This week in affordable housing news…:

State update:

• Governor Newsom signed this year’s final housing budget trailer bill this week, directing billions of dollars toward sheltering lower-income Californians in what his office called “the largest funding and reform package for housing and homelessness in California history.” The 2021-22 budget includes several noteworthy investments in affordable housing, including a $500 million boost to the state Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, $1.75 billion to accelerate development of up to 7,200 units of affordable housing awaiting tax credits, and $800 million to preserve the state’s existing affordable housing stock, among many other provisions. While most of these expenditures are one-time, Newsom said more investments will be coming in the years to come: “So long as I’m governor of California, that’s not going to be an issue.”

• As the state continues to ramp up its affordable housing investments, the Los Angeles Times editorial board asks the key question shaping the final month of the legislative session: Why are state leaders allowing an ongoing “labor standoff” to block some of the year’s most important housing bills? “For months, legislative leaders have said they’re on the precipice of a deal,” says the Times. “But it hasn’t materialized, and important housing bills have been sidelined as a result…It’s long past time for Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins to strike a compromise that gets more skilled construction workers building housing while ensuring that higher costs or a shortage of laborers don’t end up slowing development.”

• Meanwhile, at the local level, some communities continue to drag their feet at the prospect of building affordable housing. A 130-unit Eden Housing project in downtown Livermore is now facing a lawsuit that will delay construction, only a month after the project was approved by the City Council—and more than a decade after the site was first designated for housing. The City of Coronado also appears to be dialing back its affordable housing goals: After SANDAG tasked the city with planning for 912 new homes in the next RHNA cycle, the city council approved a plan this week that zones for only 344 additional homes—“a number [the mayor] said is closer to what Coronado can handle,” reports KPBS. Needless to say, the city’s actions have frustrated housing advocates for lower-income Californians: “When Coronado says, ‘We don’t have to do what the state told us, we don’t have to do our fair share, we don’t have to pull our weight, but everybody else does,’” said Jon Wizard of the Campaign for Fair Housing Elements, “What Coronado is saying is that ‘we’re special’ and that ‘you don’t deserve to live here.’”

Federal update:

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced this week that it will rescind Community Reinvestment Act reform proposal released during the Trump administration—with Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michal Hsu calling the controversial Trump-era rulemaking effort “a false start.” The OCC released an interagency statement with the Federal Reserve and FDIC saying all three banking regulators will work jointly on the next round of updates. A Wall Street Journal story this week said that’s “likely not until 2022.”

ICYMI – Top news stories:

California housing insecurity could be addressed by Congress with vouchers for rental assistance

San Diego Union Tribune – Oped by Lourdes Castro Ramírez 

As more Californians get vaccinated and our state reopens, things are finally starting to feel a bit more normal. But returning to normal is not enough as too many in our state continue to struggle from the economic fallout of the pandemic and as cases of the delta variant are on the rise. While the House of Representatives and the Senate have made significant investments to keep individuals housed through the American Rescue Plan Act, they now have an opportunity in recovery legislation to bring significant relief to Californians. Nationwide, housing vouchers and rental assistance have helped lift millions of working families, seniors, children and veterans out of poverty. But right now, the program only has enough funding to help 1 in 4 eligible households. Making more vouchers available would have real impacts on individuals and families in our state. 

‘Gimme Shelter:’ The holes in California’s COVID-19 eviction protections

Los Angeles Times

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have feared that a wave of evictions will devastate millions of renters—particularly low-income residents who have borne the brunt of the pandemic. So far in California, that wave has been averted, thanks in part to new laws passed at the local, state and federal levels that aim to block evictions for those affected by the virus. On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” we talk about the status of California’s eviction protections, set to expire statewide Sept. 30, and how officials are trying to speed up the distribution of rental assistance dollars. Our guest is Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development.

Editorial: Why are Newsom, lawmakers letting a labor standoff block important housing bills?

Los Angeles Times

California has a glaringly obvious housing shortage that is exacerbating poverty and homelessness and driving up rents and home prices. Yet for the last two years, a political standoff between labor unions, developers and lawmakers in Sacramento has stalled too many good bills that would make it easier to build homes, including affordable ones. It’s long past time for Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins to strike a compromise that gets more skilled construction workers building housing while ensuring that higher costs or a shortage of laborers don’t end up slowing development.