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When Governor Newsom signed AB 2011 last week after years of efforts by advocates to accelerate production of the affordable homes Californians need, a lot of words went through my head.
Monumental. Unprecedented. Paradigm-shifting.
CHC has had a handful of moments in our recent history when all of our hard work produced a singular moment of success: When SB 2 took its place as the center of the 2017 housing package—creating the state’s first permanent, ongoing source of funding for affordable housing. When voters the next year overwhelmingly passed Propositions 1 and 2, directing billions of dollars to affordable development.
In 2022, AB 2011 has definitely earned its place on that list.
We started this journey several years ago as a small group of advocates almost entirely within the affordable housing community—surrounded by potential allies, but stymied by political obstacles. We ended it last week on a stage with the Governor, legislators, and a coalition of supporters ranging the political spectrum—from labor groups like the California Conference of Carpenters, SEIU, and the California School Employees Association to environmental groups like the Greenbelt Alliance and NRDC, homeownership advocates like the California Community Builders, equity groups like AARP, the United Ways of California, and the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and pro-housing YIMBYs from all over the state.
What finally brought us together was a shared recognition that millions of lower-income Californians desperately need access to housing—and a shared sense that after years of stalemate if we want to actually solve this problem, it’s now or never. (That, of course, and our incomparable leader, Asm. Buffy Wicks!)
Our work this year transformed what’s possible in housing policy—opening new sites to affordable development and establishing a new precedent for supporting workers on our projects. It also forced everyone to reconsider what’s possible in Sacramento. As Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said after the bill was signed: “This is proof—we CAN make real progress on improving California’s housing despite the challenges. AB 2011 shows what can be accomplished when disparate advocates come together.”
CHC has taken this lesson to heart, and we’re already working with members of the AB 2011 coalition to find new ways to join forces in the future to support affordable housing—starting in January, with next year’s budget.
A win is a win, and this was a big one, but we also know all of the hard work that’s still to come.
“Let’s build housing,” as Governor Newsom said last week. Well, together with a new, growing coalition of pro-housing groups, CHC and our members are ready to do just that.
Thank you again for all your efforts and your support.
Ray Pearl, Executive Director
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