California Eminent Domain Report

Despite daily rumors to the contrary, neither chamber took up the issue of redevelopment last week.

Both the Senate and Assembly held brief floor sessions Friday morning without voting on either SB 77 or AB 101, the bills eliminating redevelopment. While both houses remained on-call over weekend and today, the next floor sessions are not scheduled until Tuesday, March 29.

Meanwhile, there have been intensive lobbying efforts in support of the CRA and League of California Cities Alternative solution. Essentially, they are proposing that redevelopment agencies voluntarily ...

Both the Senate and Assembly have adjourned for the weekend, but what a week it has been in the battle over the future of redevelopment.

The bill to kill redevelopment, SB 77, came up for multiple votes in the Assembly on Wednesday. The bill initially garnered only 50 of the 54 votes needed for the two-thirds majority. The Governor, working out of the Speakers office just off of the Assembly floor, personally lobbied and cajoled legislatures throughout the day. Eventually, he won over two wavering Democrats and one Republican, Chris Norby of Orange County. By the time of the bill’s final ...

The Assembly has been in session since 11:00, and as best I can tell (I haven't been able to watch the feed the entire day), it has not yet taken up SB 77 or redevelopment again today.  My understanding is that further discussion is planned before the session ends, and that SB 77 was - at least at the beginning of the session - "item #7" on the agenda. 

In the meantime, the 11:00 session started a bit late this morning, and both houses almost immediately convened in caucuses.  Later, they moved forward with a few of the budget bills, taking them up and (apparently) approving them based on a ...

As the evening has worn on in the Assembly, SB 77 has been called to a vote several more times.  What started as 50 yes votes (four short of passage) has now become 53 "yes" votes - now a single vote away. 

Just before 7:00, the vote was 53-23, with 3 still abstaining.  Another vote was called at about 7:10, but the tally remained 53-23.  The plan at that time was to adjourn at 8:30 barring some change, but discussions continued until well past 9:00.

At about 9:20 p.m., the vote was called one more time.  It remained 53-23, one vote short.  At that point, the Assembly adjourned; it is scheduled to ...

SB 77 - the budget trailer bill to eliminate redevelopment agencies in California - has been debated on the Assembly floor much of the afternoon.  When it finally came time to vote at a little after 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, it was still unclear whether Governor Brown would receive the two-thirds vote necessary. 

As the votes came in, it became obvious that (1) the votes, as expected, would fall largely on party lines, with Democrats approving the bill and Republicans rejecting it, and (2) that the final result was going to be very close, one way or the other. 

Ultimately, the vote came in ...

It looks like Governor Brown's proposal to end redevelopment as part of his overhaul of California's budget may come to a vote on both the Assembly and Senate floors today.  AB 101 and SB 77 are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. vote, and both include within them the plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies.  They require a 2/3 vote for passage.

In the meantime, the California Redevelopment Association is promoting an alternative proposal that it hopes will be presented on the floor.  They claim that the CRA proposal will:

• Provide significant funding to schools which could also help close the ...