SACRAMENTO—Today the California State Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development voted unanimously to approve Senate Bill 341, authored by State Senator Josh Becker, which would stop penalizing/disadvantaging developers who bring affordable housing to, and the low-income families who need affordable housing in, less housing-friendly jurisdictions when these developers apply for affordable housing funding.
“SB 341 is a necessary tool that helps unlock state funding for affordable housing developments by undoing perverse penalties against private developers in cities and counties that have fallen out of compliance with state housing element law or chosen not to be designated ‘prohousing,’” said Becker. “It would ensure that affordable housing developments in all areas of the state are treated fairly when accessing certain state funding.”
SB 341 applies prohousing incentives and housing element compliance thresholds only to state programs in which cities and counties, as opposed to private affordable housing developers, are the primary applicants. It is supported by affordable housing advocates and has received no opposition. The bill now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
This bill builds on previous efforts by Senator Becker to increase the development of affordable housing.
Last year, Becker also successfully authored SB 948, which frees up rarely-used monies estimated in the amount of $40 million per year to go to more pressing needs, like deepening the affordability of a unit or increasing the number of affordable homes that can be funded, thus maximizing the ability to use limited affordable housing funds more efficiently.
Additionally, Becker authored SB 591, which authorized the establishment of an intergenerational housing development for senior citizens, caregivers, or transition age youths in order to preserve the health and wellbeing of seniors. SB 591 increases the production of affordable housing units and addresses homelessness by allowing affordable housing developers to build intergenerational housing serving seniors along with foster youth (also known as transition age youth or TAY). This legislation also provides seniors and TAY with housing, while at the same time addressing isolation and depression in seniors and homelessness for teens.
###
Senator Becker represents the 13th Senate District covering portions of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and includes the cities of Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Mountain View, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco, and Woodside.