PERFECT STORM HITS CALIFORNIA HOUSING MARKET

San Francisco — California State Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), along with principal co-author Assemblymember Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) today introduced legislation to create the Housing Opportunity and Market Stabilization (HOMeS) Act with the goal of creating a permanent funding source for affordable places to live in California. 


"California needs a healthy housing market that provides an adequate supply of affordable homes for all Californians," said DeSaulnier. "By identifying a permanent funding source for this vital public service, this bill will ultimately remove affordable housing from protracted and contentious budget debates in Sacramento. With ongoing and permanent funding, affordable housing will become a reality instead of a goal for Californians in need."


The HOMeS Act will support the development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable homes for Californians on fixed incomes and modest budgets, including emergency shelters, transitional and permanent rental housing, foreclosure mitigation, and homeownership opportunities. Funded through a $75 document recording fee on real-estate transactions, the bill would generate an average of $700 million per year for housing affordable to hardworking families, put construction workers back on the job, and boost California's economy by creating millions of dollars in new economic activity.


"The Bay Area has an especially critical need for affordable housing. However, over the past five years, funding at every level -- federal, state and local -- used to jumpstart construction of affordable places to live has dwindled or vanished all together, just as demand for affordable rental housing is rising, creating the perfect storm," said Peggy Lee, Acting Executive Director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. 


"The HOMeS Act (SB 1220) takes a significant step towards ending homelessness and helping hundreds of thousands of Californians find safe and affordable homes," said Shamus Roller, Executive Director of Housing California, a bill sponsor. "Hardworking families should be able to afford housing and still have money for groceries and other necessities."


“In this difficult state fiscal environment, we thank Senator DeSaulnier for introducing this important bill that begins to address the perfect storm impacting funding for affordable housing in California,” said Ray Pearl, Executive Director of the California Housing Consortium. “This bill goes a long way towards reestablishing an important public-private partnership.”