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Hello Housing California Supporter,
In This Edition:
End-of-Session Wrap Up
The
Legislature worked into early hours of September 1st on their final day of this
two-year legislative session, which was the last-day bills could pass the Legislature
and make their way to Governor Brown. Any bill that did not pass before the
September 1 adjournment is dead and must start at the beginning of the process
next year. Brown has until September 30th to sign or veto any bill sent him in
the final two weeks of session.
The
Legislature tackled some weighty issues in the final days, including pension
reform, worker's compensation, and a revenue increase in the form of a timber
tax. Additionally, a number of housing-related measures met their final fate
since we last reported on August 29, 2012.
Passed the Legislature and Awaiting Governor's Action
AB 345 (Torres) contains the provisions of last year's SB 450 (Lowenthal) to reform the rules governing local agencies' spending of housing
dollars under the new version of redevelopment created by SB 1156 (Steinberg). Our position: Support
AB 1585 (Pérez) allows the state Department of Housing and
Community Development to make $25 million in awards each under the Infill
Infrastructure Grant Program and the Transit-Oriented Development Program. Late
amendments removed provisions dealing with successor housing agencies. Our position: Support
AB 1532 (Pérez) became a shadow of its former self due to negotiations with the governor's
office. Previously, the bill contained a detailed list of potential uses for
proceeds from the state's auction of greenhouse gas emissions allowances,
including transit and affordable transit-oriented development. In its final
form, the measure outlined six broad spending categories, including "sustainable"
transportation and housing, and a modest public process for the administration's
development of a draft expenditure plan. Our position: Support
AB 1672 (Torres)
tweaks the
threshold for accessing funds from the Housing-Related Parks program in an attempt
to get the funds moving in a timelier manner. Our position: Support
AB 1699 (Torres) sets uniform rules
for the state Department of Housing and Community Development to restructure
old loans for developments needing significant rehabilitation. Our position: Support
AB 1951 (Atkins) allocates $30 million for the
Multifamily Housing Program through a transfer of monies from unutilized
programs in the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund. Our position: Support
- Take Action: With so few resources out there for affordable-home development, we need your support to convince Governor Brown to sign AB 1951 into law. Please take a moment to support AB 1951 using this support letter.
AB 2144 (Pérez) modifies the
rules for creation of local infrastructure financing districts, which use tax-increment
financing for infrastructure ranging from affordable homes to water lines to
streets. Our position: None
SB 214 (Wolk) also modifies the rules governing infrastructure financing
districts. Our position: None
SB 535 (de Leon) requires at
least 25 percent of greenhouse gas auction revenues to benefit disadvantaged
communities and at least 10 percent to be spent in those communities. This is a
companion measure to AB 1532; both must be signed in order for either to take
effect. Our position: Support
SB 1156 (Steinberg) allows cities and counties to establish new versions of redevelopment
agencies, using only their own share of the property-tax increment. Our position:
The Housing California Board will consider this week
Heads Up: Watch for our action alert early next
week with sample letters to the governor on our high-priority measures.
Did Not Pass Legislature, Dead for the Year
AB 485 (Ma) would have modified the rules for creating an infrastructure financing
district around major transit lines, including a 20 percent housing set-aside
requirement. The author gutted the bill to address a greenhouse gas emissions
issue. Our position: Supported prior version
AB 1092 (Dickinson) would
have transferred $25 million in Prop. 1C funds from the Building Equity and
Growth in Neighborhoods (BEGIN) homeownership program to the Catalyst Program
for grants to prior awardees. This second attempt by Nehemiah Corporation and
the City of Sacramento to direct funds to their Township 9 development died
without a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Our position: None
AB 2266 (Mitchell) would
have required the state to apply for an Affordable Care Act option to fund
supportive housing and housing location services for homeless, frequent emergency-room
users. Due to opposition from the administration, the author decided not to
take it up for a final Senate floor vote. Our position: Support
AB
2447 (Skinner) would have transferred $25 million
from the California Homebuyers Downpayment Assistance Program to create a state
version similar to the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to allow for
the rehabilitation of foreclosed properties. The bill was held in Senate Appropriations
Committee. Our position: Support
SB 77 (Leno) was a late "gut and amend"
that would have allowed
the state Department of Housing and Community Development to reduce the
interest rate on certain loans for rental developments to zero percent. The
bill's introduction only a week before the end of session did not give it
enough time to make its way through the process. Our position: None
SB 1572 (Pavley) would have
appropriated $500 million from the state auction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission
allowances to a variety of GHG-reducing programs, including affordable,
transit-oriented development. Last week, the governor indicated his strong
preference to not see this bill on his desk. Our position: Support
Additional
information on all bills can be found on the legislative counsel's website.
