AB 22

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law provides that the state is divided into agricultural districts within the boundaries of which district agricultural associations may be formed. Existing law provides that District 32 is the County of Orange. This bill would create District 32a, which would consist of all of that real property that is a portion of District 32 that is commonly known as the Orange County Fair located in the City of Costa Mesa, and would prescribe certain matters applicable to officers of District 32 and District 32a. The bill would, among other things, (A) authorize the Department of General Services to sell all or any portion of the real property that composes District 32a pursuant to a public bidding process, as provided; (B) prohibit District 32a from entering into any contract, lease, or other agreement affecting the use or operation of that real property for a period that exceeds 3 months; (C) require those contracts, leases, or agreements to contain a certain cancellation notice; (D) authorize the department to be reimbursed for reasonable costs or expenses; (E) authorize bonds involving District 32a property to be paid from the proceeds of any sale or lease of District 32a property; (F) require the Director of General Services to report specified information to the chairs of the fiscal committees of the Legislature 30 days prior to executing a transaction for the sale of the real property; (G) require the director to include a reservation to the state of mineral rights in the sale of the real property; (H) require the net sale proceeds to be deposited into the District 32a Disposition Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury; and (I) require the department to report annually to the Legislature on the status of the sale of the real property. This bill would require District 32a to be abolished and all funds in the District 32a Disposition Fund to be transferred to the General Fund upon sale of all property that composes District 32a. (2) Existing law requires the Department of General Services to offer for sale land that is declared excess or is declared surplus by the Legislature, and that is not needed by any state agency, to local agencies and private entities and individuals, subject to specified conditions. Existing law also authorizes the Director of General Services, with the consent of the state agency involved, to let for a period not to exceed 5 years, any real or personal property that belongs to the state, subject to specified conditions. Any money received in connection with these leases is required to be deposited in the Property Acquisition Law Money Account and be available to the Department of General Services upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would authorize the Department of General Services to lease specified real property without certain existing restrictions, if the Director of General Services determines that the real property is of no immediate need to the state but may have a potential future use. This bill would require the Department of General Services to annually report to the Legislature on certain leases entered into under the authority of these provisions. The bill would also specify procedures for the reimbursement of costs incurred pursuant to entering into a lease under these provisions and require the Department of Finance to deposit, into the General Fund, the net proceeds of a lease after the reimbursement of those costs. This bill would authorize the Department of General Services to enter into a sale or long-term lease of certain listed properties, including entering into an option to repurchase that property or building. The bill would authorize the Department of General Services to sell real property or buildings if the proceeds of the sale would be used to defense or otherwise retire lease revenue bonds only if the issuer and trustee for the bonds approves the sales transaction. The bill would require the Director of General Services to make an annual report, on or before June 30 of each year, to the fiscal committees of the Legislature regarding the prior year's sales and leases pursuant to these provisions and at least 30 days prior to entering into any sale or lease pursuant to these provisions. If the proceeds of the sale would be used to defease or retire the bonds, those proceeds would be appropriated to the Department of General Services for that purpose. The bill would specify procedures for the reimbursement of costs incurred pursuant to these provisions. The Department of Finance would be required to deposit, in the General Fund, the net proceeds of a sale or lease after the reimbursement of certain costs. (3) Existing law requires each agency, as defined, to furnish the Department of General Services with a record of each parcel of real property it possesses and to update its real property holdings, reflecting any changes, by July 1 of each year, including specified information regarding project uses during the next 3 years. This bill would define terms for purposes of this requirement and would require the update of the real property holdings to include additional information regarding specific programmatic uses, whether the property is fully utilized, partially utilized, or excess with regard to an existing or ongoing program of the agency, agreements relating to the use of the property, and projected future uses during the next 5 years, as identified pursuant to the 5-year infrastructure plan, the agency's master plan, or as specified. The bill would require the head of each agency to make a specified annual certification and would require the Department of General Services to maintain the certification notices on its Internet Web site. (4) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA generally requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA also provides some exemptions from its requirements for specified projects. This bill would exempt the sale, lease, or repurchase of the Orange County Fair or specified state real property or buildings subject to the bill that is made on an "as is" basis from designated provisions of CEQA. The bill would also exempt from those provisions of CEQA the execution of the purchase and sale agreement or the exchange agreement for this property or these buildings if the disposition is not made on an "as is" basis and the close of escrow is contingent on a specified requirement and compliance with CEQA. (5) This bill would state the Legislature's finding and declaration that specified provisions apply to every transaction undertaken pursuant to the authority of this act. (6) The bill would authorize the Director of Finance to provide a loan from the General Fund in the amount of not more than $10,000,000 to augment Item 1760-001-0002 of Section 2 of the Budget Act of 2009 and to adjust the amounts appropriated in Item 1760-001-0002 of Section 2 of the Budget Act of 2009, for the purposes of supporting the management of the state's real property assets to implement the bill, thereby making an appropriation. (7) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on July 1, 2009. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on July 1, 2009, pursuant to the California Constitution. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.