Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the California Department of General Services are seeking qualified developers to develop housing on five state-owned properties in Northern and Southern California.

The land becomes available under the Excess Land for Affordable Housing program created in 2019 by an executive order. To date, this successful program has brought 16 partnerships between the state, affordable housing developers and local communities to produce sustainable and cost-effective housing on state-owned excess sites, creating a pipeline of more than 4,400 new homes in various stages of development, according to the governor’s office.

Newsom this week also announced the signing of Senate Bill 561, Assembly Bill 2233 and Assembly Bill 2592 – to create more affordable housing, and codify and build upon the success of the Excess Land for Affordable Housing program.

“California’s housing affordability crisis has been more than a half century in the making and the state is tackling this foundational challenge with an innovative ‘all of the above’ approach,” said Newsom in a signing statement. “We’ve made unprecedented investments and progress to create more housing in California over the past four years, including using state-owned land to build homes, …helping us fast-track our progress and bring more affordable housing statewide.”

The sites announced Sept. 19 aim to create hundreds of new housing units for low-income Californians, according to the governor. They include former office buildings of the state Water Resources Board in Fresno, former offices of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Covina, a single-story commercial building in Midtown Sacramento, a vacant California Department of Transportation site in Oceanside and a buffer zone near the Atascadero State Hospital in Atascadero.

SB 561 codifies the Excess Land for Affordable Housing Executive Order by requiring DGS and HCD to identify state surplus land that can be used for affordable housing development.

AB 2233 also helps to codify the executive order, requires the California Housing Finance Agency, HCD, and DGS to identify and prioritize surplus properties that can be used for cost effective housing developments – and it generates a progress report to the Legislature.

AB 2592 requires DGS to prepare a report to the Legislature on a streamlined plan to transition underutilized multistory state buildings into housing for the purpose of expanding affordable housing and adaptive reuse opportunities.

CalMatters reported details on climate and other bills signed into law by Newsom. The governor has until Sept. 30 to sign the bills approved by the Legislature.

The governor signed six climate bills into law, including one that keeps the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to stay open until 2030.

Senate Bill 846 keeps the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open until 2030 and give its operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, a $1.4 billion loan to do so. The plant is currently scheduled to shut down in 2025.

Assembly Bill 1279 codifies California’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. To achieve this target, the state needs to reduce its fossil fuel use by 91% – a target that the California Air Resources Board has prioritized in this year’s climate change blueprint. Carbon neutrality means balancing the volume of greenhouse gasses that are emitted with the amount removed from the atmosphere. This legislation was part of the climate action plan that Newsom pushed legislators in mid-August to help meet the state’s carbon-neutral goals.

Assembly Bill 1757 requires the state to set targets for removing planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere with nature-based methods, such as planting trees, restoring wetlands and scaling up public landscaping and urban forestry projects.

Senate Bill 905 directs the California Air Resources Board to develop a program and set regulations for carbon capture, utilization and storage projects at polluting industries, such as oil refineries.

Senate Bill 1020 sets interim targets for generating clean energy. The current law already requires 100% of retail electricity to be fueled by renewables such as wind and solar by 2045. This change requires 90% by 2035 and 95% by 2040. In addition, all state agencies must source their energy from 100% renewable sources by 2035, 10 years sooner than the previous law required.

Senate Bill 1137 prohibits new oil and gas wells or extensive retrofitting of existing operations within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, nursing homes and hospitals.

CalMatters also reported these bills were signed by Newsom.

Assembly Bill 257 creates a state-run council to set labor standards across the fast food sector, including on wages, safety and other workplace conditions. The council would consist of fast food workers, their advocates, restaurant owners, fast food corporations and the state’s labor and business departments. The Service Employees International Union and its Fight for $15 campaign for low-wage workers, the California Labor Federation and other unions backed the bill.

“Today’s action gives hardworking fast-food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table to set fair wages and critical health and safety standards across the industry. I’m proud to sign this legislation on Labor Day when we pay tribute to the workers who keep our state running as we build a stronger, more inclusive economy for all Californians.”

