LAHSA-Supported State Legislation

Part of LAHSA’s role is to advocate for local and state legislation that will speed up the process of getting people housed. Recently, the LAHSA Commission, the governing body appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, voted to support two State Assembly bills that could support those efforts: AB 1948 and AB 2502. Here’s a rundown of what these bills do:

Assembly Bill 1948

This bill, authored by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, will remove the Jan. 1, 2025 sunset date from AB 728, which allows Multidisciplinary Personnel Teams (MDTs) and their connected agencies in select counties to exchange the personal information of individuals identified as being at imminent risk of experiencing homelessness to provide county services to prevent new and recurring incidences of homelessness.

AB 728 allows MDTs in seven counties to share information: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Ventura. If enacted, AB 1948 will indefinitely extend the availability of these services.

In a letter penned to Assemblyman Alex Lee, chair of the Assembly Human Services Committee, LAHSA CEO Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum and Los Angeles County Supervisor and LAHSA Commission Chair Lindsey Horvath praised the “strong privacy protections” included in AB 728 that would continue with AB 1948 along with the information sharing that has contributed to effective homelessness prevention efforts.

Assembly Bill 2502

Authored by Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, this bill would broaden the definition of an emergency in the State Public Contract Code to give local governments more ways to expedite the construction of housing for people experiencing homelessness by foregoing the typical competitive bidding processes.

One of the impetuses for this bill is the success seen with the accelerated procurement process that helped create the Hilda Solis Care First Village within six months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to Assemblyman Juan Carrillo, Dr. Adams Kellum and Supervisor Horvath point out that while Los Angeles City and County have issued emergency declarations to expedite the deployment of necessary services and shelter to address homelessness, State-level requirements continue to delay housing construction, including the more-than-four-month public bidding process from project advertisement to proposal negotiations.