CHC issued the press release below this morning, following the announcement by State Treasurer Fiona Ma that Marina Wiant, formerly VP of Government Affairs at CHC, has been appointed Executive Director of TCAC and CDLAC. Treasurer Ma’s release is here.

Press Release – California Housing Consortium

January 11, 2024
Press Contact: Mike Roth
916-444-7170, mike@paschalroth.com

California Housing Consortium’s Marina Wiant appointed Executive Director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) and California Debt Allocation Committee (CDLAC)

Wiant, former Vice President of Government Affairs at CHC, is one California’s top advocates and go-to experts on affordable housing—responsible for years of legislation, ballot measures, and budget allocations that have transformed the industry

CHC Executive Director Ray Pearl: “We could not be prouder of the work Marina has done at CHC to make affordable housing one of the state’s top policy priorities. We thank her for her service and wish her all the best in her new role.”

SACRAMENTO – California State Treasurer Fiona Ma announced this week that Marina Wiant, CHC’s Vice President of Government Affairs, has been appointed Executive Director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) and California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC), the state agencies responsible for promoting private investment in affordable housing through state and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Wiant started her new role on January 10, 2024. The Treasurer’s Office announcement can be found here. 

“California’s tax credit program is one of the most successful, critical financing tools the state has for supporting the production of affordable housing, and it is a privilege to take on a public leadership role to ensure these resources continue to help struggling Californians’ access safe, affordable homes,” says Wiant. “I want to thank Treasurer Ma for this opportunity and the affordable housing community for all of the work we’ve done together at CHC. California needs affordable housing—and a lot more of it. This is a goal we all share, and I look forward to reinforcing the strong partnerships between the state and affordable housing providers that are needed to produce more affordable homes in every community.”

Wiant previously served as Vice President of Government Affairs at CHC, where she spent the last 11 years as one of California’s top advocates for affordable housing—crafting years of legislation, ballot measures, and funding proposals that have transformed the affordable housing industry. Wiant played a critical role in the passage of every major affordable housing victory of the last several years, including the creation of the state’s first-ever permanent source of funding for affordable housing, precedent-setting passage of legislation allowing affordable housing development on underutilized commercial sites, and the Legislature’s extension this year of the successful SB 35 approval process. 

Wiant has also helped secure billions of dollars for critical affordable housing programs through the state budget—including the “enhanced” $500 million Low Income Housing Tax Credit program that has helped boost affordable housing production since 2019. She also served as chief policy advisor for the successful 2018 bond campaign that raised $4 billion for affordable housing programs with the passage of Propositions 1 and 2.

“We could not be prouder of the work Marina has done at CHC to make affordable housing one of the state’s highest policy priorities—and to promote the production of the safe, affordable homes lower-income Californians desperately need,” said Ray Pearl, Executive Director of the California Housing Consortium. “Marina has earned her place as one of the leading affordable housing policy thinkers in Sacramento, and over the last decade, she has introduced the complex world of affordable housing to an entire generation of legislators and staff. Her work to change the tone and the focus of the housing debate in Sacramento speaks for itself: It is hard to find anyone in the Capitol who doesn’t support affordable housing, and affordable housing providers all over California owe a huge debt of gratitude to Marina. We thank her for her service and wish her all the best in her new role.”

CHC Policy Successes During Wiant’s Tenure

Wiant’s time at CHC included a range of policy advancements aimed at addressing California’s continued shortage of affordable housing. Some of the highlights during her time with the organization include:

• Permanent funding for affordable housing: In 2017, Wiant and CHC helped craft California’s first legislative housing package under Gov. Jerry Brown, which included the state’s first permanent source of funding for affordable housing since the end of redevelopment (SB 2, Atkins). The program continues to generate over $200 million for affordable housing each year.
• Budget resources: While at CHC, Wiant also secured billions of dollars for affordable housing programs in the state budget, none more impactful than California’s “enhanced” $500 million Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which has been included in every budget since 2019.
• Bond campaigns: Wiant also served as CHC’s lead policy advisor during the development of the last statewide housing bond (SB 3, Beall), a $4 billion measure voters overwhelmingly approved in 2018.
• Commercial sites and high road jobs: Wiant worked closely with legislators in 2022 to develop precedent-setting legislation (AB 2011, Wicks) that opened underutilized commercial sites to affordable housing, streamlined approvals, and ensured affordable housing projects continue to support a well-paid middle-class construction workforce.
• SB 35 streamlining: With Wiant as lead negotiator, CHC also helped make affordable housing the centerpiece of the state’s first groundbreaking housing streamlining legislation (SB 35, Wiener). In 2023, Wiant helped develop follow-up legislation (SB 423, Wiener) that extended the successful SB 35 process for another 10 years.
• State enforcement: In 2017, CHC also sponsored one of the first bills expanding state enforcement of existing housing laws (AB 72, Santiago), legislation that has authorized HCD to notify the Attorney General when local governments fail to approve projects consistent with their local plans.
• Density bonuses for affordable units: With communities across California facing serious shortages of affordable housing, Wiant also helped craft some of the early legislation expanding state Density Bonus Law to encourage developers to include 100% affordable units in their projects (AB 1763, Chiu).
• CEQA modernization: Wiant also helped shape several recent bills to address abuses of the legal system by groups opposed to affordable housing. Two noteworthy examples this year were SB 439 (Skinner), a bill that provides courts with a new special motion to throw out frivolous lawsuits brought against affordable housing, and AB 1449 (Alvarez), legislation extending new CEQA exemptions to 100% affordable housing projects.

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