BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 976|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 976
Author: Charles Calderon (D), et al
Amended: 5/17/07 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/19/07
AYES: Corbett, Kuehl, Steinberg
NOES: Harman, Ackerman
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 44-25, 5/24/07 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Tenancy: tenant immigration or citizenship
status
SOURCE : Apartment Association of California Southern
Cities
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a city, county, or city and
county from enacting an ordinance that compels a landlord
to inquire, compile, report, or disclose any information
about the citizenship or immigration status of a tenant or
occupant or prospective tenant or occupant or that
prohibits a landlord from offering or continuing to offer
accommodations for rent or lease based on the citizenship
or immigration status of a tenant or prospective tenant.
This bill prohibits a landlord from conducting any of these
acts independently. However, this bill does not prohibit
the landlord from requesting information or documentation
necessary to determine or verify the identity of a
prospective tenant or occupant or to determine or verify
CONTINUED
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the financial qualifications of a prospective tenant.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law has exclusive
jurisdiction over immigration and citizenship matters.
[Immigration and Nationality Act, Title 8, United States
Code]
Existing federal civil rights law prohibits discrimination
by private businesses on the basis of a person's
citizenship. [Cf. Duane v. Government Employees Insurance
Co. (1994) 37 F.3d 1036, 1044 (4th Cir.), federal civil
rights law prohibits denial of homeowner's insurance to
non-citizen based on citizenship status.]
Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all
persons within the state are free and equal, and regardless
of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, medical condition, disability, marital status, or
sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or
services in all business establishments or every kind
whatsoever and prohibits other arbitrary discrimination.
Existing law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, provides
that it is unlawful to discriminate against or harass any
person with respect to housing because of race, color,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national
origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, or
disability of that person.
This bill prohibits a city, county, and city and county
from adopting or implementing a statute, ordinance or
regulation that compels a landlord or an agent of a
landlord (1) to make any inquiry, compile, disclose, report
or provide any information, or (2) to prohibit the offering
or continued offering of accommodations for lease or rent,
or (3) to take any action, regarding or based on the
immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective
tenant, occupant or prospective occupant of a residential
rental property.
This bill prohibits a landlord or any agent of a landlord
from (1) making any inquiry regarding or based on the
immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective
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tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of residential
rental property, or (2) requiring that any tenant,
prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of
the rental property to make any statement representation or
certification concerning his or her immigration or
citizenship status.
This bill does not prohibit a landlord from complying with
any legal obligation under federal law, or requesting
information or documentation necessary to determine or
verify the financial qualifications of a prospective tenant
or the identity of a prospective tenant or occupant.
Background
Last year, the City of Escondido adopted an ordinance that
would have barred landlords from renting to undocumented
immigrants and would have severely penalized landlords who
failed to determine the immigration status of tenants and
prospective tenants with fines and suspension of business
licenses. The ordinance was immediately challenged in
federal court by a coalition of civil rights groups. A
temporary restraining order was issued by the federal judge
and the ordinance was rescinded by the city council shortly
thereafter. The challenge to the ordinance was based on
several constitutional grounds as well as the federal
preemption of immigration law and enforcement of that law.
According to the author's office, during the period when
the Escondido city ordinance was being challenged,
landlords from several surrounding cities began screening
rental applicants and prospective tenants "consistent with
the intent and direction of the [Escondido] ordinance."
The author's office also reports that citizens in the City
of San Bernardino filed a ballot initiative that would have
prohibited landlords from renting to undocumented
immigrants. The initiative, entitled "City of San
Bernardino Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance,"
failed passage before the city council. Similar efforts
have been undertaken in cities in Florida, Texas, and New
Jersey, according to the author's office.
Both the author and the bill's sponsor, the Apartment
Association of California Southern Cities, note that the
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Escondido ordinance was patterned after a Hazelton,
Pennsylvania ordinance passed in July 2006. That ordinance
was suspended by court order pending a federal lawsuit
challenging the ordinance.
If passed, this bill will bar the adoption of similar
ordinances by cities and counties across the state, thus
obviating the need for associated legal challenges each
time an ordinance is adopted.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/20/07)
Apartment Association of California Southern Cities
(source)
American Civil Liberties Union
Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles
Apartment Association of Orange County
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California School Employees Association
JERICHO
Lambda Letters Project
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Santa Barbara Rental Property Association
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/20/07)
Concerned Women for America of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
"On an increasing and frequent basis, cities and
citizens are declaring that civic problems such as
crime and overcrowded neighborhoods are due to
'illegal immigrants' without documentation and are
engaged in scare tactics. Escondido City actions are
patterned after the Hazelton, PA ordinance of July 13,
2006. Hazelton's ordinance enforcement has been
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suspended by a court order pending a federal lawsuit
challenging the ordinance?
"On November 20 (2006), a temporary restraining order
was obtained (against the Escondido ordinance) from US
District Judge Houston. Most concur that the
ordinance was riddled with constitutional problems and
ignored the primacy of federal immigration law.
Following the issuance of the TRO the City and
plaintiffs entered into agreement that the ordinance
would be rescinded and the city would pay $90,000 to
those who brought suit to partially pay for their
attorney fees?
"Legal challenges asserting constitutionality of any
local government ordinance will stop if AB 976 is
signed into law. Questions of supremacy clauses,
contracts, First Amendment rights and Fourteenth
Amendment due process clauses will not be placed
before our courts. Regulating immigration rests
exclusively with the federal government.
"Regulation of immigration of 'who may stay and who
may depart' is a key component of immigration law and
any local law that would deny housing to undocumented
immigrants interferes with the federal power of
immigration. ? The federal government has
comprehensively legislated in the field of immigration
and specifically to the harboring of undocumented
immigrants 8 U.S.C. Section 1324?
"Ordinances like Escondido City [had] unfairly targets
people of color. Landlords would target certain
individuals that look like or talk like or conduct
themselves in a manner that violates law and reason?
"The bill (AB 976) would clearly define the role of
local government in this regard."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Concerned Women for America of
California claims that asking housing applicants to provide
documentation of their citizenship or immigration status
during the screening process would not violate the Fair
Housing Act. They state that "[s]ome locales are testing
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ordinances to help curb illegal immigration and prevent
squalor that is dangerous not only to the individuals
involved, but also to the surrounding neighborhoods where
sanitation, parking and other troubles ensue. The problems
ripple through education and medical services in local
communities as well?The legislature should not venture into
this area of local code enforcement until these rulings [on
challenged local ordinances in Texas] have been made. AB
976 prematurely restricts local governments in this area."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Bass, Beall, Berg, Brownley, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, DeSaulnier, Dymally, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Hancock,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Huffman, Jones, Karnette, Krekorian,
Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Mendoza, Mullin,
Nava, Parra, Portantino, Price, Richardson, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Swanson, Torrico, Wolk
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Benoit, Blakeslee, Cook, DeVore,
Duvall, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Houston, Huff, Jeffries,
Keene, La Malfa, Maze, Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia, Sharon
Runner, Smyth, Spitzer, Strickland, Villines, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aghazarian, Berryhill, Emmerson,
Galgiani, Garcia, Horton, Silva, Soto, Tran, Nunez,
Vacancy
RJG:nl 6/20/07 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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