The Federal government has until October 2022 to enact another spending bill for FY 2023, and the release of the President’s budget in late March kicked off the official budget appropriations season.
House Representatives had until last Friday, April 29, to submit their priorities to the House Appropriations Committee, while Senators have until May 13 to submit their priorities to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Appropriations leaders in the House and Senate met last Thursday, April 28, to begin negotiations over topline spending levels for both defense and non-defense discretionary programs in FY23. Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) noted he believes that he and his colleagues will reach an agreement on topline spending in the coming weeks. After reaching such an agreement, appropriators will be tasked with dividing up allocations among 12 spending packages and setting what are known as “302(b) allocations,” which determine total funding for each spending package. Read more. . .
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Congress Considers Eviction Crisis Act
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The Eviction Crisis Act (S. 2182) was introduced by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Rob Portman (R-OH). A companion bill, dubbed the Stable Families Act, will be carried by Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY 15th District). This Act will create a permanent Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program to provide families behind on their rent with short-term financial assistance and housing stability services so they can remain housed. During the pandemic, more than $46 billion was allocated and more than 3.2 million families were assisted with ERA funding. In addition to funding, the Act would:
- Create a national database that tracks evictions to help policymakers measure impact and response
- Establishes a Federal Advisory Committee on Eviction Research that would make recommendations on policies and practices to prevent future evictions
- Authorizes funding for a comprehensive study that will provide needed information to policymakers about evictions in urban, suburban, and rural areas
- Create a program for state and local governments to expand landlord-tenant community courts that offer supportive services for tenants
- Allocate funding for the Legal Services Corporation to provide direct legal services to at-risk renters
- Require that consumer reporting agencies give tenants the opportunity to see their reports when seeking to rent a new apartment so they can contest inaccuracies
- Require that judgements and eviction filings be removed from tenant screening reports when a court finds in favor of a tenant during an eviction proceeding
If your organization is interested in signing on in support of the Act, the National Low Income Housing Coalition is circulating a sign-on letter requesting that Congress take quick action to enact this important legislation.
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President Biden Proposes Funding for Zoning Changes |
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Buried in President Biden’s March 26th budget request is a proposal to create a $10 billion grant program to help state and local governments make policy and zoning changes to relax single-family zoning laws. This proposal would create incentives by providing federal funding for infrastructure improvements to roads, water, and sewer systems to those jurisdictions who update their zoning codes to enable more flexible zoning. In addition, the proposal would provide funding for technical assistance and research to aid jurisdictions as they make these changes. According to the budget, grants would target those states and local governments that have proactively worked to remove barriers to the development of affordable housing.
This program is reminiscent of the Unlocking Possibilities Program that was part of the Build Back Better Plan, with an allocation of $1.7 billion towards this effort. The new proposal is substantially higher and provides the carrot of additional federal funding. Whether this provision remains in the budget will be determined in the coming months.
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Department of Housing and Urban Development Releases Equity Plan |
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More than 90 federal agencies have since released plans of their own, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s plan includes actions that seek to reduce the racial homeownership gap and to center equity in the provision of services to people experiencing homelessness. Read more. . .
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State Announces Assistance for Homebuyers |
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In April, the State announced a new program for homeowners, administered by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), that will provide forgivable loans to homebuyers. Additionally, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced the award of $67 million in grant funding for 33 CalHome developments that will enable lower-income households to become or remain homeowners.
CalHFA’s Forgivable Equity Builder Loan Program provides homebuyers with a loan of up to 10% of the purchase price. No repayment is necessary as long as the new homeowner stays in the home for five years. Eligible households must earn less than 80% of the Area Median Income in the county where the property is located. See the income limits here. This new loan product will be administered through CalHFA’s current network of approved lenders. Interested homebuyers can find the contact for their county at this link.
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Important Housing Bills Considered in Sacramento |
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Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), who chairs the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, introduced AB 2011—the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, which will allow for the by-right development of affordable homes on underutilized commercially-zoned property while creating strong labor protections that ensure that construction workers earn high wages. The bill is co-sponsored by the California Housing Consortium and the California Conference of Carpenters, which represents more than 82,000 union carpenters across the State. The bill was considered in committee on April 27th and will now be considered by the Assembly Rules Committee to provide time for supporters and opponents to engage in further negotiations.
