Rodriguez Advances Legislation to Ensure Implementation of the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing

(Sacramento, CA) – Today, Assembly Bill (AB) 1505 unanimously passed out of the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management. This legislation would provide $250 million in the 2023-24 Budget to implement the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing. This program was established through Assemblymember Rodriguez’s efforts last year to provide financial assistance to owners of soft story multifamily housing for seismic retrofitting to protect our most vulnerable populations living in this housing at risk of collapse in an earthquake.

“California is a disaster-prone state, and we must be prepared for any disaster that may impact the state. While we cannot predict when an earthquake will hit, we know we are overdue for the next big one. We must invest in our infrastructure now to prevent complete devastation and unnecessary loss of life when the next major earthquake does strike,” stated Assemblymember Rodriguez. 

As this legislation passed today, we are reminded of destructive earthquakes from our past as tomorrow marks the 117th Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The 1906 earthquake caused complete devastation as several fires burned throughout the city for three days, destroying almost 500 city blocks. An estimated 3,000 people lost their lives, and nearly 200,000 residents were left homeless.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) modeling for major earthquake scenarios in the Bay Area and Southern California, violent shaking in densely populated areas could result in over 50,000 displaced households and over 30,000 individuals requiring short-term shelter.

Today, over 28 million Californians live in areas of high seismic risk. Furthermore, the U.S. Resiliency Council estimates as many as 2.5 million Californians may live in older, soft-story, multifamily housing at risk of collapse in earthquakes due to weak construction. The Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing will provide financial assistance to protect these populations.

“As tomorrow is the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, I cannot help but reflect on my time responding to the 1994 Northridge earthquake. While these two earthquakes occurred almost ninety years apart, the Northridge earthquake still resulted in collapsed buildings and unnecessary deaths. We cannot allow history to repeat itself again. AB 1505 will enable us to invest in our infrastructure now to prevent a total catastrophe in the future,” added Assemblymember Rodriguez.

Assemblymember Rodriguez (Twitter) represents the 53rd Assembly District which includes the cities of Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona, and Upland. He is Chair of the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management.