KQED: It Was a Sleepy Year For Housing Legislation; Here Are Some That Made It Through

After several years of blockbuster housing bills passing through the California Legislature, this past session was lackluster by comparison, some housing advocates said.

But activists are still holding out hope that a statewide proposition — set to appear in November — could turn things around. Proposition 5 (PDF) would make it easier for local governments to pass bonds to fund affordable housing and public infrastructure projects by lowering the voter threshold from a two-thirds supermajority to 55%.

Lawmakers started this year by introducing a series of ambitious proposals, which would have made it easier to build on California’s coastline and others would have curbed investors’ ability to buy and rent out single family homes. There was a proposed $10 billion affordable housing bond headed to voters statewide in November, and a second, $20 billion bond for the Bay Area.

But, on their way to the ballot box, both bond measures died — as did many of the more aspiring pieces of housing legislation.

Amie Fishman, executive director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, said even though organizations like hers can no longer look forward to the multibillion-dollar bonds that were poised to appear this fall, Proposition 5 could turn the year around.

“Prop 5 is a critical step to empowering local communities to address local affordable housing and infrastructure needs,” she said. “It allows local communities to take control and make decisions about the future without waiting for additional state intervention.

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