The United Voice for Affordable Housing

INDUSTRY INSIGHT JANUARY 2023

Note from the Executive Director

"When the state faces an economic downturn, struggling Californians need affordable housing more than ever"

Welcome back! It’s a new year, with a new Legislature, a new budget picture coming into focus in the next week, and a new set of opportunities for us to work together to build more of the affordable housing Californians need.

With your help, 2022 was one of the most successful years CHC has ever had. As we celebrated our 25^th anniversary, we were able to secure major investments in affordable housing, while helping build a powerful, growing coalition of housing advocates from across the political spectrum—all of whom pushed hard to support smart policy changes that will get more affordable housing built.

We recognize, of course, that was then, and this is now. The state’s fiscal outlook is dimmer than it’s been in years, and California’s affordable housing and homeless crises are only becoming more urgent. The next few months will tell us a lot about what’s possible next on these critical issues.

One thing we know for sure: When the state faces an economic downturn, struggling Californians need affordable housing more than ever, and CHC members, because of the counter-cyclical nature of our industry, are uniquely suited to keep building, even when other parts of the economy slow down.

This is the message we’re taking into the Capitol in the new year. We’re confident CHC and our members have built the foundation we need to be heard.

And with your assistance, we’re ready to roll up our sleeves, pick up where we left off last year, and get back to work.

Sincerely,

Ray Pearl, Executive Director

2022: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

The California Housing Consortium was proud to celebrate our 25th anniversary last year, and we sincerely thank our members for their involvement and ongoing contributions! Without you all CHC would not be able to do the work we do. As we kick off another busy year, here are a few highlights from 2022:

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks demonstrated outstanding leadership, authoring the CHC-sponsored AB 2011, and leading several rallies in support of the bill with our co-sponsors, the California Conference of Carpenters. Wicks also helped bring new pro-housing advocates to our coalition, including SEIU California and the California School Employees Association.

AB 2011 was endorsed by three major papers - the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, and Los Angeles Times.

Several papers published op-eds and opinion pieces promoting the bill, including the New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Daily News, and CalMatters.

On September 8th, CHC held its annual Policy Forum and Housing Hall of Fame Awards in Los Angeles. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon spoke and shared his commitment to accelerating and expanding affordable housing. Speaker Rendon was also presented with a Housing Hall of Fame Award for his contributions to affordable housing policy.

During our 2022 California Housing Hall of Fame Awards, we honored the lifetime achievements of three distinguished industry leaders: Robin Hughes, Mary Kaiser and Carol Galante.

In late September, CHC participated in Governor Newsom's press conference to announce the signing of this year’s housing package, including AB 2011. All three of CHC’s sponsored bills—AB 2011 (Wicks), AB 2334 (Wicks), and AB 2006 (Berman)—were signed into law.

In October, the Housing Action Coalition held its 20th Annual Housing Heroes Awards and celebrated the AB 2011 Coalition as one of the Housing Heroes. The award was accepted by CHC VP of Government Affairs, Marina Wiant, who shared lessons learned about about forming and leading a group that broke through the years-long political gridlock on affordable housing policy.

CHC continued to advocate for a reduction of the “50% test” bond financing threshold, which would allow more projects to access tax credits and move into construction and an extension of the 12.5% LIHTC allocation increased that expired in 2021. Negotiations on tax provisions stalled over a disagreement on non-housing-related issues, but there may still be opportunities to include LIHTC provisions in a tax package with the new Congress this year.

LEGISLATION ROUNDUP

AB 2234 (R. Rivas) will establish a transparent process for obtaining post-entitlement permits in a timely manner - SIGNED
SB 649 (Cortese) will support greater access to affordable housing for people facing displacement - SIGNED
SB 948 (Becker) will reduce the cost of affordable housing through the creation of a pooled transition reserves - SIGNED

NEW YEAR, NEW FACES

Each new year marks the new age of boardmembers as we say hello and goodbye to a variety of dedicated members of our industry. We can't say thank you enough to our outgoing Membership Chair, Mary Kaiser. We appreciate her years of commitment and involvement while serving on our Board!

And welcome to our two new board members!