Gov. Newsom signs bills to make it easier to provide shelter beds, build more ADUs

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed two bills that tweak existing shelter and ADU laws in an attempt to boost supply and make a dent in the state’s housing and homelessness crisis.

One of the bills, Assembly Bill 3057, focuses on something called junior ADUs — units created within existing houses that can be up to 500 square feet and don’t need their own bathroom.

Under the new law, junior ADUs — like larger ADUs — will be exempt from requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act that can add time and cost to projects.

The bill’s author, Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), called the exemption a “a small but significant technical change that offers Californians more accessible and efficient options to build affordable housing solutions.”

The second bill, Assembly Bill 2835, was authored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino). It makes permanent a set of temporary rules that have made it easier to house homeless individuals in privately owned hotels and motels for longer than 30 days.

Local governments, including Los Angeles, have increasingly turned to that strategy to get people off the streets, at times relying on state funding.

“The homelessness crisis demands immediate and innovative action, not the status quo,” Newsom said in a statement. “With these new laws, local governments have even more tools to provide housing. I urge them to fully utilize the state’s unprecedented resources to address homelessness.”