0, wait until an operator comes on to speak to you personally. The operator will you a random “line number.” You will be placed in the queue to speak! WRITE DOWN YOUR LINE NUMBER so you don’t miss it when it is called out loud!
Then relax, listen for your number. Water your plants! Make a sandwich, but listen for your LINE NUMBER. Usually, this is your number for the day, for every bill, as it is linked to your phone number.
When the moderator calls out your line number during the hearing, UNMUTE your phone and start talking.
A more detailed explanation of the teleconference instructions can be found by clicking the “Teleconference Instructions”