Legislative leaders announced an agreement yesterday that will allow CHC’s sponsored bill, AB 2011 (Wicks), the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, to move forward without continued opposition from the Building Trades. A vote on the bill is expected next week on the Senate floor, ahead of the end of the legislative session on Wednesday.
No additional amendments to AB 2011 have been made—and the bill continues to include all of its labor language, affordability requirements, and by-right approvals on sites zoned for commercial uses.
Instead, legislative leaders have “packaged” AB 2011 with another bill, SB 6 (Caballero), now renamed the Middle Class Housing Act, that also seeks to promote housing on commercial land. SB 6 has been amended to include a modified “skilled and trained” requirement (allowing projects to proceed if they don’t receive at least two bids from qualified contractors). The bill also no longer includes an affordability requirement. The two bills also differ in their approach to land use: While AB 2011 allows by-right approvals on commercial sites, SB 6 only removes rezoning requirements.
CHC has not been asked to support SB 6, and our focus remains on the passage of AB 2011.
We released the statement below yesterday highlighting the many positive things AB 2011 can do. In your conversations ahead of next week’s vote, we hope you will share a similar message about the positive impact AB 2011 can have on the lower-income Californians we serve—and the precedent the bill will set for housing policy moving forward.
Ray Pearl Statement on AB 2011:
“Affordable housing providers are proud of the work that’s been done this year to develop AB 2011—the first legislation in years that has brought together affordable housing providers and labor and that can make a real difference in closing California’s serious shortage of affordable housing.”
“AB 2011 strikes the right balance and sets a new precedent for housing policy that should last for years to come—opening new environmentally friendly sites to affordable housing, streamlining approvals, and building a well-paid middle-class construction workforce in every community.”
“Critically, AB 2011 also includes affordability requirements that will ensure every project that relies on its provisions produces homes affordable to California’s lowest-income households.”
“We’re pleased to see AB 2011 poised to become law. We hope the Senate will approve the bill and the Governor will sign it, so we can get to work building more affordable housing for the far too many Californians who do not have a safe, affordable place to call home.”
