AB 2031 Support Letters Needed & Updates from Sacramento

As the 2015-2016 State Legislative Session concluded this week, AB 2031 (Bonta and Atkins), also known as the “boomerang bond bill,” was approved by the Legislature and is now on Governor Brown’s desk awaiting his signature. 

NPH needs your help! Visit the Governor’s website and ask Governor Brown to sign AB 2031, which will provide a key tool for local jurisdictions to help finance affordable homes and address the displacement and affordability crises faced by so many communities across our state. Scroll down the list to find the bill number and title where the website prompt’s “PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECT”. Feel free to copy and paste our sample support letter into the form.

ADDITIONAL UPDATES FROM SACRAMENTO: 

The following housing-related bills were approved by the Legislature with bipartisan votes at the end of the session and are expected to be signed into law:
 
AB 1628 is the budget bill authorizing the financing for and implementation of the No Place Like Home Program, including the issuance of $2 billion in bonds for the construction of permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals living with mental illness. If passed, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will implement the program.
 
AB 2176 (Campos) Shelter crisis: emergency bridge housing communities.
This bill would authorize the City of San Jose, upon a declaration of a shelter crisis, to develop emergency bridge housing communities on city-owned or leased property while permanent supportive homes are developed for people experiencing homelessness. The City of San Jose is the bill sponsor and NPH provided technical assistance through the legislative process.

SB 1413 (Leno) School districts: employee housing.
This bill would clarify that K-12 school districts have the authority to implement programs to develop employee housing including on district-owned land. NPH and the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing are cosponsors of the legislation. 

Legislation not moving forward:

Unfortunately, a number of key housing bills supported by NPH this year did not move forward.

NPH-sponsored AB 2502 (Mullin and Chiu), the Palmer Fix bill for inclusionary housing in market-rate rental developments and NPH-sponsored SB 1053 (Leno), legislation to prohibit landlords from refusing to take rental applications from Housing Choice Voucher and VASH voucher holders, were stalled in the Legislature due to opposition from the California Association of Realtors and the California Apartment Association.

In addition, Trailer Bill Language 707, known as Governor Brown’s “by-right” legislation, stalled due to strong opposition from the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, and the $400 million general fund allocation that was made contingent upon approval of the by-right bill was also lost.

Also, AB 2817 (Chiu), which would have increased by $300 million per year the amount of State Low Income Housing Tax Credits available, was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

These decidedly mixed and deeply disappointing results in the Capitol, as well as the ongoing state disinvestment in affordable homes despite the unprecedented affordability crisis across the state, further validate the NPH focus on local revenue campaigns.

Our work in supporting the affordable housing funding ballot measures in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties for the November 8, 2016 election is more critical than ever. These local measures, if approved by voters, total over $2 billion in new local affordable housing funding. Read more and get involved in these campaigns here.