October 6, 2022

Greetings CAL-ALHFA members, supporters, colleagues and friends: 
The Governor has spoken, and signed, and vetoed the 2022 Legislative Agenda. Here’s how our priority affordable housing bills fared.

Taking center stage at the signing ceremony held on September 29, 2022 was Buffy Wick’s landmark bill AB 2011. Following is a summary of what the bill will do when it goes into effect on July 1, 2023.

Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2011 (Wicks), a powerful bill built around a simple idea: it pairs new opportunities to build affordable housing on underutilized commercial sites with unprecedented labor standards that ensure all construction workers earn prevailing wages and receive health benefits.
AB 2011 allows housing to be built in commercial areas currently zoned for office, retail Housing production legislation has stalled at the state level for the past several years, as lawmakers have been working to broker a plan that satisfies the mutually important goals to create significantly more affordable housing effectively and efficiently while also strengthening worker rights and wages. AB 2011 opens up tens of thousands of acres of land for production while making sure that developers meet a range of responsible wage and training standards.
 
 
The Details:
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AB 2011 AB 2011 allows housing to be built in commercial areas currently zoned for office, retail, and parking uses: 100% affordable housing will be allowed anywhere in these areas that are not adjacent to industrial land. It will be affordable for 55 years. Mixed-income housing (at least 15% affordable or including at least 13% deeply affordable units) will be focused along commercial corridors that are wide enough to accommodate density and new transit. For sale projects could, alternatively, provide 30% of their units for moderate-income households. To access the streamlining provisions of AB 2011, the bill requires developers to meet a range of responsible wage and training standards: A prevailing wage is required on all projects. For projects of 50 or more units, health benefits for workers are required. All contractors must either participate in a state-approved apprenticeship program or request the dispatch of apprentices from a program. If no apprentice workers are available, the project can still move forward. The bill also includes new enforcement mechanisms to ensure these payroll and benefits requirements are being met. AB 2011 becomes operative on July 1, 2023 and has a 10-year sunset date.100
OTHER SIGNIFICANT LEGISLATION SENT TO GOVERNOR

2022 is a year that will long be remembered in the affordable housing community. While there were a few disappointments, the major bills supported by the advocacy community did well. Following is an update on the bills first reported in our September 7, 2022 update.
Housing Production
AB 1206 (Bennett) increases the feasibility of community land trusts by extending the welfare tax exemption to developments when a renter’s income goes up to 140% of Area Median Income (AMI) as long as the owner is a community land trust and the unit continues to be restricted. Signed 9/28/22

AB 1288 (Quirk-Silva) increases the effectiveness of the state low-income housing tax credits. VETOED.

AB 2006 (Berman) Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by July 1, 2024 to streamline the compliance monitoring of affordable housing developments that are subject to a regulatory agreement with more than one of these entities.
Signed 9/28/22
 
AB 2097 (Friedman) prohibits local jurisdictions from imposing parking minimums on housing and commercial developments that are located within a half mile walking distance of public transit. Signed 9/28/22

AB 2221 (Quirk-Silva) accelerates building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs, aka granny flats or casitas) by clarifying ambiguities in existing law and removing arbitrary barriers that some cities have imposed on ADU development. Signed 9/28/22

AB 2234 (R. Rivas) will establish a transparent process for obtaining post-entitlement permits in a timely manner. Signed 9/28/22

AB 2334 (Wicks) expands the application of the state’s affordable housing density bonus law to allow unlimited density bonus for affordable housing in low vehicle miles traveled (VMT) areas. Signed 9/28/22

AB 2668 (Grayson) is clean-up legislation to SB 35 (Wiener, 2017), the landmark housing approvals streamlining law. Helps create more housing by clarifying how SB 35 applies to existing rules around conditional use permits, the calculation of inclusionary housing percentages as they relate to density bonus units, sites that once had underground storage tanks and project modifications as they relate to objective planning standards. 
Signed 9/28/22

SB 649 (Cortese) allows local governments and developers to create a local tenant preference in an affordable housing rental development funded with State or local funds or tax programs to prevent displacement. Signed 9/28/22
 
SB 948 (Becker)  reduces the cost of affordable housing through the creation of a pooled transition reserve. Signed 9/28/22
Student and Faculty Housing Programs
AB 886 (Wiener) known as the Student and Faculty Housing Act streamlines and accelerates the development of student and faculty housing across the State by exempting the housing from CEQA. Signed 9/28/22

AB 1719 (Ward) enacts the Community College Faculty and Employee Housing Act of 2022 to allow community college districts to restrict occupancy to their faculty and staff and still qualify for both Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program and other State and local funds. Signed 9/28/22
New Housing Finance Agencies
SB 679 (Kamlager) creates the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA), a new, independent agency in Los Angeles county with the authority to raise funds for the production of new housing and the provision of renter protections.

SB 1177 (Portantino) creates a regional housing trust fund between the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena by enabling them to enter into a Joint Powers Agreement to fund housing for lower- and moderate-income households and assist people facing homelessness. (Signed by the Governor on August 22nd)

SB 1444 (Allen) enables the County of Los Angeles and cities within the jurisdiction of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to form a South Bay Regional Housing Trust and enter into a joint powers agreement to fund housing for extremely low, very low, and low-income households and assist people facing homelessness. 
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023
Following are bills that we expect will be introduced in 2023:

AB 1850 (Ward) establishes minimum standards for Joint Power Authorities middle income housing acquisitions.

AB 1911 (Gabriel) creates the Low Income Housing Preservation Tax Credit Program to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). 
 
AB 2186 (Grayson) requires local impact fee deferral for agencies not in compliance with Housing Elements.
 
AB 2357 (Ting) Surplus lands update bill. 
Mary Ellen Shay,
Executive Director
California Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (CAL-ALHFA)
CAL-ALHFA was established in 1989 to represent local housing professionals and agencies in the California State legislature and State housing programs. We also work on housing issues at the federal level. CAL-ALHFA is a non-profit organization with a broad based membership including public and private agencies which develop, finance, and administer programs to create affordable housing in California.