California Housing Consortium
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2022
Press Contact: Mike Roth
916-444-7170, mike@paschalroth.com

Affordable housing providers hail passage of AB 2011 (Wicks) as “watershed, precedent-setting” moment for housing policy—and a critical breakthrough for lower-income Californians who desperately need affordable housing

CHC: “With a stroke of the Governor’s pen, this bill can help communities start producing affordable homes for hundreds of thousands of struggling Californians who desperately need housing. We hope the Governor will sign it.”

SACRAMENTO – The Senate and Assembly voted today to approve AB 2011 (Wicks), the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, sending the bill to Governor Newsom in a major victory for the diverse coalition of affordable housing providers, labor, environmental advocates, equity groups, and pro-housing organizations who joined forces to help Californians struggling to keep up with rising rents find a safe, affordable place to call home. The Senate approved the measure 33-0, and the Assembly concurred by a vote of 67-4. 

AB 2011’s author, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Richmond), shared the following statement about the bill, which will open underutilized commercial sites to affordable housing while creating strong labor protections that ensure all workers on these jobs earn high wages and health benefits: “The Governor’s signature will change the trajectory of California’s housing crisis. Today’s vote brings us one step closer to that pivotal moment—no longer will lack of land be an issue for housing production. No longer will there be a lack of incentive for workers to join the construction workforce. And, no longer will red tape and bureaucracy prohibit us from building housing in the right locations to address our climate crisis.”

AB 2011 was co-sponsored by the California Housing Consortium and California Conference of Carpenters—a unique partnership of affordable housing providers and labor who, after years of political gridlock in the Capitol on housing issues, came together to support this groundbreaking legislation. While the bill took on several rounds of amendments over the course of the year, its central premise remained the same—pairing new opportunities to build 100% affordable housing and mixed-income housing on underutilized commercial sites with requirements that developers meet a range of responsible wage and training standards, including paying prevailing wage, providing workers with health benefits, and giving graduates of state-approved apprenticeship programs first access to these jobs. The bill also includes new enforcement mechanisms to ensure these wage and benefits standards are met.

“As California’s affordable housing challenges continue to grow, AB 2011 is the first legislation in years to bring together affordable housing providers and labor that can make a real difference in closing our state’s serious shortage of affordable housing,” said Ray Pearl, Executive Director of the California Housing Consortium. “But the coalition behind this bill is much bigger than that, with groups from across the political spectrum recognizing this legislation for what it is: a watershed, precedent-setting opportunity to accelerate housing development across California for years to come by opening new environmentally friendly sites to affordable housing, streamlining approvals, and building a well-paid middle-class construction workforce in every community.” 

The final version of AB 2011 attracted a large coalition of supporters including major labor groups like Service Employees International Union California and the California School Employees Association, environmental groups including Greenbelt Alliance and the Greenlining Institute, homeownership advocates like the California Community Builders, equity groups including AARP, the United Ways of California, and the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and pro-housing groups ranging from California YIMBY and the California Apartment Association to Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Bay Area Council.

An independent analysis conducted in August by Urban Footprint and Economic & Planning Systems concluded that AB 2011 has the capacity to produce between 300,000 to 400,000 income-restricted affordable homes across California. The study also found AB 2011 could increase net local and state tax revenues, while dramatically reducing the environmental footprint of this new housing: The analysis estimates that households on commercial corridors impacted by the bill would use 40% less water, drive 33% fewer miles, and produce up to 45% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

CHC began working on the policy framework for AB 2011 several years ago with Asm. Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), who authored two bills, AB 3107 (2020) and AB 115 (2020), that first introduced the concept of making affordable housing an allowable use on commercial sites. The bills did not advance out of the Legislature but laid the policy groundwork nevertheless for the success of AB 2011. 

Like Asm. Bloom’s early bills, AB 2011 retains a strong affordability requirement that ensures every project relying on its provisions will produce homes affordable to California’s lowest-income households.

“Affordable housing providers owe a huge debt of gratitude to legislative champions like Speaker Rendon, Asm. Wicks, Asm. Grayson, Asm. Bloom, and the members of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, along with the many other members of the Assembly and Senate who have spent years shaping these policy ideas and fighting to promote affordable housing. We also could not have gotten where we are today without the leadership of Pro Tem Atkins,” said Pearl. “With a stroke of the Governor’s pen, this bill can help communities start producing affordable homes for hundreds of thousands of struggling Californians who desperately need housing. We hope the Governor will sign it.”

More information about the bill is available here:

• A fact sheet on AB 2011 is available here.
• A Los Angeles Times editorial endorsing the bill is here.
• A San Francisco Chronicle editorial endorsing the bill is here.
• A Sacramento Bee editorial supporting the bill is here.
• A New York Times opinion piece endorsing the bill is here.
• A San Jose Mercury News op-ed by the co-sponsors is here.
• A CalMatters op-ed by environmental leaders supporting the bill is here.
• A Los Angeles Daily News op-ed from the Executive Director of the California Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) is here.