This week in affordable housing news…:

State Update:

•  All of CHC’s sponsored bills continue to move in advance of this spring’s policy committee deadlines. In the Senate, two bills advanced out of the Governance and Finance Committee and now move to Appropriations: SB 423 (Wiener), legislation extending SB 35 streamlining ahead of a 2025 expiration date, and SB 440 (Skinner), a bill allowing local governments to create regional housing finance agencies to fund affordable housing. On consent next week in Senate Judiciary is SB 439 (Skinner), a bill creating a new special motion to strike non-meritorious CEQA lawsuits in court.

• Meanwhile in the Assembly, the Committee on Housing and Community Development this week approved AB 1449 (Alvarez), a bill extending CEQA exemptions to a range of 100% affordable housing project approvals. That legislation now moves to Appropriations, which is also reviewing AB 1307 (Wicks), a bill that would reverse a recent court decision in the People’s Park case in Berkeley by clarifying that the sound of residents’ voices should not be considered an environmental impact under CEQA. 

• It’s not too late to submit a support letter on these bills! Please take action today by placing your letterhead on each of CHC’s sample support letters and uploading them onto the Legislative Position Letter Portal. Send copies to our Policy Associate, Jennifer Armenta: jarmenta@calhsng.org. You can find fact sheets and sample support letters for these bills on CHC’s Legislative Priorities page.

• Senate Democrats released a detailed budget proposal this week that will serve as their “starting point” in negotiations with Governor Newsom and the Assembly. The plan includes a $10 billion “Housing and Infrastructure Fund” that would invest in a range of affordable housing, transit infrastructure, broadband, clean energy, student housing, and school projects. Of this amount, $1.7 billion would be set aside for housing—including $800 million for the California Dream for All homeownership program (which is oversubscribed and already out of funds), $500 million for the state LIHTC, $300 million of “expanded” affordable housing investment, $100 million for CalHOME, and $50 million for ADU construction. CHC is working to get additional details.

CHC Webinar on Housing Innovations

Join CHC on Friday, May 12 from 12-1pm to hear from three housing innovators exploring new models or approaches to delivering affordable housing in California.

This a no cost, CHC member only event. Registration is required.
Contact Nancy Martin with questions.

Register now

ICYMI – Top news stories:

Cracks in California labor coalition raise hopes for YIMBY breakthrough on housing bill
CalMatters
For nearly a decade, lawmakers hoping to tackle the state’s housing crisis have faced a choice: win the support of the coalition, the State Building and Construction Trades Council, that represents California’s construction unions—or watch those legislative aspirations sputter and die. Last week, a few fissures appeared on that unified front. Two affiliates of the trades council defected, throwing their weight behind a housing bill that the parent organization had been fighting for months. The breakaways—the California Council of Laborers and the state Conference of Operating Engineers—join California’s unionized carpenters, in support of SB 423 (Wiener). It’s a surprising and surprisingly public break that could help shift the political balance long defining California housing policy.   

State Supreme Court rejects Save Livermore Downtown petition to review Eden Housing case
Livermore Vine
Save Livermore Downtown faces yet another court rejection in its quest to overturn the City Council’s approval of a 130-unit affordable housing development. The California Supreme Court case online docket was updated on April 20 to reflect its denial of the community group’s petition asking the court to review an appellate court decision in favor of developer Eden Housing, Inc. and the city of Livermore.

“We are grateful to the California Supreme Court for supporting affordable housing and reinforcing the importance of the City of Livermore’s vision to provide diverse housing opportunities to its community,” said Linda Mandolini, president and CEO of Eden Housing. “This is the third ruling against Save Livermore Downtown and it’s our sincere hope that we can now focus on moving forward with developing much needed affordable housing rather than wasting precious time and resources on meritless lawsuits.”

If PG&E can’t turn the lights on for new housing, California needs to step in
San Francisco Chronicle
As affordable housing developers in San Francisco race to build new units to meet the city’s crisis, they’re consistently bumping up against a time-consuming and expensive challenge. The culprit: PG&E delays in hooking their buildings up to the electrical grid. As of February, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, says his office has documented 134 projects in California that had been waiting for PG&E for longer than eight weeks. In extreme cases, some affordable housing projects had been on hold for 18 months. These delays aren’t just frustrating, they are immensely expensive. As projects are pushed beyond their predicted deadlines, loans must be renegotiated, and both interest and construction rates go up. A new bill from Wiener, SB 83, could change this—instituting an eight-week timeline for any investor-owned utility to connect new and existing developments to the grid.