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Hello Housing California Supporter,
In this edition of the Capitol Reporter:
Bill to Recreate Redevelopment Advances
Legislation
to allow cities and counties to form local redevelopment agencies passed two policy committees in the past two weeks, but committee members and the
author's staff acknowledged the bill needs much work before it will ready to
move to the governor.
The
state Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee voted 5-2 and the
Assembly Local Government Committee 6-3 to pass SB 1156 (Steinberg). Among the
issues highlighted in both hearings was legislators' desire to dedicate more
than 20 percent of the revenues to housing. Senator Steinberg's staff indicated
he is willing to negotiate on that point.
SB
1156 is supported primarily by environmental and labor groups. Legislators
commented on the absence of cities and housing advocates among the supporters;
both generally support the reauthorization of tax-increment financing for
community development, but want to see significant modifications to the bill.
Besides
a higher housing set-aside, Housing California and Western Center on Law and
Poverty are pushing to include the reforms contained in SB 450 (Lowenthal). That
measure addressed long-standing problems with redevelopment agencies' spending
of their housing funds. Governor Brown vetoed SB 450 last fall, wanting to see
the outcome of CRA versus Matosantos
first.
According
to a committee analysis,
the League of CA Cities questions whether the new incarnation of redevelopment
will prove workable and useful.
The
bill moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for hearing in August. We
expect significant amendments prior to the hearing.
Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.
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Housing CA Priorities Survive Budget Blue-Pencil
Housing
California and allies at the Corporation for Supportive Housing, Western Center
on Law and Poverty, and California Building Industry Association secured
funding for housing-element reviews and homeless parolees in the state budget bills
signed by Governor Jerry Brown last week.
Budget
trailer bill AB 1481 contains language on the Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP)
program to prioritize homeless parolees and make clear that housing assistance
is an eligible use of ISMIP funds. See our June 6, 2012, Capitol Reporter article for more information.
The
budget bill also provided $575,000 from administrative funds in propositions 46
and 1C for the Housing Policy Division at the state Department of Housing and Community
Development to hire five analysts to handle the crush of housing elements due
in 2013. See our April 4, 2012, Capitol
Reporter article for more details.
Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org or Zack Olmstead, 916.477.0503 x108 or zolmstead@housingca.org.
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Find Out if Your Locality Owes Money to Housing Fund
AB
1484,
the redevelopment budget trailer bill signed last week, requires cities and
counties to repay any housing funds borrowed by their former redevelopment
agencies for other purposes, including payments to local schools (known as ERAF
and SERAF payments). To find out if a specific city or county owes money to its
housing fund, see the CA Department of Housing and Community Development's
2009-10 redevelopment report. The 2010-11
report is not yet available.
Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.
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Funding Opportunities for Affordable-Home Development and Services Moving Through Legislature
The
Legislature enters their summer recess with several bills of note still alive
and moving through the legislative process. Many of these bills would bring an
infusion of new financial resources for affordable-home development or services
in conjunction with housing. These bills include:
AB
1951 (Atkins), which would allocate $30 million more into the Multifamily Housing
Program (MHP).
- Status: Passed Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee on June 21st.
- Next: Heading to Senate
Appropriations.
- Our Position: Support
AB
2447 (Skinner), which would transfer $25 million from the California Homebuyers
Downpayment Assistance Program to create a state version similar to the federal
Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which allows for the rehabilitation of
foreclosed properties. Eligible uses for the funds include rehabilitation of
these properties for both rental and homeownership. The bill accepted several
amendments in committee on July 3rd in order to pass, including running the
program through the state CalHome Program (as opposed to creating a new
program) and clarifying affordability requirements for homeownership.
- Status: Amended version passed Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee on July 3rd.
- Next: Heading to Senate
Appropriations.
- Our Position: Support
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.
- Status: Passed Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee on June 21st.
- Next: Heading to Senate
Appropriations.
- Our Position: Support
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.
- Status:
Passed Senate Health Committee on June 20th.
- Next: Heading to Senate
Appropriations next.
- Our Position: Support
Watch
for upcoming action alerts to help us pass these bills!
Contact: Zack Olmstead, 916.447.0503 x108 or zolmstead@housingca.org.
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