Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the California Housing and Homelessness Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program, the Housing for a Healthy California Program, and the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program. Existing law also establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program, administered by the department, for the purpose of providing jurisdictions, as defined, with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address homelessness challenges, as specified. This bill would enact the California Housing Justice Act of 2026, which would require the department to create, by August 1, 2030, finance plans to solve homelessness and to solve the housing unaffordability crisis, and related statewide performance metrics. The bill would also require the department to seek public consult in developing those finance plans. This bill would require the agency, on or before October 1, 2030, to report to the Legislature on the finance plans and performance metrics described above, and to publish goals on its internet website and update any progress toward the goals. The bill would also make related findings and declarations. The bill would make its provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified. Existing law, for the purposes of that act, defines the term "public agency" to include various federal, state, local, and tribal entities. Existing law requires approval by the Department of General Services of certain joint powers agreements that include the state as a member, as provided. Existing law authorizes a joint powers authority to issue revenue bonds to pay the costs and expenses of acquiring, constructing, or conducting a program for, among other things, low-income housing projects owned or operated by a city, county, city and county, or housing authority. Existing law provides that the Treasurer and the Secretary of State are designated as elected representatives for federal tax purposes of a joint powers agency created to approve or certify the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by or on behalf of the joint powers agency to the extent approval is required by federal tax law. This bill would provide that the geographic jurisdiction of a joint powers authority is the area encompassed by the combined geographical boundaries of all of its member public agencies. The bill would declare that these provisions are declaratory of existing law. This bill would additionally authorize the Treasurer to execute an agreement including the state as a member of a joint powers authority without obtaining approval from the Department of General Services only for the Treasurer to provide specified approvals for bonds issued by the joint powers authority to finance specified residential rental projects for which a city, county, or city and county that is a member of the joint powers authority has failed to provide specified approval required by federal tax law, as defined and provided. The bill would provide that its provisions do not expand, limit, or otherwise affect the authority of, among others, the state, or any officer or agency of the state, to enter into a joint exercise of powers agreement or cause the state to become a member of a joint powers authority, as specified. Existing law additionally authorizes, subject to specified limitations, any city or county to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing and for the provision of capital improvements in connection with, and determined necessary to, that multifamily rental housing. This bill would specify that, for the purposes of the above-described provisions, "city" or "county" is deemed to include the state when the state is a member of a joint powers authority pursuant to the bill's provisions only to provide the state with the power to issue bonds and provide approval, consent, or other action required to finance specified residential rental projects, as provided. Existing law provides that the State of California will not change the composition of a joint powers authority that has issued bonds, unless the change is authorized by a majority vote of applicable legislative bodies, as provided. Existing law defines "change in composition" to include, among others, the addition of a public agency, as defined, to a joint powers authority. This bill would, notwithstanding the above-described definition, provide that the state becoming a member of an existing joint powers authority shall not, in and of itself, constitute a "change in composition." The bill would make additional nonsubstantive and conforming changes. Existing law, the Subdivision Map Act, provides for the approval of tentative and final parcel maps by various local officials, as specified. The act authorizes an appeal of the local official's decision to the local legislative body, as provided. This bill would create an exception from the above-described authority as it applies to appeals by an interested person for maps that meet specified criteria, as provided. The bill would exempt from these provisions an appeal filed by an applicant, subdivider, tenant, advisory agency, or public agency or official, as specified. This bill would make the provisions of the act severable.
