Bill Text: CA AB2240 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Farm labor centers: migratory agricultural workers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-07-02 - From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB2240 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2240-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  July 02, 2024

Amended  IN  Senate  June 17, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 16, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2240

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Introduced by Assembly Member Arambula
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Robert Rivas)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Garcia, Kalra, Reyes, and Soria)

February 08, 2024

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An act to amend Section 50710.1 of, to add Sections 36054.5, 50710.3, and 50710.6 50710.6, and 50710.7 to, to repeal Section 50716 of, and to repeal and add Section 36069 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2240, as amended, Arambula. Farm labor centers: migratory agricultural workers.

Existing law, the Farm Labor Center Law, authorizes a housing authority to acquire, own, operate, construct, reconstruct, repair, replace, maintain, and dispose of a farm labor center, as defined, due to the need to assemble, domicile, and house persons and families engaged in agricultural work. Existing law also authorizes a housing authority to arrange and contract for the furnishing of services, privileges, works, or facilities for or in connection with its farm labor center, as specified. Existing law prohibits a housing authority that operates a farm labor center from limiting an agricultural worker’s housing unit occupancy period to less than 270 days if the Director of Agriculture certifies that there are seasonal crops that would keep those workers in the immediate area for that period of time.

Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, through its Office of Migrant Services, to assist in the development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or operation of migrant farm labor centers, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Director of Housing and Community Development to contract with specified local public and private entities, including school districts and housing authorities, for the procurement or construction of housing or shelter and to obtain specified services, including education, for migratory agricultural workers. Existing law authorizes a migrant farm labor center subject to these contracts to be operated for an extended period prior to or beyond the standard 180-day period, but not to exceed 275 days in any calendar year, if certain conditions are satisfied.

This bill instead would require all housing units at farm labor centers operated by a housing authority to be made available year round for occupancy by migratory agricultural workers by January 1, 2031, and would require migrant farm labor centers subject to the above-described contracts with the department to be operated year round by January 1, 2031. In this regard, the bill would require the department to develop and implement a 6-year transition plan based on reports that the bill would require migrant farm labor centers to send to the department by July 1, 2025. The bill would also impose various requirements and prohibitions on housing authorities’ operation of housing units at the entity operating a migrant farm labor centers, center, including requirements related to ensuring the health and safety of the occupants and a prohibition on requiring migratory agricultural workers with schoolage children to move out of their housing during the child’s school year or in a time or manner that is disruptive to the child’s academic year. By imposing additional restrictions on a housing authority with regard to operating a farm labor center, this bill would impose a state-mandated localprogram. local program. This bill would require the department to conduct an annual inspection of each farm labor center to determine whether health, safety, and infrastructure standards are properly met.

This bill would prohibit rent of a migrant farm labor center assisted by the Office of Migrant Services from exceeding the average daily per unit per-unit operating cost of the center.

This bill would define “migratory agricultural worker” for purposes of the Farm Labor Center Law and the above-described provisions of the bill and the existing law provisions governing the department’s assistance with regard to migrant farm labor centers.

This bill would apply its provisions described above to a contract entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2025.

Existing law requires the department to make the Office of Migrant Services centers available for rent by persons or families experiencing economic hardships or rendered homeless or at risk of becoming homeless as a result of a drought for which the Governor declared a state of emergency on January 17, 2014.

This bill would repeal those provisions.

This bill would make related findings and declarations.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Farmworkers and their families are essential workers who feed the people in our state and beyond, provide critical assistance to growers in harvesting crops, and deserve to live stable and healthy lives.

(b) In an effort to provide affordable housing for migratory farmworkers living in some of the most expensive regions in the world, California provides housing centers where farmworkers and their families can rent affordable homes seasonally, year round, or in stays as short as one day for those migratory farmworkers who prefer to travel from region to region.

(c) Variable annual climates and changing agricultural techniques create an inability to accurately predict the end of a harvest season. This variability means that housing centers open and close for the season at unpredictable times, leaving those residents who would otherwise choose to reside there year round to find other nearby housing for themselves and their families.

(d) Because housing center closures often do not take into account other factors like school calendars, they can disrupt farmworker communities and interrupt the education of the children of farmworkers. No other state in the nation enforces farmworker housing this way.

(e) California is facing historic housing shortages across the state. Some of the worst impacts of this shortage are in regions of the state where farmworkers live and work for wages far below those necessary to afford unsubsidized housing.

(f) Therefore, in order to ensure that farmworkers live healthy and stable lives and to help alleviate local housing pressures, farmworker housing centers should be made available and reserved for farmworkers who choose to reside there for any length of stay.

