CHC's Industry Insight
A Note from our Executive Director

There is no doubt that emotions around last Tuesday's election are still running high, and there are likely still difficult conversations coming over Thanksgiving dinner tables.  As business people with a social justice mission, I urge the affordable housing community to look at the election with a dual lens: how the outcome of the election could threaten our ability to build homes for vulnerable Californians on one hand, and where there are new opportunities to strengthen our drive to increase access to housing on the other.
 
I've already received many questions about what a Trump Administration's priorities will be for federal housing programs that underpin our work in California.  Some of those early concerns focus on tax reform, LIHTC survival, Section 8, Home and CDBG to name a few.  CHC will be vigilant in monitoring potential impacts on affordable home development for California communities and we will coordinate our federal advocacy with those already positioned to play an important role in DC.  California's voice MUST be heard, now more than ever, in our nation's capital.
 
Under the State Capitol dome, we've made significant progress educating legislators about the housing affordability crisis, and we had strong indications from leaders to bring solutions to the table in the coming legislative cycle.  CHC's challenge will be to keep housing solutions at the forefront as leaders are pressed to respond to federal threats on healthcare, climate change and immigration.
 
While there is reason for concern, there is also reason to be cautiously optimistic.  At the local and regional level, voters committed new resources to the tune of approximately $4 billion to address local housing challenges and alleviate homelessness, building on the momentum created at the state level.  Additionally, the California Forward Housing Action Team I co-chair continues to have tremendous energy from business, local government, social justice, environmental, labor and development interests, aligned in pursuit of one million new homes for Californians.
 
We definitely have our work cut out for us in the new year.  CHC remains a resource to you in evaluating the threats and opportunities on the horizon.  Please continue to engage with us as we work to ensure every Californian has a safe, affordable place to call home.

  Sincerely,
  





  Ray Pearl 
  CHC Executive Director 
In Case You Missed It...

  • The 2016 California Economic Summit takes place December 13-14 at the Sacramento Convention Center and will bring together one of the state's largest networks of public- and private-sector leaders committed to the triple bottom line. At the event, members of the expanding Summit coalition will advance the One Million Challenges, the Summit's ambitious goals for expanding upward mobility-and ensuring widely shared prosperity-for all Californians.
  • McKinsey Report: A new McKinsey Global Institute report was released late last month. In Closing California's Housing Gap,  the report estimates that to match the number of houses to keep up with expected population growth and hold down housing costs to affordable levels, the state would need to build 3.5 million more homes over the next decade.This chronic underproduction is having far-reaching economic and social impacts-with rising home and rental prices swallowing up $140 billion in economic activity each year and forcing nearly half of California households to struggle to buy or rent a home in their community.The only way to solve a problem of this magnitude, the McKinsey report concludes, is to move toward policy solutions on a similar scale. The report identifies policy options that could allow California communities to produce more affordable homes and close the affordability gap. 
  • In this week's Special Election Edition of the Tax Credit Tuesday Podcast, Michael J. Novogradac, CPA, discusses the possible policy implications of the historic 2016 presidential and congressional elections. He discusses House and Senate leadership, as well as likely assignments for the chief tax-writing committees: the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. He also talks about potential candidates for a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary and how priorities outlined in the House Republicans' tax reform blueprint could affect the low-income housing tax credit, new markets tax credit, historic tax credit and renewable energy tax credits.
California Election Wrap-up From Sloat, Higgins, Jensen & Associates

This November election will shape the State Legislature for quite some time. The last class of legislators under the old term limit rules are departing this year, leaving 17 open seats available in the Legislature. The new 12-year term limits in either house means we may not see another open seat in the Assembly until 2024. The Senate will see modest turnover in 2018 and 2020, however only one seat in 2018 and one seat in 2020 are expected to be competitive. This made the November 2016 election cycle critical to both the Democratic and Republican caucuses. In the Assembly, Democrats have added 3 seats, giving them a clear supermajority of 55 seats. The Senate remains unchanged, Democrats control 26 seats, leaving them one seat short of a supermajority.  

In total, independent expenditure committees poured a record $39 million into legislative races following the June primary. Of that total, more than $23 million was spent on races between two Democrats with business groups backing the more "moderate" candidate. 
In the Assembly, there were 9 races that involved business groups backing a particular Democratic candidate they considered to be more moderate. In the Senate, there was one race involving a moderate candidate. As things stand, the Moderate Democrats will have substantially increased their numbers. However, Moderate Democrat Cheryl Brown lost her reelection campaign to labor backed Eloise Gomez-Reyes. 

Affordable Housing in the News

While most eyes have been on the national electoral landscape, voters in California's most expensive and congested markets made their voices heard on local measures - showing overwhelming support for increasing the supply of affordable homes and reducing homelessness.   The Mercury News  reports that voters in Santa Clara County passed Measure A to provide $950 million for housing. Meanwhile, the  Los Angeles Times  writes that Measure HHH, a $1.2 billion bond to tackle homelessness passed with more than three quarters of voters in support.  With local tax dollars available for affordable development, now comes the next challenge for housing advocates: overcoming hurdles some local agencies can put in the way of needed growth. 
CHC Member Profile:  Jamboree Housing & Innovative Housing Open Rockwood Apartments

Jamboree Housing Corporation and Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO) recently completed construction on the Rockwood Apartments, a 70-unit, multifamily property in Anaheim, CA. The innovative new affordable housing development provides quality housing for families - many of whom were homeless - and formerly homeless individuals living with mental illness. 
 
A joint venture between Jamboree and IHO, Rockwood Apartments was developed as a public/private partnership with the City of Anaheim, the County of Orange and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on a 1.83-acre urban infill site adjacent to Abraham Lincoln Elementary School and within walking distance of Lincoln Park, as well as community services and public transportation.
 
"This community will literally transform the lives of families and people in need," said Tom Tait, mayor of the City of Anaheim. "They will have a place to call home and access to services that will help them thrive in a community as nice as you will find anywhere in Anaheim."
 


Along with quality housing, the new apartment community offers a spectrum of resident services provided by Jamboree and IHO that include life-enhancing programming such as homework assistance and tutoring for young people, plus health and wellness programs for families. Residents will also have the opportunity to participate in IHO's Economic Self-Reliance™ program that provides ongoing financial empowerment tools, career development and entrepreneurship training to help residents develop financial security and plan for homeownership.
 
The resident services programming is based on Jamboree's and IHO's belief in creating stronger, healthier communities that provide life- enriching opportunities and resources to enhance the quality of life of their residents as well as people living in the surrounding neighborhoods. Social, health, education and economic services at Rockwood include programs provided by such organizations as OC Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Western Youth Services, YMCA, and Higher Ground mentoring programs. These programs are specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of the residents and an onsite program coordinator will assist residents in accessing local community services.
 
Rockwood is the latest development in Jamboree's commitment to Orange County's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.

Is your CHC membership current? If you would like to join CHC or have questions on your membership, please contact Nancy Martin.  
STAY CONNECTED:
CHC is a non-partisan advocate for the production and preservation of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income Californians. We represent the development, building, financial, and public sectors united in their goal that every Californian has a safe, affordable place to call home.