Senate Bill 1338  establishes “CARE Courts” in every county to compel people with serious mental illness, many of whom are homeless, into housing and medical treatment. Participants would be ushered to the front of the line for supportive services during the year-long program, after which they could either graduate or be referred to another year of treatment.

“This is one of the things I think we’ll look back on with tremendous pride, when we’re done,” Newsom said during the Sept. 14 signing ceremony in San Jose, where he first announced the proposal in March. “We get a moment in time, but this might live on, if we make it real. And that’s the hard work of the next year.”

Assembly Bill 2273 requires that businesses that provide online services or products likely to be accessed by kids under 18 would have to provide greater privacy protections by default starting in 2024. For example, the bill would generally prohibit companies from collecting, selling, sharing, or keeping kids’ personal information other than to provide the service with which a kid is actively interacting.

Newsom announced this week he has vetoed nine bills and signed another 25 into law, 10 days before his signing deadline.

Here is a full list of bills signed by Newsom, as provided by his office as of Sept. 19:

• AB 58 by Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) – Pupil health: suicide prevention policies and training.
• AB 392 by Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-North Hollywood) – Clinical laboratories: total protein test: authorization.
• AB 498 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) – Medi-Cal: county organized health system: Orange County Health Authority.
• AB 748 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) – Pupil mental health: mental health assistance posters.
• AB 1628 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland) – Social media platforms: electronic content management: controlled substances.
• AB 1832 by Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) – Waters subject to tidal influence: hard mineral extraction.
• AB 1867 by Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose) – School facilities: modernization projects: bathrooms.
• AB 1932 by Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) – Public contracts: construction manager at-risk construction contracts.
• AB 2000 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) – Motor vehicle speed contests and exhibitions of speed: off street parking facilities.
• AB 2109 by Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-Ventura) – White sharks: prohibition on use of attractants.
• AB 2233 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) – Excess state land: development of affordable housing.
• AB 2592 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) – Housing: underutilized state buildings.
• AB 2648 by Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) – Air ambulance services.
• AB 2681 by Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) – The California Concert and Festival Crowd Safety Act.
• AB 2777 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) – Sexual assault: statute of limitations.
• AB 2955 by the Committee on Labor and Employment – Worker classification: commercial fishing industry.
• AB 2959 by the Committee on Judiciary – Childhood sexual assault: claims.
• SB 45 by Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) – Short-lived climate pollutants: organic waste reduction goals: local jurisdiction assistance.
• SB 561 by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) – State surplus property: digital inventory: affordable housing.
• SB 768 by Senator Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) – CalWORKs: postsecondary education.
• SB 1027 by Senator Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) – San Diego River Conservancy.
• SB 1079 by Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) – Vehicles: sound-activated enforcement devices.
• SB 1453 by Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa) – Speech language pathologists.
• SB 1494 by the Committee on Governance and Finance – Property taxation: revenue allocations: tax-defaulted property sales.
• SB 1498 by the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions – Financial institutions: Department of Financial Protection and Innovation: money transmissions.

The governor also announced that he has vetoed the following bills:

• AB 552 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) – Integrated School-Based Behavioral Health Partnership Program. A veto message can be found here.
• AB 1965 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) – California Antihunger Response Act of 2022. A veto message can be found here.
• AB 2548 by Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-North Hollywood) – California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program. A veto message can be found here.
• AB 2663 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland) – Youth Acceptance Project. A veto message can be found here.
• AB 2677 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) – Information Practices Act of 1977. A veto message can be found here.
• AB 2784 by Assemblymember Philip Ting (D-San Francisco) – Solid waste: thermoform plastic containers: postconsumer thermoform recycled plastic. A veto message can be found here.
• SB 785 by Senator Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) – Public postsecondary education: California Promise program: California State University students. A veto message can be found here.
• SB 870 by Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) – Developmental services. A veto message can be found here.
• SB 1191 by Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) – Medi-Cal: pharmacogenomic testing. A veto message can be found here.

For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.