Contact: Zack Olmstead, 916.447.0503 x108 or zolmstead@housingca.org or Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.
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Housing Advocacy Continues Following Adoption
of Sustainable Communities Strategies in Key Regions
Sustainable
Communities Strategies (SCSs) were adopted over the last year in the San Diego,
Los Angeles, and Sacramento regions. Local advocates in these areas are now
working on tracking SCS implementation on the ground. Below are a few snapshots
of some of this work.
San Diego
Since
the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) was adopted by the San Diego
Association of Governments (SANDAG) in October of last year, the San Diego
Housing Federation has been working on ensuring that this -- the fifth -- round
of Housing Element updates has a positive impact on the supply of affordable homes.
The San
Diego Housing Federation has organized a workshop in conjunction with SANDAG to
promote best practices in all the jurisdictions and produced a Best Practices
Guide, which was distributed to each jurisdiction in the region to serve as a
conversation starter for the Housing Element update. The organization's
recommendations are non-fiscal in nature and range from offsite density bonuses
and reductions in parking requirements to "affordable-homes education"
campaigns and monitoring properties that are at risk of losing affordability
covenants.
The San
Diego Housing Federation will be following up with the housing staff in in each
jurisdiction as they release their initial drafts, starting with the City of
San Diego, which released its draft this past week.
To
foster conversation about the new housing-finance landscape, the San Diego
Housing Federation is hosting a Housing Development Law and Policy Seminar on
Friday, September 14th. If you would like to learn more about the work that the San Diego Housing
Federation has been doing surrounding SB 375 implementation, please contact
Susan Riggs Tinsky at the San Diego Housing Federation.
Los Angeles
Move L.A.
worked with a broad coalition of advocates on the development of the Southern
California Association of Governments' (SCAG) Regional Transportation Plan /
Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS). The coalition developed a statement
of principles and a comment letter to SCAG commending their work on the draft SCS and asking for continued work on
funding public and alternative transportation and on ensuring equitable
benefits for lower-income populations.
In
April 2012, immediately after approving the RTP/SCS the SCAG Regional Council
unanimously approved an "implementation" motion crafted by Move L.A., the American Lung Association in California, the Natural
Resources Defense Council, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and the
Safe Routes to School National Partnership.
As the
SCS is implemented over the next four years, Move L.A.'s work around affordable
homes will be centered on increasing funding and preventing displacement. Beth
Steckler and other Move L.A. staff have worked closely with the Southern
Association of NonProfit Housing (SCANPH) and Public Counsel. Move L.A. and SCANPH
wrote a case study entitled Hollywood: A Comeback Story and the Lessons
Learned.
Public Counsel has authored a guide for advocates entitled Getting There
Together: Tools to Advocate for Inclusive Development Near Transit to promote development that benefits everyone and leaves no one behind.
If you
would like more information about the work that Move L.A. has been doing,
contact Beth Steckler at Move L.A..
Sacramento
The
Sacramento Housing Alliance (SHA) and regional partners through the Coalition
on Regional Equity (CORE) are in the process of creating a scorecard that will
measure the impact of Sacramento Area Council of Governments' (SACOG)
Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) at the regional and local levels. The
scorecard will include transportation, housing, service and amenity access, and
health criteria, and will measure the variation in impacts on various
demographic groups and geographies. The scorecard will be used to
determine if the goals of the SCS are being met, to track progress at the
regional and local level, and to suggest avenues for advocacy to meet equity
and sustainability goals.
For more information about the Sustainable Communities Strategies
scorecard or other work being done on affordable homes and social equity in the
Sacramento region, contact Kendra Bridges at the Sacramento Housing Alliance.
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