This week in affordable housing news…:

State Update:

• Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) was sworn in this week as the new Senate President Pro Tempore, replacing Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who is termed out this year and is running for governor. Sen. McGuire announced a number of major changes to Senate committee chairs—promoting Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) to chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Oakland) will take over chair of the Senate Housing Committee, a position Sen. Wiener has held since 2018. Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Fresno) will take over as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, replacing Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Glendale).

• Calmatters published a story this week on a unforeseen trend in Los Angeles, where the city is receiving an unexpected number of plans for so-called “unsubsidized” 100% affordable projects, as market-rate developers take advantage of the 60-day approvals offered by Mayor Karen Bass’ recent housing emergency order and an array of density bonus provisions that allow them to build more units per lot. Since the mayor’s order was signed in December 2022, the city has received plans for over 16,000 affordable units—more than the total number of approved affordable units in the prior three years combined. The surprising uptick in affordable housing proposals from market-rate builders appear to be driven by a combination of policy incentives, high interest rates, the impact of LA’s mansion tax on luxury development, and a rising cost of living that is allowing workers earning close to $100,000 to qualify for affordable housing.

• Do opponents of Proposition 1 have history on their side? That’s the question raised this week by another provocative CalMatters article, which explores similarities between the March ballot’s $6.4 billion mental health bond measure and the 2018 No Place Like Home initiative, which raised $2 billion for mental health services—also with a promise of improving health outcomes by expanding access to housing. A CalMatters analysis finds that many of No Child Left Behind’s promises remain unfulfilled, including a pledge to produce 20,000 supportive housing units. Since the measure passed, less than 1,800 units have been built, a lack of progress CalMatters attributes to the usual suspects: High construction and insurance costs, complex financing systems, and “voters happy to agree with the concept of housing homeless people [who] have killed proposals to build such housing in their own neighborhoods.” Advocates tell CalMatters that recent legislation to accelerate approvals and overcome NIMBY opposition should help No Place Like Home projects “move more quickly.”

Top news stories:

Legislators fight proposed California utility fees
CalMatters
California’s big utilities promise that a proposed “fixed charge” on energy bills—specifically a fee based on a ratepayers income—would help make electricity more affordable for low-income families. But now Democratic lawmakers are joining Republicans in saying that the move is unfair to their constituents and will set back energy conservation. Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks, joined by a handful lawmakers including Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, announced legislation this week to roll back the fixed charge mandate, calling it “impractical.” Said Irwin: “Electricity rates have skyrocketed throughout the state…. Our constituents have had enough and so have we. It’s time to put some reasoning back into how we charge for electricity in California.”

How much can your rent go up in California? Check this website.
Los Angeles Times
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Wednesday announced new consumer tools for tenants and landlords to understand how much rent can rise each year under a state rent cap law. The law, which took effect in 2020, restricts rent increases in buildings more than 15 years old. Under the rules, which do not apply to affordable housing, rent can rise no more than 5% plus local inflation, with an ultimate cap of 10%. However, until now the state did not provide an online resource that said exactly what the limits were for local areas. As of Wednesday, landlords and tenants can go to a new state website to learn more about county rent limits, as well as eviction protections provided by the rent cap law.

Homeless in L.A.: Not every life is a ‘success story,’ but everyone deserves dignity
Los Angeles Times – Oped by Robert Karron, an English teacher at Santa Monica College
How many times have you heard successful people talking about the obstacles they overcame, the discouraging chapters they endured, the “rock bottom” from which they rose up? Maybe you see your own life in similar terms. It’s a particular narrative that ends with success, and anyone who has lived it would tend to think other people’s lives can, with work, conform to this arc. We need to get away from that assumption. Some people’s lives aren’t on an upward trajectory and may never be, and those people also deserve respect and dignity. Early this month I met with three of my unhoused neighbors in Venice, one who has been on and off the street for 20 years, one who has autism, and one whose life was upended by a toxic relationship. They agreed to share their stories with The Times.