SEC. 2.Section 36054.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

36054.5.

(a)“Migratory agricultural worker” means a person who meets any of the following conditions:

(1)During the current or preceding calendar year, derived at least 50 percent of their total annual household earned income from agricultural employment.

(2)Can produce current evidence of a current job offer in agricultural employment.

(3)Is absent from a permanent place of residence for any length of time during the current or preceding calendar year for the purpose of seeking or performing remunerated employment in agricultural work.

(b)This section shall apply to a contract entered into, amended, or extended under this part on or after January 1, 2025.

SEC. 3.SEC. 2.

 Section 36069 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.

SEC. 4.SEC. 3.

 Section 36069 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

36069.

 (a) (1)All housing units at a farm labor center operated by a housing authority shall be made available year round for occupancy by migratory agricultural workers workers, as defined in Section 50710.3, by January 1, 2031, pursuant to Section 50710.6.

(2)Farm labor centers shall reserve a sufficient number of units to accommodate those migratory agricultural workers who wish to reside at a farm labor center for any period of time less than one year.

(b)All communications from the Department of Housing and Community Development to migratory agricultural workers shall be delivered in culturally and linguistically appropriate means in collaboration with promotoras or trusted messengers.

(c)(1)A local housing authority shall ensure that each housing unit at a farm labor center complies with all applicable local health and safety laws and is habitable with regard to heating, cooling, clean water, sewer pond capacity, garbage, and other systems necessary for the health and safety of the occupants.

(2)The Department of Housing and Community Development shall conduct an annual inspection of each farm labor center to determine whether health, safety, and infrastructure standards are properly met.

(d)A farm labor center shall not condition residency on the willingness of a potential tenant to occupy a unit year-round or preference year-round residents over residents wishing to rent a unit for any length of stay less than one year.

(e)A farm labor center shall not require a migratory agricultural worker with a schoolage child to move out of their housing during the child’s school year or in a time or manner that is disruptive to the child’s academic year.

(f)(1)A migratory agricultural worker who has entered into a prior residential tenancy agreement for housing at a migrant farm labor center shall have the right of first refusal of an available unit upon returning to that center for housing following a break in occupancy.

(2)Wherever feasible, a migrant farm labor center shall offer to a migratory agricultural worker the option to return to the same unit in which they previously resided.

(g)A migratory agricultural worker under a farm labor center residency contract shall not lose their residency based on leaving the housing center for travel provided they are paying rent and in a current rental contract.

(h)Except for families and dependents of migratory agricultural workers, farm labor center shall not rent a housing unit to a person who is not a migratory agricultural worker.

(b) This section shall apply to a contract entered into, amended, or extended under this part on or after January 1, 2025.

SEC. 5.SEC. 4.

 Section 50710.1 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

50710.1.

 (a) If all the development costs of any migrant farm labor center assisted pursuant to this chapter are provided by federal, state, or local grants, and if inadequate funds are available from any federal, state, or local service to write-down operating costs, the department may approve rents for that center that are in excess of rents charged in other centers assisted by the Office of Migrant Services. However, notwithstanding any other provision of law, commencing with the 2006 growing season, the department shall not increase rents for residents of any facility assisted by the Office of Migrant Services to a level that exceeds 30 percent of the average annualized household incomes of residents of the facility without specific legislative authorization. Prior to approving these rents, the department shall consider the adequacy of evidence presented by the entity operating the center that the rents reimburse actual, reasonable, and necessary costs of operation.

(b) At the end of each fiscal year, any entity operating a migrant farm labor center pursuant to this chapter shall establish a capital reserve account comprised of the excess funds provided through the annual operating contract received from the department if the department certifies there is no need to address reasonable general maintenance requirements or repairs, rehabilitation, and replacement needs of the requesting migrant farm labor center which affect the immediate health and safety of residents. The cumulative balance of the reserve account shall not exceed 10 percent of the annual operating funds annually committed to the entity by the department unless authorized by the department, and shall be reported annually to the department. Funds in the reserve account shall be used only for capital improvements such as replacing or repairing structural elements, furniture, fixtures, or equipment of the migrant farm labor center, the replacement or repair of which are reasonably required to preserve the migrant farm labor center. An entity shall first use the available capital reserve funds for required improvements or repairs before requesting additional funding from the department for that use. Withdrawals from the reserve account shall be made only upon the written approval of the department of the amount and nature of expenditures.

(c) By January 1, 2031, a migrant farm labor center governed by this chapter shall be operated year-round, year round, pursuant to Section 50710.6.

(d) Rent shall not exceed the average daily per unit per-unit operating cost of the center.

