Senator Becker’s SB 1395 gives local governments the tools to fast track building interim housing and scale up efforts to bring people indoors and save lives
Sacramento, CA—Today, the California State Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee approved the Interim Housing Act (SB 1395) authored by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park). This bill addresses California’s housing and homeless needs by expanding access to interim housing on a statewide level.
California has the fourth highest rate of homelessness and the highest rate of unsheltered homelessness in the nation. Despite concerted efforts to increase housing production, California’s budget, land, and zoning limitations inhibit sufficient permanent housing construction. As a consequence, California’s homeless population reached a record 181,399 individuals in 2023 and will continue to grow without significantly increasing housing production.
SB 1395 will encourage the development of interim housing by achieving the following:
- Clarifying that relocatable, non-congregate interim housing is eligible for streamlined zoning, thus reducing construction time and costs;
- Empowering local governments who want to build interim housing by cutting red tape and expediting approvals (CEQA expansions for Low Barrier Navigation Centers and Shelter Crisis Act projects);
- Extending the sunset for existing streamlining authorities – Shelter Crisis Act and Low Barrier Navigation Centers – to provide locals more assurance that they can use existing tools to address our homelessness crisis beyond 2026; and
- Freeing up state funding for interim housing.
“The Interim Housing Act takes a proven and successful local housing strategy and makes it available statewide, giving local governments a new tool to address the homeless and housing crisis,” said Becker. “It expedites the process for cities and counties to build more housing options and significantly increase the inventory. With the development of more interim housing, we can put a roof over the heads of our unhoused neighbors faster so that they can get back on their feet and on track towards permanent housing.”
"SB 1395 is more than a legislative measure; it is a blueprint for healthier, more environmentally sustainable communities," said Elizabeth Funk, Founder and CEO of DignityMoves. "This legislation makes it clear that interim housing is essential to solving California's homelessness crisis, improving public health and revitalizing our public spaces, and demonstrates our collective commitment to transitioning our unhoused neighbors into safe spaces."
“Access to shelter and sanitation are basic human needs” said Jim Wunderman, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council. “California’s unwillingness to prioritize shelter and sanitation has led to predictable and morally unacceptable consequences for public health, public safety, and our environment. SB 1395 would help California cities build and scale affordable interim housing to bring people indoors, save lives, and restore public spaces.”
“We need a comprehensive and compassionate response to homelessness in California that can deliver results. Interim supportive housing is a key part of that response that gets people living outdoors and in makeshift and dangerous encampments into safe and secure conditions expeditiously,” said Michael Lane, State Policy Director for SPUR. “SB 1395 will allow attractive and cost-effective interim housing communities to be built in a matter of months and rapidly provide decent homes for people experiencing homelessness.”
SB 1395 is sponsored by San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Dignity Moves, the Bay Area Council, and the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, and is strongly supported by San Francisco Mayor London Breed.