Industry Insight - August 2019
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Note from the Executive Director
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It’s a quiet time in Sacramento, with the Legislature out on recess, but that will change quickly when members return on August 12 for the last five weeks of the session.
We’ve been spending the month preparing for the final legislative stretch, when we hope to see all five of CHC’s sponsored bills move through the Senate and earn the governor’s signature—including
AB 10
(Chiu, Bonta, Maienschein, Reyes, Wicks),
AB 1483
(Grayson),
AB 1484
(Grayson),
AB 1743
(Bloom), and
AB 1763
(Chiu).
Thanks to the authors’ strong leadership, our CHC-sponsored affordable housing package made it off the Assembly floor in May
without a single no vote
. All five bills advanced through Senate policy committees this summer—with only one no vote. And now CHC and our partners are urging the full Senate to advance this legislation—making permanent the expansion of the low-income housing tax credit in this year’s budget, reducing barriers to building 100% affordable developments, and helping affordable developers build more cost effectively. More information about all five bills can be found on CHC’s
Legislative Priorities page
.
The summer recess has also given us an opportunity to work with CHC members on another important policy development: new updates to TCAC regulations being considered by the Treasurer’s Office, including changes to the state tax credit program. Treasurer Ma spoke eloquently at our CHC Policy Forum this spring about her commitment to affordable housing—and urged us all to
“come out of our corners”
to get more affordable housing built. Since then the Treasurer’s Office has kicked off a statewide listening tour, where Treasurer Ma and her staff have
presented on California’s successful tax credit programs
and heard ideas for improving the existing tiebreaker system.
We had opportunity to sit down with Treasurer Ma in late July, together with partners including NPH, SCANPH, the San Diego Housing Federation, and CCRH. Two of our major take-aways:
- The Treasurer recognizes how vital the tax credit program is for affordable housing development, but she is also unsatisfied with the status quo, as rising development costs limit the program’s impact. She is committed to making tax credits work better—and go further—to increase production, and she believes CHC will have an important role to play.
- The Treasurer’s Office plans to implement some changes to the program as soon as January of 2020—but more comprehensive changes are likely to be implemented in January 2021.
CHC has been digging into this issue for more than a year through our TCAC/CDLAC working group, chaired by LINC Housing’s Becky Clark and Meta Housing’s Kasey Burke, and we will stay engaged with the Treasurer’s office in the months ahead. Please stay tuned for more updates and recommendations as these conversations continue.
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Sincerely,
Ray Pearl
Executive Director
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Federal Update from David Gasson, Boston Capital
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It is getting down to crunch time in DC. The House and Senate are about to go out on their annual August recess (assuming they do recess) and the clock is ticking on the debt ceiling, FY 2020 budget and accompanying budget caps which will kick in on October 1st if they are not addressed. Speaker Pelosi is in negotiations with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and indications are it is going well but why do I have this nagging fear something will set the President off and he will blow up any deal reached on the Hill? History perhaps?
Nonetheless, we are preparing for serious deal making which might include some or all of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act. It may be an outside shot but we have pulled off crazier stuff. What is critical on our part is demonstrating bipartisan support for the AHCIA. Thus far nine members of the CA delegation have signed onto H.R. 3077 (1 R & 8 D’s) Reps. Paul Cook R-8, Jimmy Panetta D-20, Katie Hill D-25, Judy Chu D-27, Jimmy Gomez D-34, Alan Lowenthal D-47, Harley Rouda D-48, Mike Levin D-49 & Scott Peters D-52. This is good but we need a much stronger showing from this delegation and absolutely need to work on the Republican members to get those numbers up. Thus far the bill has 54 cosponsors, 32 Democrats and 22 Republicans. With the August recess approaching now is the time to get delegation members and their staffs to properties throughout California and impress upon them the importance of securing more affordable housing resources. This will aid us significantly in our efforts to be included in the deal-making in DC.
Thank you for all you do and have a wonderful summer.
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Affordable Housing in the News
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A Quinnipiac University poll in July found
Californians are starting to get it
: With housing costs rising and wages failing to keep pact, only half of all respondents believe they can afford to live in the state—a number that falls to 40% for people between ages 18 and 34. The poll also found three in four Californians support one important next step: building more affordable housing for low-income households.
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A huge
Thank You
to our recently renewing Gold, Silver and CHC Patron underwriters - your continued annual support truly makes an impact on our efforts for California's communities.
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In Memory of CHC Member John McAlister
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Please see the message below from Aaron Wooler, Managing Director of Hunt Real Estate Capital:
It is with a heavy heart that I must let you know that John McAlister passed away the morning of July 29. John was surrounded by his wife Karen and their children Lauren, Kelsey and Rob. As many of you know John has battled several serious illnesses over many years and never once did I hear him complain. His optimism and fight to beat these illnesses were amazing and inspiring. He has been a friend, mentor and colleague to so many and we are all better for having him in our lives.
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California Housing Consortium
30141 Agoura Road, Suite 106
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
818-735-9551 phone
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Sacramento Office
1107 9th Street, Suite 710
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-272-2325 phone
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