Support and Opposition letters are due no later than 12:00 pm on the Wednesday prior to the day that the bill is set for a hearing.
How to submit a letter:
The Senate Housing Committee only accepts comments and position letters from organizations in two ways.
- Electronically through the California Legislature Advocates Portal: https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/. This portal is available to individuals, advocates, and lobbyists. You will have to create an account. Please see the Advocates Portal Reference Guide for more information.
- Physical copies may be mailed or dropped-off to the Senate Housing Committee Office, located at: 1021 O Street, Room 3330 Sacramento, CA 95814.
~*~ Please do not email any comments or position letters to committee staff. ~*~
Individuals are also encouraged to use the Advocates Portal, but may also submit position letters or comments to the committee email address here: SHOU.Committee@senate.ca.gov. Please include your full name and address, including the zip code. Comments will not be accepted if they are sent to committee staff.
Letter contents
Position letters and comments from organizations must contain the following:
- Signature(s), AND
- Official organizational letterhead. You must be authorized to submit letters on behalf of the organization.
If a letter does not contain these two components, the letter will be rejected or, in the case of individuals, will be included in the final tally with other “individuals.”
One representative may submit a letter on behalf of others in a coalition letter, however each organization must be “tagged” while submitting through the Advocates Portal. For the letter to be accepted by the committee, only the signature of the representing organization is required. All other organizations may be listed in the signature area or have their logo included somewhere on the letter, or both. This policy is intended to ensure all organizations identified in fact share the position and statements on the letter.
Support and opposition letter deadlines
In order to be reflected in the committee analysis, we must receive a letter directly through the portal, physical copy, or for individuals, via email to the committee email address. Letters submitted to other committees will not be reflected in the committee analysis. There are no exceptions. This policy ensures the analysis does not mistakenly identify organizations who have changed positions due ongoing negotiations or recent amendments.
What if I miss the deadline?
Even if you miss the deadline to be included in the policy analysis for our individual hearings, we still highly encourage you to submit your letters. All letters and comments are included in the official bill file for archiving purposes, and can be included in the floor analysis if the bill is taken up on the Senate Floor in the future.
What positions will be listed?
Letters will only be listed in the analysis as support or oppose as we do not accommodate subsections. "Support if Amended" and "Letters of Concern" will be treated as no position and thus not reflected. "Oppose Unless Amended" will be listed as opposition.
Please note:
It is not committee policy to share letters with individual committee members. Organizations and individuals may, however, share support or opposition letters individually with committee members and their staff.
If you require assistance, please email the committee assistant at jacqueline.diaz@sen.ca.gov or call the main committee line at: (916) 651-4124.