Existing law requires the Strategic Growth Council to develop and administer the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through projects that implement land use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices to support infill and compact development, and that support other related and coordinated public policy objectives. Existing law specifies the types of projects eligible for funding under the program, including, among others, transit capital projects, active transportation capital projects, and transit-oriented development projects, as provided. This bill would expressly include certain transit capital projects and transit-oriented development projects near planned high-speed rail stations that meet specific criteria as eligible for funding under the program.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) by the State Department of Social Services. Under existing law, a licensee of an RCFE that sends a notice of eviction to a resident is required to include in that notice specified information, including the effective date of the eviction and resources available to assist the resident in identifying alternative housing. Under existing law, the RCFE is also required to notify, or mail a copy of the notice to quit to, the resident's responsible person. Existing law requires that a licensee of an RCFE provide a resident with a 30-day notice of eviction, except where the department has approved the RCFE to provide a 3-day notice. Under existing law, a violation of those provisions is generally a misdemeanor. This bill would extend the length of notice that a licensee is required to provide to a resident to 30, 60, or 90 days, depending on the length of the resident's residency in the RCFE, among other factors relating to nonpayment of the rate for basic services within 10 days of the due date. The bill would additionally require a licensee of an RCFE to include in a notice of eviction documentation of the licensee's reasonable efforts to create a safe discharge plan, and would require the plan to include a list of the resident's posteviction needs, goals, and preferences, and a list of discharge locations that meet specified criteria, such as being financially practicable for the resident. The bill would require that a copy of the notice be provided to the local long-term care ombudsman. The bill would prohibit an RCFE from refusing entry to a resident or prohibit a resident from residing in the facility until the notice period has elapsed and the eviction process has concluded. The bill would make refusal of entry in violation of these provisions subject to civil and criminal penalties. Because the bill would create a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the Governor to create the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, renamed the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, to, among other things, identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California and to serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California. Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program, administered by the Interagency Council on Homelessness, with respect to rounds 1 through 5, inclusive, of the program, and Department of Housing and Community Development (department) , with respect to round 6 of the program, for the purpose of providing jurisdictions, as defined, with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation, to distribute certain amounts, as specified, for purposes of round 6 of the program. Existing law requires an applicant to submit an application containing specified information in order to apply for a program allocation. Existing law requires an applicant to use at least 10% of specified funds allocated for services for homeless youth populations. This bill would require a continuum of care, upon appropriation and beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, to annually certify that they create or maintain a youth-specific process with their respective coordinated entry system, as specified, implement a youth-specific assessment tool, create a body or identify an existing body composed of youth with lived experience of homelessness that the continuum of care and other Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program grantees must consult with regularly, and identify an array of youth-specific housing inventory. The bill would require the continuum of care to document in their application how the housing assessment is youth-specific and their prioritization policy if the continuum of care states they already maintain a youth-specific coordinated entry system. The bill would also make findings and declarations related to youth-specific programs and the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law, subject to implementation of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, authorizes a Medi-Cal managed care plan to elect to cover community supports approved by the department as cost effective and medically appropriate in a comprehensive risk contract that are in lieu of applicable Medi-Cal state plan services. Under existing law, community supports that the department is authorized to approve include, among other things, housing transition navigation services, housing deposits, and housing tenancy sustaining services. Existing law, subject to an appropriation, requires the department to complete an independent analysis to determine whether network adequacy exists to obtain federal approval for a covered Medi-Cal benefit that provides housing support services. Existing law requires that the analysis take into consideration specified information, including the number of providers in relation to each region's or county's number of people experiencing homelessness. Existing law requires the department to report the outcomes of the analysis to the Legislature by January 1, 2024. This bill would delete the requirement for the department to complete that analysis, and instead would make housing support services for specified populations a covered Medi-Cal benefit when the Legislature has made an appropriation for purposes of the housing support services. The bill would require the department to seek federal approval for the housing support services benefit, as specified. Under the bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, a Medi-Cal beneficiary would be eligible for those services if they either experience homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. Under the bill, the services would include housing transition navigation services, housing deposits, and housing tenancy sustaining services, as defined. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific this section, in whole or in part, by means of all-county letters, plan letters, provider bulletins, information notices, or similar instruction, and to enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts, or amend existing contracts for its purposes, as specified. The bill would authorize these provisions to be modified by the department to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of federal law or regulations, to obtain federal approval, or to enhance the probability that federal approval can be obtained, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program. This bill would establish the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, to take specified actions to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants to applicants, as defined, for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed. The bill would require the department to establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants, in accordance with certain guidelines and procedures. The bill would require the department to score applicants to the program competitively according to specified criteria. The bill would require recipients of funds from the program to use those funds for, among other things, long-term rental assistance in permanent housing, incentives to landlords, and innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent supportive housing. The bill would require the department to distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities for a term of 5 years, subject to automatic renewal. The bill would require a recipient of the program to submit an annual report to the department. The bill would require the department to hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program and would require the department to submit that analysis to specified committees of the Legislature.
