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AB-1553 Housing: firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders.(2007-2008)

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Amended  IN  Assembly  January 17, 2008
Amended  IN  Assembly  January 07, 2008

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1553

Introduced  by  Assembly Member DeSaulnier
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Davis, Garcia, Portantino, Torrico)

February 23, 2007

An act relating to affordable housing for firefighters.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1553, as amended, DeSaulnier. Housing: firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders.
Existing law sets forth the authority and duties of the Office of Emergency Services in overseeing emergency preparedness and response activities in the state generally.
This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to produce an emergency personnel housing report detailing the need for, and ability to implement, a program to better protect local communities by assisting firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders in purchasing homes located in the communities they serve. The bill would authorize the Office of Emergency Services to work in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Community Development in the production of the report, to the extent that funding is available for this purpose. The bill would require the report to contain certain information, by county, relating to housing for firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders seeking housing often face the daunting task of acquiring housing in a reasonable proximity to their workplace that is safe and affordable.
(b) Each new generation of California firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders faces a greater challenge than the generation before in acquiring housing for their families.
(c) Home prices in urban areas have become out of reach for most firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders, forcing them to travel greater distances from their homes to their assigned firehouses, precincts, or headquarters than their predecessors.
(d) Increasing commute times ultimately pose a threat to the public health of the state’s residents, through greater traffic congestion, the erosion of air quality, and higher energy consumption.
(e) When firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders can live and work in the same community, they are able to interact with members of the community in varying capacities, and thus can enrich an entire community.
(f) In the event of a catastrophic natural disaster, or other similar emergency, many of these firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders will be unable to respond in a quick, efficient, or effective manner, due to their inability to purchase affordable housing and live within reasonable proximity to their workplaces.

SEC. 2.

 (a) The Office of Emergency Services shall produce an emergency personnel housing report detailing the need for, and ability to implement, a program to better protect local communities by assisting firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders in purchasing homes located in the communities they serve. The Office of Emergency Services may work in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Community Development in the production of the report, to the extent that funding is available for this purpose.
(b) The report shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following criteria by county:
(1) The amount of housing existing and produced, compared to the population and the population growth of the county.
(2) The amount of affordable housing produced, compared to the need for affordable housing.
(3) Where firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders live in relation to where they work.
(4) The average distances traveled by firefighters, public safety officers, and emergency first responders from their homes to their place of work.
(5) The average price of a home, by county, and the average salary of a firefighter, public safety officer, and emergency first responder in each county.
(6) Qualification criteria, by county, for subsidized or affordable affordable or subsidized housing.