SB 1216: Budget Act of 2026.
<p>The bill requires the California Department of Housing and Community Development to publish an annual list of "housing leadership designated jurisdictions" on its website. To qualify for this designation, a jurisdiction must submit complete annual progress reports for five consecutive years and meet specific housing production requirements based on whether it is classified as affordable, unaffordable, or extremely unaffordable. Jurisdictions with the designation are authorized to establish exemptions or modifications of certain planning and zoning law provisions through ordinance. The bill also simplifies compliance criteria by considering a jurisdiction's housing element in substantial compliance if adopted within the current planning period without contrary findings from the department within 30 days. Additionally, jurisdictions with this designation are exempt from including speci…
| Jun. 15, 2026 | Re-referred to Com. on B. & F. R. |
| Jun. 15, 2026 | Withdrawn from committee. |
| Jun. 11, 2026 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HOUSING. |
| Apr. 20, 2026 | April 21 set for second hearing canceled at the request of author. |
| Apr. 13, 2026 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HOUSING. |
| Amended IN Senate June 11 , 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate April 13 , 2026 |
| Senate Bill | No. 1216 |
| Introduced by Senator |
February 19 , 2026 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine whether the housing element is in substantial compliance with those provisions, as provided. Existing law requires the department to designate jurisdictions as prohousing pursuant to emergency regulations adopted by the department, as prescribed, and requires that jurisdictions that are prohousing and that are in substantial compliance with specified provisions be awarded additional points or preference in the scoring of applications for specified state programs.
This bill would require the department, on or before July 1 of each year, to publish a list of housing leadership designated jurisdictions on its internet website. To qualify for a housing leadership designation, the bill would require that the jurisdiction have submitted a complete annual progress report for the preceding 5 years and, as applicable, that it meet specified requirements relating to housing production that vary based on whether the jurisdiction is an affordable jurisdiction, an unaffordable jurisdiction, or an extremely unaffordable jurisdiction, as those terms are defined. The bill would also require the department to publish a list of the affordability designation for each jurisdiction that has submitted a complete annual progress report, as provided. The bill would authorize a jurisdiction with a housing leadership designation to take prescribed actions, including to establish by ordinance an exemption or modification of specified provisions of the Planning and Zoning Law. The bill would require that a housing element or amendment be considered in substantial compliance when the local agency adopts the housing element or amendment for the current planning period, and a jurisdiction adopts a housing element under these provisions and the department had not issued contrary written findings within 30 days of receiving notice of the legislative body’s resolution. The bill would also exempt a jurisdiction with a housing leadership designation from requirements to include specified analyses in the housing element. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 15.14 of the Budget Act of 2026 is amended to read:(a)Any appropriation from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund shall be subject to the restrictions specified in subdivision (b).
(b)A state agency or department shall not encumber or otherwise commit any funds appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the 2026–27 fiscal year until a determination is made by the Department of Finance that Cap-and-Invest auction proceeds in the 2026–27 fiscal year are sufficient to fully fund amounts specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) and paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 39719.4 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)If there are not sufficient funds to fully fund appropriations pursuant to subdivision (b), the Department of Finance shall proportionally reduce appropriations based on the amount of funding available from auction proceeds after subdivisions (a) and (b) and paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 39719.4 of the Health and Safety Code are fully funded.
(d)Upon determination of the final amount of auction proceeds after the fourth Cap-and-Invest auction in the 2026–27 fiscal year, the Department of Finance shall make a final determination for the expenditure of any remaining available auction proceeds pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 39719.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and shall notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee no later than 30 days after its final determination if there are decreased auction proceeds that require a modification to the expenditure of funds.
(e)The Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) does not apply to guidelines or other standards adopted and used by a state agency in administering an allocation of moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
SEC. 15.14.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, up to $5,838,000,000 is hereby appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to fully fund all programs and costs identified in Section 39719.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and to allocate $250,000,000 for the Zero-Emission Transit Capital Program and the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program and up to $1,250,000,000 for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.SEC. 2.
This act is a Budget Bill within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section 12 of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall take effect immediately.