This week in affordable housing news…:

State update:

• A new poll released this week by the Public Policy Institute of California finds 58% of likely voters in California say they would vote against recalling the governor in the September 14 election, while only 39% of likely voters support removing him from office. The Los Angeles Times says “the findings…may offer some hope for Newsom, who has for the past month expressed concern that an ‘enthusiasm gap’ among Democratic and nonaffiliated voters could lead to his political demise.” The governor, however, insisted this week that new numbers will not make him complacent in the final weeks before the election. “Polls don’t vote, people vote. Period, full stop,” Newsom said on Thursday. “This is an off year, off-month election. That’s what recall is about. It’s designed to catch you asleep.” Roughly half of likely voters told PPIC they do not support any the replacement candidates, with Larry Elder (26%) and Kevin Faulconer (5%) receiving the most support.

• Two high-profile bills to loosen single-family zoning rules have been approved by the Legislature and are on their way to the governor. SB 9 (Atkins) aims to increase housing density in single-family neighborhoods by establishing a streamlined process for splitting lots and converting homes into duplexes. SB 10 (Wiener) would allow cities to rezone some parcels, including those near public transit, for small apartment buildings of up to 10 units. Both bills were introduced last year as part of the Senate housing package, but stalled at the end of the pandemic-shortened session. “We need those options more than ever to address the housing crisis in this state,” Atkins said Monday on the Senate floor. A representative for the governor noted in a statement “our housing crisis is decades in the making and will take an all-hands approach to fix,” but the governor has not yet committed to signing the bills—and is unlikely to do so before the September 14 election.

Federal update:

• The Biden Administration unveiled an updated plan this week for building and rehabilitating nearly 100,000 additional units of affordable housing, on top of the more than one million affordable units that would be produced by the Build Back Better package moving through Congress. The Administration plan includes the relaunch of a Treasury/HUD program to provide low-cost capital for affordable development, raising the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac equity cap for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and boosting the supply of manufactured housing through expanded financing. “President Biden promised the American people that his Administration would dramatically expand our nation’s supply of affordable rental housing—and the actions announced today represent a significant down payment toward that commitment,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said in a statement.
• Senators Feinstein and Padilla called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit – our nation’s primary tool to produce and preserve affordable housing – to address the nation’s lack of affordable housing as part the Senate’s final budget reconciliation package in a joint statement released yesterday.

ICYMI – Top news stories:

Sorry, Republicans. Newsom will survive recall — and emerge even stronger.
Washington Post – Oped by Dan Morain
Republican fantasies of evicting Gavin Newsom from the California governor’s office are about to be dashed. Despite some recent polls indicating potential trouble for Newsom, actual turnout in early voting—as well as patterns in candidate fundraising—suggest that he is all but certain to survive the Republican-backed recall effort. This should prompt soul-searching among California’s Republicans, whose failure would make their nemesis almost untouchable in his 2022 reelection campaign, and would have needlessly tarnished some of their own most promising leaders for naught.

What could the end of single-family zoning mean for California’s affordable housing crisis?
Gimme Shelter Podcast: Los Angeles Times/CalMatters
The California Legislature gave its final approval to SB 9, Senate leader Toni Atkins’ proposal to allow up to four units on what are now single-family lots across the state. The linchpin of the Democrats’ housing package has been one of the most contentious housing measures this year. Following the Assembly vote last week, a group calling itself Californians for Community Planning Initiative immediately filed a proposed constitutional amendment for the November 2022 ballot to reassert local control over zoning and land-use decisions in opposition to the bill. The Senate voted on Monday to send the bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have to sign or veto the bill by Oct. 10. But would the end to single-family zoning really mean all that much for California? 

Editorial: No homeless people should be shooed off a sidewalk before they are offered housing
Los Angeles Times
When the city of Los Angeles passed a sweeping anti-camping ordinance this summer, the goal was to clear sidewalks of homeless encampments ballooning across the city. But City Council members also vowed to put in place an official street engagement strategy laying out how the city will reach out to people on sidewalks with offers of shelter or other temporary housing before they are shooed off a sidewalk or, worse, cited by police. Implementing the street engagement strategy should be a predicate to any enforcement. Well, guess what? The anti-camping ordinance takes effect Friday, but the street engagement strategy governing outreach has yet to make its way to the full City Council for a vote.