This week in affordable housing news:

State update:

• ICYMI – In addition to the significant new investments in affordable housing and federal stimulus funds being passed along to renters in the Governor’s budget last week, the Administration has also proposed sending $600 in direct cash support to four million low-income Californians who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Only those with annual incomes of $30,000 or less are eligible for the EITC—including many affordable housing residents. When paired with the December COVID-relief bill, these new funds would provide some of the state’s most vulnerable households with $1,200 in direct cash payments.
• Assemblymember Richard Bloom has also formally reintroduced a CHC-sponsored bill, AB 115, that would make housing an allowable use on site zoned for commercial purposes. A similar bill authored by Asm. Bloom passed the Assembly last year with a vote of 52-14 but was pulled from consideration in the Senate due to political issues. The bill will be heard first this year in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.
• One of the state’s top housing reporters, Matt Levin of CalMatters, penned an insightful list of five things he learned covering California’s housing crisis, as one of his final stories before departing for a new job and a different beat. After highlighting some of the lingering political challenges that have made the state’s affordable housing shortfall so difficult to overcome, Levin concludes: “Even as the coronavirus pandemic consumes much of our daily lives, the state’s housing crisis persists. Strained and mutated by the virus, it will be there waiting for us once the vaccines are distributed and life is pseudo-normal again. It will just look different.”

Federal update:

• CHC’s Ray Pearl participated in a national discussion this week hosted by the National Housing Conference with Rep. Marcia Fudge, President-Elect Biden’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Among the issues discussed: Increasing access to Low Income Housing Tax Credit and addressing the nation’s housing supply crisis.
• President-Elect Biden outlined a proposal this week for a $1.9 trillion rescue package to combat COVID-19 and the economic downturn when he takes office on January 20. Included in the package is more than $400 billion to accelerate vaccine deployment and safely reopen schools within 100 days, $350 billion for state and local governments facing budget shortfalls, and $1,400 direct payments to individuals, along with more generous unemployment benefits.

ICYMI – Top news stories:

Five things I’ve learned covering California’s housing crisis that you should know
CalMatters – Commentary by Matt Levin
After three-plus years covering California’s housing crisis and the state’s mostly abortive attempts to fix it, I’m leaving my post. But before I left, in the tradition of other journalists with an inflated sense of self-importance, I wanted to share a few lessons I’ve learned that I think the average Californian should know about housing politics and policy. These observations are my own, and not everyone agrees with them. But they are the conclusions I’ve drawn about why this problem is so difficult to solve and the most realistic ways of solving it. Don’t worry, there’s gifs so it won’t be too boring. 

Biden outlines $1.9 trillion spending package to combat virus and downturn
New York Times
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday proposed a $1.9 trillion rescue package to combat the economic downturn and the Covid-19 crisis, outlining the type of sweeping aid that Democrats have demanded for months and signaling the shift in the federal government’s pandemic response as Mr. Biden prepares to take office. “During this pandemic, millions of Americans, through no fault of their own, have lost the dignity and respect that comes with a job and a paycheck,” Mr. Biden said. He acknowledged the high price tag but said the nation could not afford to do anything less. “The very health of our nation is at stake,” Mr. Biden said, adding that it “does not come cheaply, but failure to do so will cost us dearly.”

California exodus intensifies as retirees, teachers, musicians seek cheaper, less-crowded pastures
Los Angeles Times
The California dream has been fading for a long time, and people have been voting with their feet. In the last few years, the exodus has accelerated, with tens of thousands more people leaving than moving in. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted even more people to give up on the state. Some have retreated to their hometowns elsewhere because they lost their livelihoods. Others are taking advantage of working remotely to escape the state’s high housing prices and long commutes. In the fiscal year that ended in July, Los Angeles County had by far the greatest net loss due to migration of any California county—more than 74,000 people, according to state demographers. Some moved to nearby areas with lower costs of living; others ventured farther or left the state altogether.