Yesterday, Governor Brown released a $180 billion revised budget, maintaining a cautious approach amid economic uncertainty and possible federal actions that could hurt the state's bottom line.
The full budget summary is
available online here:
There is no mention of housing in the May Revise, with the sole exception of the paragraph below, found in the section Risks to the Outlook (page 83), which cites risk factors to the budget:
"Finally, California housing growth continues to lag population growth, raising housing costs and potentially limiting the number of jobs that companies can add. In 2016, the state added 89,000 net housing units, but population increased by 335,000. Housing costs are a major component of consumer spending, and have also been increasing faster than inflation since 2012, a trend that is expected to continue. While the forecast assumes that increasing numbers of permits will be issued by local authorities, if permits remain low, it will reduce the number of available workers in those areas."
In response to the release of the revised budget, CHC Executive Director Ray Pearl released the following statements:
"California has made a bold commitment to protect the health and well-being of our residents from federal action that undermines these priorities, so it is deeply disappointing to see a budget that falls short of upholding these values by ignoring the state's affordable housing crisis.
"One in three Californians can't afford rent. Our state has the worst poverty rate in the nation. California will never change that embarrassing reality without new investments to jumpstart affordable home construction and fixing broken policies that have made the housing crisis worse.
"While we continue to believe that General Fund resources should not be off the table given the magnitude of the crisis, housing advocates have heeded the call from Governor Brown to increase affordable housing construction without affecting the General Fund. A package of bills making its way through the Legislature would make a significant dent in the housing shortfall, and must be acted on immediately. That includes AB 71 (Chiu) and SB 2 (Atkins) that will allow California to invest in proven affordable home programs, boost the economy, and create jobs - all without General Fund commitment.
"Still, families with children, students, veterans, people with disabilities and seniors who are spending more than half their incomes on rent need the Governor and legislative leaders to utilize every tool at their disposal to alleviate California's poverty-inducing affordability crisis. It will take legislative and budget action to accomplish that challenge, and it's incumbent upon our leaders to uphold their commitment to inclusion, health, economic opportunity through investments in affordable homes."
CHC also joined other state housing organizations this week in authoring a letter to leadership that outlines a package of bills that meet our policy framework
, as well as Governor's principles that he outlined in his January budget proposal. Read our letter here.
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