Governor Jerry Brown signed three bills, SB 2, 3 and 35 on Sept. 14, taking a step forward in tackling the state's affordable housing crisis.
The three bills signed into law last month are expected to address affordable housing development and protect affordable housing assets and properties, according to California legislative information.
In 2015, the median cost of a house in California reached over $400,000, close to 2.5 times than the national average, according to CALmatters, a nonpartisan news organization. It’s also become expensive for people to afford homes with rent increases. The median rent for a two-bedroom in California was about $2,400.
In 2015, the median cost of a house in California reached over $400,000, close to 2.5 times than the national average, according to CALmatters, a nonpartisan news organization. It’s also become expensive for people to afford homes with rent increases. The median rent for a two-bedroom in California was about $2,400.
The three new housing laws will bring forward annually $3.9 billion, according to California Housing Partnership Corp., a private nonprofit organization that helps government and nonprofit housing agencies.
The California Legislature published on its website the following details:
Senate Bill 2: Building Homes and Jobs Act
SB-2 will impose fees on certain transactions related to real-estate with the exception of home and commercial real-estate purchases. Fees can be anywhere from $75 to a $225 maximum.
It is expected to raise about $250 million each year. The money allocated will finance construction of affordable housing.
“To do nothing for me is not an option,” said RepublicanAssemblyman Brian Maienschein of San Diego. “I wouldn’t even be considering this if we didn’t have a state of emergency in the city of San Diego” over hepatitis and deaths of homeless people, he said.
Senate Bill 3: Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act
SB-3 will place a $4 billion housing bond measure on the November 2018 ballot and enact the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018. $3 billion will be used to finance existing housing programs and $1 billion will be used to provide additional funds for for farm, home and mobile home purchase assistance for veterans.
However, SB-3 took more persuasion than the other two because some Republicans and Democrats who are up for re-election hesitated to support it because the bill proposes $4 billion in borrowing. Critics said they believe California is going to have to do more than spend money to solve the housing problem.
“We can’t spend our way out of this problem with government spending,” said Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia.
Senate Bill 35: Planning and Zoning
The third bill will make it more difficult for cities to use zoning codes to discourage affordable housing. It also lists a series of actions local governments will have to observe when someone wants to provide multifamily housing, a project would reduce housing density or someone wants to build government-subsidized housing.
It also added new housing reporting requirements for cities.
In a tweet, Governor Brown said, “There’s no place like home #SB2 #SB35.”
The three bills were introduced in February. The Senate and Assembly amended SB-2 six times, SB-3 four times and SB-35 10 times before signing and passing it to the governor.
Photo Credit: Joe McHugh, California Highway Patrol
-- By Julie Ortega