Housing California: Email - Housing CA *Capitol Reporter (January 24, 2013)

As you'll recall from our last campaign update, work on the California Homes and Jobs Act is heating up and we need all the support we can get. The California Homes and Jobs Act will produce $500 million per year for affordable homes and get California building again.

(1) If you have not yet submitted your endorsement, please do so now using our online form.

(2) Then, forward the link to your networks and/or include it in your organization's next newsletter. Need help? Use our sample text (Word / PDF).

Facebook will play a big role in this campaign, so be sure to "like" our campaign page. Not only will our updates appear in your "News Feed," but you'll also be able to interact with the campaign and share your hard work and success stories. Visit the campaign Facebook page.

Governor Jerry Brown's proposed 2013-14 budget for the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) contains an overall $18 million drop in funding and nine fewer positions compared to the 2012-13 budget. Highlights include:

We'll provide updates on the budget proposals as more details become available. Budget subcommittee hearings will begin in March.

Brown's budget also reflects the upcoming shift of HCD and CalHFA from the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (BTH) to the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. Besides having a new agency secretary (former Assemblymember Anna Caballero), it's not clear what practical or policy implications the shift will have. The budget describes the new agency's mission as "to assist, educate, and protect consumers, as well as regulate businesses."

Brown's State of the State: "I've never been more excited"

In an exuberant State of the State address today, Governor Jerry Brown sounded some sobering notes of "living within our means," but largely celebrated California's "boldness," optimism, and "rendezvous with destiny."

Brown devoted most of his speech to his top tier policy issues for 2013: revamping education funding to meet the needs of the two million children who live in poverty; job creation; the federal Affordable Care Act; the California Environmental Quality Act; water; greenhouse gas emissions reductions; and highways and high-speed rail.

To win the governor's support for our top priorities, we clearly must highlight the connection between his top issues and having a stable, affordable place to live. Housing California is developing new materials that will make these connections and help us with our advocacy on the California Homes and Jobs Act.

View the full text from the state-of-the state address.

Contact: Julie Snyder, 916.447.0503 x102 or jsnyder@housingca.org.

Sign on to Support Our Cap-and-Trade Proposal

Win-win proposal will help fund more affordable homes near transit

For more than a year, as an outgrowth of our work on regional land-use and transportation planning, Housing California, TransForm, and other allies have been working with various agencies, the Legislature and the governor’s office to shape a proposal that expands transportation and housing choices and supports disadvantaged communities by allocating a significant portion of "Cap-and-Trade" auction revenues to affordable transit and transit-oriented development.

The California Air Resources Board developed the Cap-and-Trade program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by auctioning "emission allowances" to polluting entities. Funds from these auctions must be used to further reduce GHG emissions or to mitigate their impacts.

In May, the Department of Finance will release its three-year investment plan for the auction revenues, and in June the Legislature will vote on the plan. If done correctly, this plan has the potential to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to expand housing and transportation choices and promote a California where everyone -- regardless of age, race, or income -- has access to opportunities and a healthy environment. The amount of funding from Cap-and-Trade auctions is expected to grow substantially; by 2015, it is expected to expand to billions of dollars per year. Our proposal represents a win-win by using these funds to connect Californians to communities of opportunity, while further reducing GHG emissions.

How can you help?

Now is the time to demonstrate the benefits of transportation and housing choices for all Californians. Join the movement to transform our communities by endorsing our Cap-and-Trade proposal.

Take Action! To sign on to the proposal, simply e-mail Felicity Lyons (Sustainable Communities Coordinator) or Julie Snyder (Policy Director).

Learn more.

Contact: Felicity Lyons, 916.447.0503 x110 or flyons@housingca.org.