San Francisco Bay Space lawmakers goal housing | Native Information
According to regional housing experts, a strategic approach, leveraging both legislative proposals and government funding, is needed to most effectively address the state’s housing crisis.
Michael Lane, State Policy Director at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, assessed the gradually evolving political landscape around housing rights and government investment.
Lane watched opposing factions sided with controversial housing laws and praised Governor Gavin Newsom’s injection of resources to address the state’s housing shortage, estimated at 3.5 million units by 2025.
“We know we need to solve this problem and we need to find ways to do it,” said Lane, referring to the general recognition that it takes a variety of approaches to enable more housing.
Speaking of the state’s financial contribution, Lane praised Newsom’s willingness to draw on the historic budget surplus to fuel efforts to fight homelessness and promote housing.
These investments include $ 750 million for the Homekey Project, the government’s program to acquire hotel and motel properties to convert them into homes for the homeless. Lane also posted $ 500 million in low-income residential property tax credits, $ 250 million in infill infrastructure grant programs through the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and $ 100 million in funding for secondary housing construction.
In total, Newsom proposed $ 1.75 billion for programs targeting housing programs, which was approved by the district’s Housing Leadership Council.
“It’s worth highlighting the historic budget investment, particularly the $ 1.75 billion equity for HCD-funded projects. This will help build thousands of shovel-ready affordable homes, ”said Leora Tanjuatco Ross, deputy director of the council, in an email.
While some of the funding comes from federal pandemic bailouts, most of it comes from Newsom’s budget proposal, which was built on a $ 76 billion surplus.
In addition to the cash injection, Lane said there is a political focus on ensuring that housing laws passed in previous years are effectively implemented and enforced.
The Housing and Community Development Department is a key government resource for working with cities to ensure existing housing goals are met, Lane said, and new proposed laws are designed to strengthen that work.
Congregation member David Chiu, D-San Francisco, proposed Law 215 to the Congregation, which would allow HCD to meet with cities and track progress in the middle of the eight-year housing planning cycle.
“To address the housing crisis, we need to make sure that cities implement their plans. While some cities are trying hard, others are lagging behind, and this bill is about ensuring that all cities do what they promise, ”Chiu said in a prepared statement on the bill passed by and by the Assembly He is expected to go to the Senate this summer.
The deadline for submitting bills from homes or countries of origin was Friday June 4th. Those who survived will be tried before the September 10 deadline, which is the last day any bill gets to Newsom’s desk.
After the latest deadline, Lane said it could be difficult to gauge the progress of certain bills – especially as most lawmakers focused on budget deliberations ahead of the Tuesday June 15 approval deadline.
“A lot is incremental,” he said. “We always kind of expect that.”
Looking ahead, however, Lane expected clashes to arise over a number of divisive laws proposed by state senators earlier this year to facilitate the construction of additional housing with financial incentives and relaxed regulations.
The package called Housing Opportunities For All aims, among other things, to enable residential development in commercial areas; rationalize the construction of developments that meet high environmental standards; Permit maisonette construction in single-family zone neighborhoods; and upzone areas near job centers, bus stops and other residential centers.
Senate Draft 9, which aims to facilitate the construction of maisonettes or partitions to allow additional development of residential parcels, and Senate Draft 10, the proposal for an increase, are vehemently opposed by neighborhood groups such as Livable California.
Critics claim the proposals will incentivize speculative property developers to buy land with plans to convert neighborhood lots into large projects that are incompatible with the existing character.
If approved, they claim the bills will allow the construction of more marketable units that are unaffordable for most residents and worsen gentrification patterns across the state.
“We do not see the huge expansion of luxury housing by the state in this law as an aid to the cities,” said a press release from Livable California on Senate Law 10, written by Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.
In addition to neighborhood groups, Lane also recognized the opposition from construction groups working to ensure that all housing bills include mandates to hire union workers.
Since many development proposals, especially those with a significant amount of affordable housing, often face tight margins, union requirements can often make funding impossible, Lane said.
To allay the financial concerns, he expressed hope that lawmakers could identify more ways to fund development projects. In a broader sense, he was encouraged by the variety of efforts to address the state’s housing problems.
“I think there is a growing understanding and commitment from the legislature to keep working on it,” he said.
austin@smdailyjournal.com
