A controversial bill creating a new tax on wood products was signed into law this week.  AB 1492 (Budget Committee) imposes a 1 percent tax on lumber products starting in January 2013.  However, the bill also restricts liability that some landowners pay for causing wildfires and allows harvest plans to remain effective for longer periods.   “California’s laws have saddled our timber industry with costly burdens while giving out-of-state competitors a free ride–but that stops ...

A few weeks ago we had to report the sad news that our sponsored bill to reform CEQA was quashed by legislative leadership just a few short hours after being unveiled.  The press conference to announce the bill was stopped, but was followed with promises to “re-visit” the issue soon.  Typically, this type of language is dismissed because it is usually a way to shelve an idea while placating the proponents.   However, we are happy and cautiously optimistic to report that Senate President ...

Although we reported about this last week, we are including this story again because of the intense interest and huge impact this bill will have on our industry.  This is an historic reform and we want to make sure that we shout about it from (our own) rooftops!   A bill we sponsored is being hailed as the most comprehensive and significant reform to California’s ADA Law. It passed the Legislature by a two-thirds vote in the wee hours of Friday night.  Currently, California has 40 percent ...

Last year, reading Governor Brown’s veto messages became a favorite pastime of political junkies throughout the state, because many of them contained quips, jabs, philosophy, and sometimes just plain obvious observations that were, in the kabuki world of the Capitol, fun and interesting.  Although nothing as creative or abrasive as the famous Schwarzenegger/Ammiano acrostic.   The first such interesting message came out this week.  While vetoing a Republican assemblymember’s bill which ...

The Legislature has gone home for the year and they sent a whole heap of bills over to the Governor — as of today 677 bills are still awaiting his signature or veto!  The Constitutional Deadline for bills to be deal with is September 30 and we are weighing in on a number of bills.  Read More →

The California Business Properties Association Industry Awards Dinner will be held on November 1, 2012 at The Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach.   The CBPA Industry Awards Dinner is a chance to recognize the unwavering leadership of individuals and companies dedicated to the commercial industrial retail real estate industry.  This is a special event as it marks CBPA’s 40 years of service to the industry. This year we will be awarding our Champion of the Industry Awards to Brad Cox with Trammell ...

In other news, we thought we’d share some philanthropic activity by one of our industries’ largest retailers:  “The Home Depot Foundation announced that it has surpassed the three-year $30 million pledge it made in 2011 to veterans’ housing initiatives more than a year ahead of schedule. As part of its second annual Celebration of Service campaign, the Foundation is now committing an additional $50 million to veterans’ nonprofits over the next three years in an effort to ensure ...

One of the nation’s largest and most influential newspapers has taken a look at the CEQA battles going on in California.  As you know, we have been at the center of all these reform attempts for many years.  We continue every year to work on CEQA reform because eventually it’s going to happen and we must be “at the table” on your behalf.  To wit, although many may think the acknowledgement in the NY Times is recognizing the obvious, we see it as hope that rationality may eventually prevail: “With ...

…Another newspaper is slamming the Legislature for some of the very actions cited above.  A scathing editorial in the San Jose Mercury News says the last-minute process and resulting bills are deeply flawed:  “We scrambled to decipher the highly technical and complex language. The Legislature and governor’s office put out summaries that were incomplete and misleading. Outside experts had no opportunity for input.” “It was an outrageous charade. A missing word here, an added clause ...

One political reporter has declared the Legislative Session a success, citing the following “accomplishments” by the Legislature: “(1) It delivered on an overhaul of public-employee pensions.” “(2) It revamped the $16 billion workers’ compensation insurance program to squeeze out enough waste to provide a significant boost in benefits to injured workers, reduce premiums for employers and, quite likely, avert a once-every-decade crisis of runaway costs.” “(3) ...