Existing law defines the duties of the Treasurer, which include, but are not limited to, keeping an account of all money received and disbursed. Existing law requires, as soon as April 1, 2022, but no later than specified, the Treasurer, in consultation with the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and other relevant stakeholders, to develop a framework for the California Dream For All Program in accordance with the goals and intent of the program, including, among other things, making home ownership more affordable by reducing the cost of home ownership by up to 45 percent for lower and moderate-income Californians, and submit a report outlining the program framework to the Legislature, as specified. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2027, would require the Treasurer, in consultation with the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and other stakeholders deemed relevant by the Treasurer, to develop the Building Home Ownership for All Program in accordance with the goals of the program, including, among other things, expanding access to home ownership and maximizing wealth-building opportunities by making it affordable for lower and moderate-income Californians to buy a home, as specified, and with the elements of the program, including, among other things, certain eligibility limits for persons obtaining housing under the program and for housing eligible under the program, as specified. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the Legislative Analyst to collaborate with the California Tax Allocation Committee to review the effectiveness of the program. The bill would repeal these provisions on December 31, 2031.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency for purposes of carrying out state housing policies and programs. Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency, as defined, and requires, except as provided, a local agency disposing of surplus land to comply with certain notice requirements before disposing of the land or participating in negotiations to dispose of the land with a prospective transferee, particularly that the local agency send a notice of availability to housing sponsors, as defined, that have notified HCD of their interest in surplus land, as specified. Existing law establishes the Department of General Services (DGS) in the Government Operations Agency for purposes of, among other things, planning, acquiring, constructing, and maintaining state buildings and property. Executive Order No. N-06-19 required DGS to create a digitized inventory of all state-owned parcels that are in excess of foreseeable needs, as provided. Existing law required DGS to develop, in consultation with HCD, no later than September 1, 2023, a set of criteria to consistently evaluate state-owned parcels for suitability as affordable housing sites. Existing law requires DGS to update the digitized inventory of all excess state land suitable for affordable housing after the conclusion of its review based on those criteria. Existing law also requires DGS to annually update the digitized inventory created pursuant to Executive Order No. N-06-19 of all excess state land, as defined, suitable for affordable housing identified by its review. This bill would authorize a local education agency to submit a list of any available local education agency-owned land to HCD for purposes of determining the suitability for development of affordable housing. The bill would require HCD, in consultation with DGS, to conduct a review of the local education agency-owned land and determine the suitability of the land for the development of affordable housing, consistent with the above-described criteria. The bill would require any local education agency-owned land determined to be suitable for the development of affordable housing to be made publicly available through the digitized inventory created pursuant to Executive Order No. N-06-19 and the above-described contact list of housing sponsors that have notified HCD of their interest in surplus land. The bill would require that an affordable housing development constructed on local education agency-owned land determined to be suitable for the development of affordable housing to provide school district employees and local tenants with a right of first refusal to occupy the housing, as specified.
Existing law requires the Governor to create a California Interagency Council on Homelessness for specified purposes, including to create partnerships among various entities, like participants in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program, and to identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. Existing law requires the council to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among domestic violence survivors and their children and among unaccompanied women in California, as specified. The bill would require initial goals to be established by January 1, 2025, and those goals to be evaluated at least every 2 years to determine whether updated goals are needed. This bill would instead require the council to evaluate the above-described goals at least every year.
