Eviction protection compromise goes up to the wire in Legislature

The last day of the 2020 California Legislative session began with one major question: Would lawmakers pass the eviction protections contained in AB 3088?

The Senate passed the bill by a 33-2 margin, easily clearing the two-thirds margin required of an urgency measure that would go into effect immediately if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it.

It then headed to the Assembly, which had not voted as of press time.

Lawmakers also passed scores of other measures, with Democrats making up for some of the time they lost to the pandemic shutdowns. These included several bills related to criminal justice and courts.

AB 3088 is a last-minute compromise between lawmakers and landlord organizations intended to head off postponed evictions for nonpayment of rent that could begin as soon as Wednesday. This is when a Judicial Council moratorium on unlawful detainer cases expires.

Many tenant advocates were upset that lawmakers abandoned stronger protections contained in two other bills, AB 1436 and SB 1410. But most still urged it's passage. It would allow tenants to forestall eviction for nonpayment until February, though many would be required to show they lost income due to the pandemic.

"This measure is simply a six months bridge for both tenants and landlords," said Sen. Steve Bradford, D-Gardena, a co-author of the bill. "This bill by no stretch of the imagination is an end-all, be-all solution to the crisis."

The only real drama came when Republicans requested to break for a party caucus moments into the debate. Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, said he was told AB 3088 would not come up until after dinner.

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, reluctantly granted the request, but Republican lawmakers returned just minutes later. Borgeas voted for the bill, noting he was doing so reluctantly, and was joined by three other Republicans.

"This bill does not address in real meaningful ways the relationship between the landlord and the owner of the property and the creditor," Borgeas said, echoing an objection raised by several other Republicans. "We need to figure out between now and the next few months how we are going to help landlords." Borgeas, an attorney, also voted yes during a five-hour-plus debate on the bill that took place in Jackson's Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday. He said he supported the bill because he said it represented an improvement over earlier approaches. He also noted the difficulty the state has in attempting to insert itself into relationships between property owners and banks.

"There's no real legal teeth in it, and there can't be," he said. "We know there's probably going to be contract, property and federal preemption issues. This thing is fraught with problems."

AB 3088 would phase out on Feb. 1, at least two months earlier than previously proposed legislation. It would allow non-COVID related evictions to go forward, and would convert some rental debt to consumer debt that cannot be used to evict a tenant.

The bill was presented on the floor by Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, who was also the author of SB 1436. She has repeatedly testified the bill was overly complex in part because the state lacks the money to provide direct support.

Jackson said she was still hopeful the federal government would provide financial support to states that would allow them to offer direct help.

A more strenuous debate took place over AB 3234, which the Senate passed and sent to the governor. This bill would make it easier for judges to divert some misdemeanor offenders from incarceration and lower the minimum age for the state's Elderly Parole Program from 60 to 50.

The idea of both changes would be to lower the prison population as a way to fight COVID-19. Prison outbreaks have led to releases that have driven the state's prison population to a 20-year low, something that has troubled many Republicans.

"The governor under his executive authority is releasing thousands of criminals from our prisons into our communities," said Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield.

Jackson shot back that many crimes were excluded from the bill, including sex offenses and domestic violence, and said Republicans appeared to be trying to falsely claim it applied to felony offenders, hundreds of whom have already been released early from prison. She also said judges and district attorneys will be able to oppose releases.

Lawmakers also debated several measures relating to AB 5, the law that codified the independent contractor test in Dynamex Operations Inc. v. Superior Court, 2018 DJDAR 3856. The Assembly passed AB 323 by a 67-4 vote. The bill lengthens an exemption to the law for one year, until Jan. 1, 2022, allowing newspapers to keep delivery people as independent contractors.

By a 59-12 vote, the Assembly approved SB 592. Dubbed the Fair Juries Act, it would require jury pools be drawn from tax records instead of voter rolls or Department of Motor Vehicle registrations, with the goal of creating more diverse, representative jury pools.

Both houses also took time to honor Legislative Counsel Diane Boyer-Vine, who is retiring after 18 years in the role as the Legislature's top attorney. Among other tasks, the office reviews all legislation to determine if it will survive constitutional challenges.

Lawmakers also sent several bills to the governor over the weekend. These include AB 2445, which would allow legal guardians of a minor to file wrongful death lawsuits for damages. It was inspired by the killing of a 13-year-old boy in a San Diego school last year after his guardians said they complained to the school for months about bullying. It is backed by the Consumer Attorneys of California.