This week in affordable housing news…:

State Update:

The deadline for introducing new bills is today. Members have already introduced many housing bills, which will begin to move through the Legislature.

• At a press conference on Monday, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), joined by co-sponsor CHC and other housing advocates, announced the introduction of SB 423, a bill to extend and strengthen SB 35’s streamlining provisions. Among other things, the bill will remove the sunset on SB 35 (Wiener) which has an expiration date at the end of 2025. To read the press release click here.

• Other notable affordable housing bills that have already been introduced:

• AB 84 (Ward) will make critical updates to the affordable housing welfare tax exemption.

• AB 346 (Quirk-Silva) (re-introduction of AB 1288 from last year) will make critical modifications to the process to certificate state LIHTCs and make the rulemaking process for CDLAC mirror that of TCAC.

• AB 519 (Pilar-Schiavo) will create a working group to develop a consolidated application for the purpose of obtaining financing and developing a coordinated review process for the application.

• AB 578 (Berman) will cap the .42% interest payments that covers monitoring costs at $150 per unit per year adjusted for inflation.

• SB 225 (Caballero) will establish the Community Anti-Displacement Preservation Program (CAPP) to provide revolving short-term acquisition capital and long-term public subsidy to acquire unsubsidized affordable homes and preserve them as permanently affordable.

• SB 482 (Blakespeare) will require that HCD offer capitalized operating reserves to supportive housing units developed under the Multifamily Housing Program.

ICYMI – Top news stories:

EDITORIAL: Skid Row Housing Trust’s downfall is a teachable moment for L.A., not a reason to give up
Los Angeles Times
Skid Row Housing Trust became one of the largest and best-known producers of desperately needed permanent supportive housing on skid row. Yet the organization is now headed for financial ruin, its oldest housing stock deteriorating with no funds for repairs. Skid Row Housing Trust’s downfall is a cautionary tale of what can go wrong for owners and operators of permanent supportive housing. But it is not a warning to avoid building this kind of housing.

EDITORIAL: A rich NIMBY city brought out the big political guns to avoid new housing. Did it work?
San Francisco Chronicle
Of all the places in California that deserve a pass from state officials when it comes to fulfilling their obligations to plan for more housing, the tiny suburb of South Pasadena sits near the bottom. South Pasadena is an ideal place to build homes—less than 10 miles away from downtown LA with a school district cited as one of the best in California and residential neighborhoods zoned for low density. Yet when the chance recently arose for the city to start living up to these promises—by meeting state requirements to plan for 2,067 new homes, more than half of which would be set aside for very low or low-income residents—local housing activists say South Pasadena brought in big political guns to help them duck responsibility.

This law has fast-tracked 3,000 housing units in San Francisco. Now, one lawmaker wants to expand it.
San Francisco Chronicle
There’s a counterpoint to the perception that the California Legislature’s efforts to confront the housing crisis haven’t led to much new construction: SB 35—a 2017 law that has been used to speed up approval of at least 18,000 units statewide. California needs millions of new homes to meet the needs of its population, but the growing impact of SB 35 shows its promise to help solve one of the state’s thorniest problems. Wiener, D-San Francisco, unveiled SB 423 which would make the law permanent and likely expand its reach by removing a de facto requirement that developers use union workers to build mixed-income housing.

Scott Wiener doubles down on bill that fast-tracks new housing
San Francisco Standard
While SB 35 has been widely used for affordable housing projects, advocates say the bill’s labor provision makes it harder to find the workers necessary to build mixed-income housing. “Why was the [100%] affordable housing side so productive, and the other [mixed-income] side wasn’t? And it really came down to the labor requirements,” said Marina Wiant, vice president of government affairs at the California Housing Consortium. “We’re trying to make a workable standard that is a higher standard.” Wiant said that there aren’t enough “skilled and trained” workers to keep pace on state housing production goals, including for mixed-income projects: “Now is not the time to restrict who can and can’t work on housing.”

Huntington Beach vows to continue housing fight, despite state warnings
Los Angeles Times
The city of Huntington Beach and the state of California might be in a race to file lawsuits against each other over housing issues. Huntington Beach City Atty. Michael Gates said at a news conference Tuesday that his office was preparing a lawsuit against the state, challenging the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation mandate of 13,368 units. State Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta also issued a warning letter to the city earlier this week, advising Gates that the city was in violation of the state’s Housing Accountability Act by hampering affordable housing projects.