This week in affordable housing news…:

State Update:

  • SB 423 (Wiener), CHC’s sponsored legislation extending SB 35, got a significant boost his week when several major building trades unions withdrew their opposition to the bill. According to Politico, Sen. Wiener has described the bills’ remaining opponents as a “small minority of the building trades.” The group of unions now neutral on the legislation, including the California State Association of Electrical Workers, removed their opposition after lawmakers amended the bill to require “skilled and trained” hiring rules on buildings taller than 85 feet, while leaving the bill’s “high road” jobs standards in place for all other projects using the legislation’s streamlined approvals. Other unions that have moved to neutral: the California State Pipe Trades Council, the Coalition of California Utility Employees, Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers and the International Union of Elevator Constructors Locals 8 and 18. Read the unions’ letter here.
  • A landmark study released this week concludes that the lack of affordable housing remains the primary cause of homelessness in California—and finds older adults have become the fastest-growing segment of the state’s unhoused population. The study, conducted by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, found nine in ten homeless residents lost their homes in the state before finding themselves on the street—undermining a long-held view that California’s homeless population is made up of people coming from other parts of the country. The study also found 70% of homeless residents say a monthly subsidy of $300-$500 per month would have allowed them to stay in their homes. “The results confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, the report’s principal investigator. Building significantly more low-income housing is one of the study’s top policy recommendations, along with boosting mental health care, drug counseling and other services for homeless residents.

ICYMI – Top news stories:

Gavin Newsom wants $5B to overhaul California mental health care. Here’s how he’ll get it.
Sacramento Bee
Gov. Gavin Newsom is joining with California lawmakers to make his plans to fund a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the state’s mental health care system a reality. Newsom on Tuesday announced his support for two bills that would add treatment beds for homeless people struggling with mental illness and substance abuse and would pay for the changes with a $4.68 billion bond voters would consider during the upcoming spring primary election on March 5. The governor first unveiled his plans to make changes to California’s Mental Health Services Act during a San Diego stop for his State of the State tour in March, when he pledged to “modernize how California treats mental illness, substance use disorder and homelessness.”

Maxine Waters proposes billions to expand low-income housing
New York Times
In a sweeping effort to expand affordable housing and combat homelessness, Representative Maxine Waters of California introduced a package of three bills on Wednesday aimed at narrowing the country’s racial wealth gap. Ms. Waters is seeking $100 billion in direct assistance to first-time home buyers; more than $150 billion in fair and affordable housing investments; and the expansion of the housing voucher program, commonly known as Section 8, into a federal entitlement that is accessible to every American family that qualifies. “Housing should be our number one priority. Every member of Congress has not one but two decent places to live — one in Washington, D.C., and one in our home district,” Ms. Waters said in an interview. “We cannot continue to claim we are the greatest nation on earth with people living on the street and without their basic needs being taken care of.”

Why State Farm, and not California, is right about climate change
Los Angeles Times
From Planada to Paradise, the urgent fallout of climate change on California’s already terrible housing crisis is undeniable—except perhaps to our state politicians who pay it lip service but have dodged the big questions about where we should build and rebuild in the future. Our most vulnerable communities often lie in our most vulnerable regions: mountains marred by years of unprecedented wildfires, or Central Valley farm fields drowned in record rains and now epic snowmelt. It’s a big part of the reason several insurance companies are refusing to issue new policies and otherwise limiting their financial exposure in the Golden State. Such business decisions should prompt California’s leaders to rethink land-use policies. But once again, like Florida — a red state our political leaders love to denigrate — California is ignoring the obvious, knowing the consequences of doing so will be catastrophic.

Clips of the Week | Policy