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Last week, Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Yolo) announced legislation to speed up the process of making excess State property available for affordable housing development. This bill seeks to advance the Governor’s 2019 executive order, which called on the State Department of General Services (DGS) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to identify and make available State surplus land. Since that time, DGS has reviewed 44,000 parcels and found 92 that would be appropriate for affordable housing development. However, as of March 2022, only 19 of the properties have been made available. AB 561 seeks to expedite development of housing on surplus land, require more transparent reporting to the Legislature, and incorporate many of the recommendations included in the recent report from the State Auditor that criticized the progress being made since the 2019 announcement.
State Constitutional Amendment 2 (SCA 2) seeks to repeal Article 34 of the State Constitution, which requires that affordable housing development that receives more than 51% of its funding from State or local funding sources be approved by the majority of voters in the jurisdiction where it will be located. This requires expensive campaigns and adds to the cost and time it takes to bring affordable housing from concept to completion. Article 34, which was originally approved by the voters in 1950 by a group of Eureka residents who believed that affordable housing negatively impacted their property values, has added one more obstacle to the development of new affordable homes throughout the State. SCA 2 will need to receive approval by more than 2/3rds of the legislators and then be placed on an upcoming ballot where it will need to get support from 2/3rds of the voters.
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California Housing Partnership Corporation Releases Needs Report 2022 |
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In March, the California Housing Partnership Corporation released the California Affordable Housing Needs Report 2022, which highlights the state of housing and offers recommendations to policymakers in response to housing challenges. Among other key findings, the report found that “although California has more than doubled production of new affordable homes in the past 3 years, the State is only funding 16% of what it needs to meet its goals.” Recommendations for action can be found at this link— www.roadmaphome2030.org.
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Brookings Institute Studies Growth of Housing Advocacy Organizations |
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The Brookings Institute recently released a brief called Where Pro-Housing Groups are Emerging that lays out the growth of housing advocacy groups in California and other parts of the country that are working to push forward key housing policies. California advocacy groups were a critical force behind the success of last year’s Senate Bill 9, which legalized duplexes and lot splits in neighborhoods formally restricted to single family use. The Brookings report includes findings from new data they compiled, and highlights 140 organizations, many of which were formed in the last few years.
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New Report on Proposition 13’s Impact on Communities of Color |
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The Fairness Project and San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) recently released a research brief entitled “Burdens and Benefits—Investigating Prop. 13’s unequal impacts in Oakland.” While the report focuses on one locality, its findings can easily be applied to other areas of the State. Much is known about the benefits Proposition 13 offers to homeowners, particularly those who have lived in their homes for years. The report builds on this understanding to examine the differential impact of Proposition 13 on homeowners by income and race. This report found that “it is often whiter and wealthier homeowners who benefit most—sometimes regardless of how long ago they bought their homes.” In fact, the report found that wealthy Oakland homeowners generated tax savings in excess of $10,000, with lower-income households receiving benefits closer to $2,000. And because people of color are less likely to own a home, many families do not benefit from the measure at all.
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Terner Center Releases Report on Middle Income Housing |
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The Terner Center for Housing Innovation released a report entitled The Landscape of Middle-Income Housing Affordability in California, that looks at the rising housing cost burdens facing middle-income households. In addition to laying out the challenges faced by California families earning 80-120% of Area Median Income, the report identifies policy opportunities that government can take to encourage the creation of housing affordable for this income sector. The report looks at four communities—Irvine, Rocklin, San Jose, and Woodland—and the solutions they have employed to address the needs of middle-income households in their jurisdictions. Solutions highlighted include:
- Making it simpler to develop small-scale single- family for-sale developments by proactively rezoning land, including land previously zoned for commercial use
- Incorporating a requirement in local inclusionary ordinances to include units affordable to middle-income households
- Considering participation in government bond-funded programs that enable the conversion of market-rate buildings into deed-restricted housing
- Making it easier to create ADUs and other missing-middle housing typologies
The report acknowledged the importance of reporting to accurately capture how many middle-income homes are being built. Without clear guidance from HCD, each locality is using a different method to measure progress in addressing the needs of households in this income bracket.
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The National Low Income Housing Coalition Publishes Report on Housing Supply |
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The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) published “The Gap”— A shortage of Affordable Rental Homes," which documents how the pandemic has impacted the nation’s lowest-income renters. Key findings are that there are only 36 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income renters. In California, the report shows that there are 1,308,774 families that fall into the ELI category, with only 23 homes for every 100 renter households. More than 75% of these families have a severe burden, paying more than 50% of their income for housing.
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