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A Note from our Executive Director
CHC reads Governor Jerry Brown's latest budget proposal with a mixture of relief and disappointment. Relief, because after a decade of state disinvestment in affordable home production, the Governor's budget acknowledges the severe crisis families and communities are facing in the face of rising rents and envisions a state role in increasing production.
Disappointment, because while offering much-needed relief to individuals experiencing homelessness and taking steps to reduce barriers to development, his budget offers no new investment in proven programs that offer families a pathway out of poverty.
California's affordable home builders are experts at turning state dollars into opportunity for families; all we are missing is the investment. Following the Governor's budget release, the Assembly budget committee voted to support a $650 million, one-time general fund investment to target the spectrum of housing needs California needs to address homelessness and alleviate poverty. As the budget is negotiated over the coming weeks, we'll be pushing hard to ensure this plan is considered alongside Governor Brown's.
We are also offering our expertise to policymakers as the Governor's "by-right" proposal makes its way through the process - we believe this proposal can be strengthened by clarifying that the bill does not override existing local inclusionary zoning ordinances, including a "no net loss" provision, and increasing the bill's affordable housing component threshold, among other provisions, to ensure the vision of affordable home production is realized in this bill.
Stay tuned for opportunities to be involved in this crucial effort.
Sincerely,
Ray Pearl
CHC Executive Director
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In Case You Missed It...
This has been a busy month as we work continue to advocate for several housing bills and to make housing funding a priority in this year's budget negotiations.
- On April 25, Assembly Democrats announced a $1.3 billion housing proposal that would deliver relief to Californians struggling to keep up with skyrocketing rents.
- On May 13, the Governor released his May Revision to the budget, which included support for the Senate's "No Place Like Home" initiative, several CHC-supported legislative proposals to reduce land use barriers, SB 1069 (Wieckowski), AB 2209 (Bloom), AB 2501 (Bloom), and proposed legislation that will require ministerial "by-right" land use entitlement provisions for multi-family housing developments that include an affordable housing component. We were disappointed that his plan doesn't also restore state investment in affordable home construction.
- CHC and Housing California worked together to keep the pressure up on Assembly leaders with a strong Twitter campaign -- Thank you to those of you who participated! We have one more week left!
- Our strong advocacy this spring also helped lead to the approval of $650 million in funding for a variety of housing programs in Assembly Budget Subcommittee #4 on May 25. Subcommittee Chair, Assemblymember Nazarian explained that the issue was extremely important to many members of their caucus. Given the competing demands between investment in transportation and early childhood funding and the critical need for housing funds, it was important to the Assembly to advance a number for housing funding into conference committee. Conference committee discussions will likely begin next week.
- Finally, CHC held its annual Spring Policy Forum and California Housing Hall of Fame Awards on May 12 in Santa Monica.
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A new report released Wednesday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) reveals the disparity between rental housing costs and renter income in every jurisdiction across the country.
Out of Reach 2016: No Refuge for Low Income Renters, calculates the housing wage - the hourly wage someone working full-time, 40 hours a week, would need to earn in order to afford a modest apartment without spending more than 30% of household income on rent and utilities - for every state, metropolitan area and county in the country.
The report finds that in order to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent, a full-time worker in California today must earn $28.59 per hour-a figure that is almost $10 more than the average hourly wage of renters in California. You can read the complete California report online and view county level data on NLIHC's Out of Reach webpage.
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Affordable Housing in the News
Governor Brown's attention to housing affordability issues in his May budget revision made news across the state. The Los Angeles Times (May 14) outlined his proposed "by right" proposal to streamline permitting and endorsement of the "No Place Like Home" proposal for homeless people living with mental illness. The Times also noted the lack of affordable home development funding attached to the proposal. In a later story, the Los Angeles Times (May 24) examined opposition on the "by right" proposal from labor groups and environmentalists calling foul on what they see as an effort to sidestep CEQA.
CHC partnered with the National Low Income Housing Coalition to roll out "Out of Reach 2016" (featured above), to put focus on the growing housing affordability crisis. The Wall Street Journal (May 25) covered the rising gap between soaring rents and stagnating incomes and LA Weekly (May 25) pointed out that the Los Angeles affordability crisis extends even to those earning median incomes.
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To complement our advocacy work, we have been creating district factsheets that highlight the success of state and federal affordable housing production programs. Take a look at our webpage as we continue to add assembly and senate districts and feel free to use them in your local advocacy efforts! ___________________________________________________________________________________ |
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CHC is a non-partisan advocate for the production and preservation of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income Californians. We represent the development, building, financial, and public sectors united in their goal that every Californian has a safe, affordable place to call home.
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