(e) Because of the presumed income levels of the occupants of migrant farm labor centers, an entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall be deemed eligible for the California Alternative Rates for Energy program established pursuant to Sections 382 and 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code. Any savings from a reduction in energy rates shall be passed on to the occupants of the migrant farm labor center.

(f) The amendments made to this section by the act adding this subdivision shall only apply to a contract entered into, amended, or extended under this chapter on or after January 1, 2025.

SEC. 6.SEC. 5.

 Section 50710.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50710.3.

(a)For purposes of this chapter, “migratory agricultural worker” means a person who meets any of the following conditions:

(1)During the current or preceding calendar year, derived at least 50 percent of their total annual household earned income from agricultural employment.

(2)Can produce current evidence of a current job offer in agricultural employment.

(3)Is absent from a permanent place of residence for any length of time during the current or preceding calendar year for the purpose of seeking or performing remunerated employment in agricultural work.

50710.3.

 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Migratory agricultural worker” means an individual who made a qualifying move in the preceding 36 months and, after the qualifying move, meets either of the following conditions:

(A) Engaged in new temporary or seasonal employment or personal subsistence in agriculture, including, but not limited to, dairy work or the initial processing of raw agricultural products.

(B) Actively sought new temporary or seasonal employment or personal subsistence in agriculture and has a recent history of moves for temporary or seasonal agricultural employment.

(2) “Qualifying move” means a move that is due to economic necessity and either of the following:

(A) From one residence to another residence that is at least 20 miles away.

(B) From one school district to another school district.

(b) This section shall apply to a contract entered into, amended, or extended under this chapter on or after January 1, 2025.

SEC. 7.SEC. 6.

 Section 50710.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50710.6.

 (a) (1) The department shall develop and implement a six-year transitional plan to make all housing units at migrant farm labor centers available year round.

(2) By July 1, 2025, each migrant farm labor center shall send to the department a report with the information detailed in subdivision (b).

(b) By January 1, 2026, the department shall aggregate and analyze all reports from all centers and submit to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development and the Senate Committee on Housing a plan to achieve the 2031 housing goal pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 36069. The plan shall include:

(1) The quantity of housing units at each center, with each housing unit individually identified, that could be made available year round immediately.

(2) The quantity of housing units at each center, with each housing unit individually identified, that require upgrades to be made available year round pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 36069, including a description of upgrades needed by unit at each center that includes scope of work and cost estimates.

(3) (A) A description of the order in which units will be renovated.

(B) The upgrade plan shall ensure that no center shuts down more than 30 percent of units at any given time by scheduling them to be renovated.

(C) Centers shall, whenever possible, perform upgrades during academic breaks, or whenever feasible throughout the year.

(4) Information about the regional K–12 schools necessary to determine how long migrant farm labor center housing units may remain open during the six-year plan implementation.

(c) The department shall publish and make available to the public on its internet website the plan created pursuant to subdivision (b).

(d) The plan required by this section shall be provided consistent with the requirements of Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 7.

 Section 50710.7 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50710.7.

 (a) The entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall reserve a sufficient number of units to accommodate those migratory agricultural workers who wish to reside at a farm labor center for any period of time less than one year.

(b) All communications to migratory agricultural workers from the department and the entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall be delivered in culturally and linguistically appropriate means in collaboration with promotoras or trusted messengers.

(c) (1) The entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall ensure that each housing unit complies with all applicable local health and safety laws and is habitable with regard to heating, cooling, clean water, sewer pond capacity, garbage, and other systems necessary for the health and safety of the occupants.

(2) The department shall conduct an annual inspection of each migrant farm labor center to determine whether health, safety, and infrastructure standards are properly met.

(d) The entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall not condition residency on the willingness of a potential tenant to occupy a unit year round or preference year-round residents over residents wishing to rent a unit for any length of stay less than one year.

(e) The entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall not require a migratory agricultural worker with a schoolage child to move out of their housing during the child’s school year or in a time or manner that is disruptive to the child’s academic year.

(f) (1) A migratory agricultural worker who has entered into a prior residential tenancy agreement for housing at a migrant farm labor center shall have the right of first refusal of an available unit upon returning to that center for housing following a break in occupancy.

(2) Wherever feasible, a migrant farm labor center shall offer to a migratory agricultural worker the option to return to the same unit in which they previously resided.

(g) Except for families and dependents of migratory agricultural workers, the entity operating a migrant farm labor center shall not rent a housing unit to a person who is not a migratory agricultural worker.

SEC. 8.

 Section 50716 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.

SEC. 9.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.