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By Eric He | POLITICO California
Gov.Gavin Newsom’s legislative push to require California cities to plan more housing for people experiencing homelessness is moving quickly in Sacramento — but it still faces opposition from cities and counties, along with questions about funding.
The proposal — authored by Assembly Housing Chair Chris Ward (D-San Diego) — would add two lower-income categories to the Regional Housing Needs Allocation, the set of housing goals the state has established for cities and counties to promote housing affordability at various income levels. However, the measure has faced pushback from the League of California Cities, which argues that the state has not set aside enough funding to implement the proposal.
Ward agreed with the cities’ concern, but called it a “separate and related question” because the bill only calls for planning. He also acknowledged that the existing RHNA targets for low-income housing have already been difficult for localities to meet, and that there aren’t enough resources to go around.
“It is a work in progress, and we've got to do more,” Ward told POLITICO. “So I don't disagree with that. These are sort of two parallel thoughts here: One is the planning side, one is actual development and the implementation side — and I want to work on both questions.”
Many factors have contributed to California’s housing crisis, and one lawmaker is pinning some of the blame on investors.
Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose) introduced legislation, AB2584, that would limit the number of homes that corporations can buy and turn into rentals. The Silicon Valley lawmaker said that while investors aren’t yet buying up a large share of homes, he cites a report estimating that they will own more than 40 percent of single-family home rentals by 2030.
Lee said that corporations buying up homes exacerbates the state’s housing shortage while also pricing out first-time homebuyers who can’t compete with investors; however, the industry contends that it makes up a “fractional” share of homebuyers and has no impact on the housing market.
“It’s a matter of shortage,” Lee told POLITICO. “When people say that this is a nothing bill, this is about making sure a problem doesn’t get out of hand.”
