CHC's Industry Insight
A Note from our Executive Director

California legislators will go on summer break next week, leaving unfinished business behind as they return to their districts July 1-August 1.   After passing a $122.5 billion budget plan June 15, several lawmakers boasted on Twitter that their votes had helped secure $400 million for investment in affordable homes.  But a long road stands between those social media declarations and the 1.5 million Californians who need an affordable place to live. The $400 million state investment promised in the budget agreement won't become a reality unless Legislators send "by right" legislation to Governor Brown's desk, an action that won't come until August, at the earliest. 

That means CHC will be working through the summer to demand legislators fulfill their responsibility to address California's ongoing housing affordability crisis.  As CHC members and local experts on the housing need - and the potential affordable homes have to change lives -  you have a critical role in this effort.  When you meet with legislators in their offices or invite them to grand openings and events, urge them to finish the job they started.  We need to speak with a strong, united voice: legislators can't claim victory on a $400 million housing investment without the action needed to ensure the funding actually creates homes for people in need.   Legislators need to pass a "by right" development plan that increases affordable home supply and move Senator Kevin de Leon's No Place Like Home initiative forward. 

Sincerely,





Ray Pearl 
CHC Executive Director 
In Case You Missed It...
  • CHC is Hiring! Applications for our open Communication & Policy Associate position will be accepted until June 27
  • On June 2, the legislature acted on several housing bills in advance of the June 3 deadline to pass bills out of their house of origin. The legislature now has until July 1 to pass bills out of policy committees in the second house.
  • On June 15, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature reached agreement on a budget for the coming fiscal year, but did not finalize several housing components. The legislature has yet to pass trailer bills dealing with the Senate's No Place Like Home proposal nor the Governor's "by right" proposal. While the budget bill included components of SB 873 (Beall) to make the state low income housing tax credit certificated and to extend the sunset on bifurcation to 2020, an appropriation of $400 million for affordable housing (programs not specified) will be contingent upon enactment of a "by right" proposal.
  • Carol Galante announced the New Housing Development Dashboard launched by @TernerHousing, which provides exciting new tools for the field. Read more here. 
     
Action Alert - Ask Senators Boxer and Feinstein to Co-Sponsor S. 2962 and S. 3083

Last month, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2016 (S. 2962). Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) also joined as original co-sponsors. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would make significant strides towards addressing our nation's severe shortage of affordable housing by expanding the Housing Credit, while also making the program more streamlined and flexible. This bill would:
  • Expand Housing Credit allocation authority by 50 percent phased in over five years beginning in 2017;
  • Increase the small state minimum allocation by 50 percent, also phased in over five years;
  • Provide a minimum 4 percent Housing Credit rate for the acquisition of affordable housing and for multifamily Housing Bond-financed developments; and,
  • Permit income averaging in Housing Credit properties.
For more information, read the ACTION Campaign's bill factsheet.

Yesterday, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee members Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), along with Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) took a big step this week by introducing S. 3083, which is companion legislation to the House-passed H.R. 3700.

Ask Senators Boxer and Feinstein to co-sponsor these important bills by calling or emailing their offices. We have also provided a sample letter to send.
Affordable Housing in the News
 
Sidelined in budget discussions for a decade, affordable housing emerged as a central focus of the budget talks between Gov. Brown and the legislature. The Sacramento Bee (June 6) outlined the Governor's plan, particularly his proposal to borrow $2 billion against revenue from the state's mental health services tax for homelessness. Amid the budget chatter, LA County Supervisors are ramping up pressure on Gov. Brown to declare "a state of emergency on homelessness," the Los Angeles Times  (June 14) reported.  
 
With the main budget bill passed this week, Southern California Public Radio (June 15) goes over five important facets of the budget deal- including how $400 million in affordable housing investment is attached to the Streamlining Affordable Housing bill.
CHC Member Spotlight: Wakeland Housing

Home Front at Camp Anza is a new community of 30 affordable homes geared to veterans and their families located on the site of the historic Camp Anza, a WWII-era Army training camp. The development includes bungalow-style two- and three-bedroom apartments arranged around Camp Anza's former Officers Club, which has been adapted and restored for use as a 15,000-square foot community center for residents.
 
This community is the result of a partnership between the City of Riverside, County of Riverside, Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation - one of California's leading developers of affordable housing - and Mercy House Living Centers, which specializes in providing services to help veterans and their families.
 
While living at Home Front at Camp Anza, residents will receive a broad range of on- and off-site services tailored to their needs - everything from financial literacy and resume-building classes to afterschool programs for their children. The community center also honors the site's past as Camp Anza with an on-site History Room that commemorates this location's place in military history.

The new community, designed by Rodriguez Associates Architects & Planners and constructed by Sun Country Builders, is also a finalist in two categories at the upcoming PCBC Gold Nugget Awards. 

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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.