Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services and vests the office with responsibility for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, as specified. Existing law establishes the Office of Tourism within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and requires the office to establish the California Travel and Tourism Commission for the purpose of increasing the number of persons traveling to and within California.

This bill would require both the Office of Emergency Services and the Office of Tourism to establish a public registration system. The bill would require the offices to adopt regulations to administer their respective public registration systems. The bill would provide that registration authorizes the registered party to immediately commence offering an eligible residential dwelling, as defined, as a short-term rental during a declared state of emergency or a special event period, as applicable. The bill would require the Office of Tourism to define specific special event periods, as provided, and to post that information online at least 180 days prior to the event.

This bill would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or any other political subdivision of the state from maintaining, enforcing, prescribing, or continuing in effect any law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision that prohibits an individual or entity that controls an eligible residential dwelling that has been registered from offering that dwelling as a short-term rental during a declared state of emergency or a special event, as applicable.

The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.