This week in affordable housing news…:

State Update:

• California is facing a $68 budget deficit next year—the largest in state history—after revenues came in far lower than expected this fall, according to a new report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office. Due to delayed tax filing dates, the state did not have a complete revenue picture for 2022-23 until late this year. With taxes now filed, the LAO finds revenues have come in $26 billion below estimates—“the major driver” of the state’s new budget problem, the report says. While a slowing economy could jeopardize state revenues through 2024-25, the LAO cautions that its forecast remains “highly uncertain:” “It is entirely possible that revenues could end up $15 billion higher or lower than our forecast for 2023-24 and $30 billion higher or lower for 2024-25.” Even so, the gloomy fiscal forecast is likely to have a major impact on the Governor’s first budget proposal in January. 

• A new poll finds a strong majority of likely voters (68%) say they will support Proposition 1, the March 2024 ballot measure seeking to modernize the state’s Mental Health Services Act, increase housing interventions for people suffering from mental illness and substance use disorder, and authorize a $6.4 billion bond to support the program. The survey, released this week by the Public Policy Institute of California, finds the measure is supported by 85% of Democrats, 66% of independents, and 40% of Republicans. A total of 51% of those polled said it was a “good time” to issue bonds to fund housing for homeless individuals, compared to 46% who said it was a “bad time,” while 64% said changes were need to update the MHSA, which was originally approved by voters in 2004.

• The number of candidates vying for a rare open Bay Area Congressional seat continues to grow, only a few weeks after the announcement by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) that she would not be seeking reelection after serving for 32 years in the Capitol. Several high-profile peninsula leaders immediately jumped into the race, including former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, former Saratoga City Councilmember Rishi Kumar, and Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino). On Thursday, they were joined by two more Democrats: Palo Alto City Councilmember Julie Lythcott-Haims, the first woman to enter the race, and tech entrepreneur Peter Dixon.

ICYMI – Top news stories: 

Bass says L.A. has put 21,000 homeless people into interim housing. Here’s what that means.
Los Angeles Times
Over the past year, Los Angeles city and county agencies have moved more than 21,000 unhoused Angelenos into interim housing—motel rooms, shelter beds, tiny home villages and an assortment of other sites, Mayor Karen Bass said Wednesday. Bass, marking the end of her first year in citywide office, said the figure showed the strides that her administration, working closely with many other government officials, have been made in getting homeless residents off the street and under a roof. “We have shaken up the entire system, a system that was not driven by outcomes,” Bass said during a 90-minute press briefing. Last year, while campaigning for mayor, Bass said she would move 17,000 people indoors during her first year in office.

Migrant farmworkers want to live in California. There’s just no affordable housing for them.
Sacramento Bee
More than 80% of migrant farmworkers living in California-run housing would settle full time in their communities if they could find affordable housing—while 69% say their children struggle to keep up in school as a result of frequent moves. This is what The Sacramento Bee learned during a year-long investigation into the state’s 24 migrant farmworker housing centers, which provide subsidized units for seasonal workers. Reporters visited seven centers in Northern California, the San Joaquin Valley and on the Central Coast. They surveyed 150 families about their experiences living in the housing and moving every year when it closes for three to six months.

S.F. passes crucial housing reforms. Will it be enough to satisfy the state?
San Francisco Chronicle
Critical housing legislation was OK’d on Tuesday in San Francisco as the city tries to avoid losing control over approvals of residential projects. Key funding for housing and transportation was also at risk if officials didn’t reform the city’s cumbersome process. State officials gave the city 30 days from Oct. 25 to approve legislation from Mayor London Breed that would streamline the notoriously long and complicated process to get homes approved and built. The legislation now includes protections for rent-controlled units and historic buildings, but it’s unclear whether those changes will pass muster with state officials.  The board’s decision comes a week after San Francisco missed its first deadline to reform its residential development rules under a mandate laid out in an Oct. 25 letter from HCD.