AB 2364 will only skyrocket commercial cleaning costs

OPINION – After COVID-19, many companies adopted work-from-home policies, leading to smaller office footprints. As a result, the commercial real estate industry, as a whole, has taken a major economic hit.  We see it with our own eyes, and the statistics reinforce what we already know: California’s downtown commercial districts are vacant and struggling.

Instead of working with the real estate industry to solve these pressing challenges, Assemblymember Luz Rivas introduced AB 2364, a bill that would study the amount of square footage a janitor is allowed to clean in a given time. The bill claims to be about worker safety, but the actual result would be skyrocketing cleaning costs for commercial properties, adding to an already dire situation.

Vacancies in commercial office buildings are not some theoretical public policy issue – they are devastating to taxpayers, business owners, and local economies. Our downtowns depend on Californians coming to the office, spending money at local stores and restaurants, and creating attractive places for visitors.

Regulating the amount of space a janitor is allowed to clean would not only affect commercial landlords, it could result in an estimated $1.7 billion increase for cleaning public buildings at a time when we can’t afford to expand local and state budget deficits.

Across our state, local governments are grappling with record-shattering budget deficits, forcing our schools and colleges to make devasting cuts. Here in San Diego, our school district recently cut hundreds of jobs to close a $94 million shortfall.

To get our local economies moving again, Californians should support efforts to revitalize our downtowns. One way to encourage people to return to our downtowns is to ensure buildings are clean and safe.

AB 2364 could be a significant blow to taxpayers when our local communities are already dealing with harsh new fiscal realities. To cite a few examples: airport cleaning costs could double and be passed along to travelers. San Diego public schools could see their annual cleaning costs double or even triple. And reduced revenue for local governments would result in under-resourced police, fire and emergency care.

The result of these costs is sadly predictable. Due to higher rents needed to offset the new cleaning cost increase, businesses will occupy less space downtown, which will inevitably lead to increased vacancies. In the end, this will reduce the cleaning necessary to maintain buildings, fewer employment opportunities in the industry, and an accelerated flight from our beloved downtown cities.

The study proposed by AB 2364 could drive up costs, force businesses away from downtown areas, cause more urban blight, and destroy California’s economy. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Building Owners and Managers Association, Inc., I strongly urge the Governor to veto AB 2364.

Melanie Bamba Milinkevich is the President of BOMA San Diego, a professional association committed to advancing the interests of the commercial real estate industry.