REAL ESTATE TRANSFER FEES IN CALIFORNIA: SO THERE WE WERE...STRANGE BILLS, STRANGER BEDFELLOWS

It didn't take long to see that we were by no means alone. Not a single committee member spoke in favor of SB 670. The Democrats, like the environmentalists, thought the measure was far too constricting. The Republicans opposed the fee entirely and would have much preferred the bill in its original form. To add insult to injury (and a bit of levity to the proceedings), one senator even commented that the supporters of the bill had been "pantsed"! In an almost unheard of outcome, SB 670 died in committee for lack of a motion.

The high drama (and high jinks), however, does not end there.
Earlier this session, Republican Assemblymember Guy Houston introduced AB 1574, which also seeks to sets boundaries on the use of real estate transfer fees. The BIA is sponsoring AB 1574, which unlike Correa's bill, would simply prohibit the transfer fees from being abused for financial gain, the chief complaint of those supporting SB 670. PCL and several other organizations are supporting AB 1574 in its current form and will continue to follow the situation closely.

Woody Allen once said eighty percent of success is just showing up. Perhaps the other twenty percent is who sits down next to you to testify.

Stay tuned for more strange bills and stranger bedfellows...

Gary Patton is the Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League, a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization. For more than thirty years, PCL has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in California that is the best in the United States. PCL staff review virtually every environmental bill that comes before the California Legislature each year. It has testifed in support or opposition of thousands of bills to strengthen California's environmental laws and fight off rollbacks of environmental protections.