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Hello Housing California Supporter,
In this edition of the Capitol Reporter:
It's THURSDAY -- Last Day of Our Redevelopment Call-in Campaign
In case you missed last Friday's e-mail, we launched a four-day campaign to target legislators who will decide whether to sweep the redevelopment housing funds during their budget negotiations. The budget must be complete by June 15th.
Today is the last day of our 4-day campaign. Please set aside 5 minutes today to have your staff call their Senators. Use our easy-to-follow script (below) and then report your call to Housing California (see "report back" link below or just "Reply" to this e-mail.)
TODAY'S SCRIPT: Day 4 (Thursday, June 7) -- Call: Your Senator. Have your staff members type in their home addresses at this link (http://192.234.213.69/smapsearch/framepage.asp) to find their Senators and Capitol office phone number.
"Hi, my name is __________ and I live in Senator _______'s district. I'm calling to urge him/her to fight to protect redevelopment housing balances in the budget. Locally, we need the jobs and homes that can be built with this money. Stable, affordable places to live are also important to children in our community, who need a quiet place to study and sleep. Please tell Senator ______ how important the local redevelopment housing balances are to the people here and to our local economy. Thank you."
Report Back -- After you and your staff make today's call, please report back on your results (if you don't want to use our report form, you can simply "Reply" to this e-mail.)
Thanks for your help on this important issue!
Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.
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Redevelopment Work Down to the Wire
Budget negotiations consume Capitol
In the run-up to the June 15th budget
deadline, we continue to work closely with legislators and their staffs to
propose reasonable modifications to the redevelopment trailer bill language drafted by the governor's Department of Finance.
On May 31, we submitted a joint letter to legislators, with Western Center on Law and Poverty and the CA Housing
Consortium, and are now drafting actual bill language. The major issues we
raise include:
- Sweep
of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Funds.
- Removal
of the requirements for successor housing agencies to enforce
affordability covenants and carry out other obligations under Community
Redevelopment Law.
- Refining
the definition of "housing assets" that will remain with the successor
housing agency.
- Requiring
Oversight Board approval of the transfer of housing assets to the
successor housing agency.
- Giving
the Department of Finance, the State Controller, or the local
auditor-controller the power to unilaterally withhold funds from cities
and counties if they decide any payment is "improper," without
any recourse to challenge such decisions.
The Assembly shares many of our concerns and
is pushing for changes to the trailer bill language.
The League of California Cities has proposed
its own changes,
including authorization for successor agencies to include on their lists of "enforceable
obligations" proposed housing developments that meet specified criteria
(see page 8).
Grassroots Activity Helps Keep Housing in the Forefront
We've seen an outpouring of grassroots
activity over the past two weeks that is motivating legislators to continue
fighting for us.
For the May 23rd Assembly budget hearing,
representatives from 12 local and regional housing organizations joined five
statewide organizations in voicing strong opposition to the Department of
Finance language. Thanks to the following, who made the trip to the Capitol:
- Karl
Lauff, Satellite Housing
- Bob
Erlenbusch, Sacramento Housing Alliance
- Jonathan
Astmann, Palm Communities
- Aubra
Levine, Affordable Housing Associates
- Mike
Daley, EAH
- Holly
Wunder-Stiles, Sacramento I Yolo Mutual Housing Association
- Vincente
Rosas, Suneri Construction
- Greg
Whitaker, Pacific West Communities
- Lee
Turner, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC)
- Adhi
Nagraj, MidPen Housing
A special thanks to Deb Collins, Public
Interest Law Project, and Phil Kilbridge, Habitat for Humanity Greater San
Francisco, who provided the lead testimony on behalf of the housing development
and legal aid community.
This week, many more of you are participating
in the phone-in campaign, judging from the steady stream of report-backs. Thanks
to everyone who is making calls and sharing the responses with us.
Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.
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Budget Committees Support HCD's Land-Use Role, Fund Staff
Months
of behind-the-scenes advocacy by Housing California and Western Center on Law
and Poverty have convinced key budget committees to appropriate almost $600,000
for five housing element analyst positions at the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD).
HCD
currently has only two analysts to handle the unprecedented crush of draft
housing elements expected early next year. (See our April 4th article for more details.)
Assemblymember
Bob Blumenfield, chair of his house's budget committee, championed use of the
AB 32 implementation fee for the additional staff. The Assembly committee
adopted this approach last month.
After
hearing opposition from the Department of Finance, the Senate instead chose to
appropriate unused Proposition 1C funds for the staff. Because some 1C programs
require housing-element compliance, the administration believes this is a legal
use of the bond funds.
The Assembly is expected to conform to the Senate's actions in the next week.
Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.
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Several Priority Bills Still Alive After House of Origin Deadline
Opportunities for
funding remain possible
June
1st marked the deadline for legislation to pass out of its house of origin
(meaning Assembly bills needed to pass off the Assembly floor and Senate bills
off the Senate floor). Several bills of note remain viable and continue to move
through the legislative process, including:
AB
1951 (Atkins), which would allocate $30 million more into the Multifamily Housing
Program (MHP).
AB
2447 (Skinner), which would transfer $25 million from the California Homebuyer's
Downpayment Assistance Program to create a state version of the Neighborhood
Stabilization Program to allow for the rehabilitation of foreclosed properties.
AB
1672 (Torres), which tweaks the threshold for accessing funds from the Housing
Related Parks Program in attempt to get the funds moving in a timelier manner.
AB
2266 (Mitchell), which would require the state to apply for an Affordable Care Act
option that would fund supportive housing and housing location services for
homeless frequent emergency room users.
AB
1532 (Pérez), which outlines potential uses of Cap-and-Trade auction
revenues, including "sustainable development," and direct the Air
Resources Board to propose an expenditure plan for the legislature's
consideration.
SB
1151 (Steinberg), which allows cities and counties to retain former redevelopment
agencies' assets for enumerated purposes, including housing.
SB
1156 (Steinberg), which allows cities and counties to create a new version of
redevelopment agencies focused on development in transit areas.
SB
1572 (Pavely), which creates a fund into which Cap-and-Trade auction revenues will
be deposited.
Please
stay tuned for opportunities to assist in advocating for these pieces of
legislation to become law!
Contact: Zack Olmstead, 916.447.0503 x108 or zolmstead@housingca.org.
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Policy Win: Legislature Approves Budget Language for Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) Program
Will ensure that
ISMIP targets homeless parolees and makes housing assistance an eligible use of
program
Amidst
challenging political and fiscal environments, it's important to acknowledge
victories when they come. Recent approval of "budget trailer bill"
language regarding the Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) is
one of those victories. Within the last two weeks, budget subcommittees in both
the Senate and Assembly approved language that would codify in law how the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) should allocate
resources for ISMIP. This language, championed by Housing California and the
Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), would make clear that parolees who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness should be the primary targets of
funding for services that should include housing assistance.
Housing
California and CSH have been working on this issue since 2007, at which time we
were successful in advocating for new funding in CDCR's budget to be directed
towards reducing recidivism for people with mentally illnesses who are exiting
the corrections system. We have worked directly with CDCR to make sure ISMIP
was structured to reduce homelessness and recidivism. Codifying language on the
structure of the program is a huge step forward to making that a reality.
These
changes will take effect when the governor signs the budget into law. It is
also anticipated that CDCR will release a request for bids for the next round
of funding soon; details of this opportunity will be shared in our Capitol Reporter, so please stay tuned!
Contact: Zack Olmstead, 916.447.0503 x108 or zolmstead@housingca.org.
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HUD 811 Funding Availability a Reminder of Need for Interagency Council on Homelessness
Absent an interagency
council, California may leave more critically needed dollars on the table
The
recent release of a notice of funding availability for the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration Program is a a
prime example of why California needs a state interagency council on
homelessness. California could receive up to $12 million from this program to
provide rental assistance to persons with disabilities.
Previously,
funding from the HUD 811 program could be accessed directly by community-based
organizations that would use the funds. In this reworked program, however, the
applicant must be the state, and the application requires a formal partnership
of state housing and health and human services agencies, meaning a memorandum
of understanding needs to be established in order for California to compete for
these funds.
Most
states with interagency councils on homelessness would use their council to
establish the coordinated partnership necessary to complete a competitive
application for this type of federal funding. Ideally, the difficult work of
bringing agencies together would be done and would allow for a more transparent
process to create the best plans for these funds.
Hopefully,
an emerging partnership between our state housing agencies and our Department
of Health Care Services will both allow us to access these funds and
demonstrate the value in continued coordination. Housing California will
continue to urge the state to apply for this and other federal funding that
requires interagency collaboration and continue to push for the creation of a
state interagency council on homelessness.
Contact: Zack Olmstead, 916.447.0503 x108 or zolmstead@housingca.org.
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We're Hiring: Housing California Seeks Office Manager / Program Associate
Housing
California is now accepting applications for an Office Manager / Program
Associate position. This position provides administrative assistance and
manages the internal functioning of the office including office equipment and
systems, human resources and board relations.
- Applications due: June 22, 2012.
View
job description and learn more.
Contact: Lynda Chandler 916.447.0503 x101 or lchandler@housingca.org.
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