Policy

 California and Orange County face a deepening housing affordability crisis. A primary reasoning for this is the lack of new affordable housing being built. As such, The Kennedy Commission’s policy priorities are securing funding for affordable housing, lowering the cost to build, streamlining approval timelines, and other items that support the development of affordable housing for low-income working families.

Support Bills

 
 

AB 736 - Affordable Housing Bond Act 

Asm. Wicks 

The Affordable Housing Bond Act places a $10 billion housing bond on the November 2026 ballot.

AB 801 - California Community Reinvestment Act 

Asm. Bonta 

The California Community Reinvestment Act seeks to oblige the state’s financial institutions to narrow the racial wealth gap, address statewide funding gaps, and expand access to affordable housing through accountability measures.

SB 92 - Housing Development: density bonuses 

Sen. Blakespear 

SB 92 does not require a city or county to grant a density bonus concession or incentive for any transient lodging portion of a housing development, including a hotel, motel, bread and breakfast, or other short-term stay lodging.

AB 1244: VMT Mitigation Fund for Affordable Housing

Asm. Wicks 

This bill would allow a project to satisfy the vehicle miles traveled metrics included in CEQA by contributing an amount of money towards an affordable transit-oriented development fund.

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The Affordable Housing Bond Act places a $10 billion housing bond on the November 2026 ballot.
The bond, if passed by voters, would allocate the money to the following programs:

• 5 billion for the Multifamily Housing Program, with at least 10% of assisted units for extremely low income households
• $1.7 billion for supportive housing
• $1 billion for home ownership opportunities through CalHome and the established Home Assistance Program
• $800 million for the Portfolio Reinvestment Program
• $500 million to the Department of Housing and Community Development for acquisition rehab of unrestricted housing units and attaching long-term affordability restrictions on the units
• $400 million for the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program
• $350 million for the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program
• $250 million tribal housing

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The California Community Reinvestment Act seeks to oblige the state’s financial institutions to narrow the racial wealth gap, address statewide funding gaps, and expand access to affordable housing through accountability measures.

Through this, the bill obliges financial institutions to meet the financial services of low- and moderate-income communities and communities of color by meeting deposit-based, lending-based, and activities-based needs.

On affordable housing, financial institutions will be assessed on mortgage loans, efforts to assist existing low-income and moderate-income residents to be able remain in affordable housing, and home ownership. Additionally, there is assurance that institutions make investments or grants in programs designed to meet the needs of said communities, including in investing in nonprofits that develop affordable housing.

If passed, California will join New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois as the only states to have built upon the federal Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to address how the changing mortgage landscape needs to accommodate disenfranchised communities.

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Currently, the Density Bonus Law requires a city or county to provide a developer a concession or incentive if the developer agrees to construct a percentage of the housing units as affordable. However, this has largely been taken advantage of to produce a small number of affordable units while developing a large amount of short-term stay rooms, such as a hotel.

SB 92 would authorize a city or county to not grant a density bonus concession or incentive for any transient lodging portion of a housing development. Additionally, it would authorize a city or county to not provide a concession or incentive that allows for an increase in floor area to the nonresidential portion of a housing development.

In either case, a city or county can still grant those concessions if they choose to do so, SB 92 would just get rid of the requirement that they have to.



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The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires developers to take action to mitigate the environmental impact of additional vehicle miles traveled that the project generates. This bill would allow a project to satisfy the vehicle miles traveled metrics included in CEQA by contributing an amount of money towards an affordable transit-oriented development fund. The amount of money would be calculated on a price per vehicle mile traveled basis, which will be updated at least once every three years.

The money that is contributed to the funds will prioritized in the following order:

• First priority to developments within the same city as the project or for projects in unincorporated areas to developments in the same county
• Second priority to developments in the same county

For each award through the fund, it will use the same method that is employed by the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program.

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AB 480 - Maximizing Low-Income Housing Tax Credits 

Asm. Quirk-Silva

AB 480 would allow housing developers to switch tax credit awards from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, or other tax credits, from allocated awards to certificated awards. 

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Currently, tax credits awarded from the State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit can either be allocated or certificated state credits. Housing developers sell these tax credits to corporate investors who have large state tax liabilities.

Allocated tax credits reduce state tax liability, which can increase an investor’s federal tax burden as state taxes are deductible from federal taxes. On the other hand, certificated tax credits directly pay state taxes, like a gift card, and do not impact federal tax liability. As a result, investors typically pay more for certificated credits. Additionally, private investors do not need ownership with the development to receive certificated tax credits.

AB 480 would allow housing developers to switch from allocated awards to certificated awards after receiving it, allowing developers to choose at their discretion and more private money to be invested in affordable housing developments.

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SB 21 - Protecting People, Saving Single Room Homes Act 

Sen. Maria Elena Durazo

The Saving Single Room Homes Act would allow up to a 25% reduction in units when rehabilitating single-room occupancy units so long as the rental units have affordable rents and the reduction is necessary to accommodate improvements in size, accessibility, and amenities.

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Currently, if an owner wants to rehabilitate a single-room occupancy building, they must replace the number of units they are demolishing with the same amount. Many of these buildings are older and lack the accommodations and features that recent developments have. Thus, many are in need of rehabilitation.

The Saving Single Room Homes Act would allow up to a 25% reduction in units when rehabilitating single-room occupancy units so long as the rental units have affordable rents and the reduction is necessary to accommodate improvements in size, accessibility, and amenities.

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AB 893 - Housing development Projects on Campus Development Zone

Asm. Mike Fong

AB 893 would expand a streamlined, ministerial review process for mixed-income housing developments located on “campus development zones.

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California has one of the largest housing shortages in the world, and needs to plan for and build over 2.5 million homes across all income levels in the next decade to meet demands. One of the biggest sufferers of this has been college students. According to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, 24% of community college, 11% of Cal State, and 8% of UC students experience homelessness in a given year.

While major federal programs such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Section 8 respectively help build affordable housing and provide rental assistance, both of these generally do not impact students. In fact, Section 8 housing assistance is not allowed by full-time college students under the age of 24.

AB 893 allows for fast-tracking the review process for mixed-income housing in a campus development zone, defined as within a half-mile of the campus of a UC, CSU, and California Community College. The bill requires that a project have either: 13% of units be affordable for tenants making 50% AMI, or 15% of units be affordable for tenants making 80% AMI. It will also expand eligibility for affordable units for recipients of Cal Grant, Promise Grant, and the Pell Grant.

Thus, AB 893 expands housing opportunities for low-income students by fast-tracking the review process for student housing. This will allow housing to be built faster, and less California students falling into homelessness.

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AB 1339 - Housing Insurance Study 

Asm. Mark Gonzalez

AB 1339 requires the Department of Insurance to conduct a study of the property, liability, and builders’ risk insurance coverages available to affordable housing entities that receive funding from the Department of Housing and Community Development.

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Affordable housing entities have limited options to manage increased insurance costs due to their obligation of keeping rents affordable, which makes them vulnerable to price increases from insurance companies.

As such, AB 1330 requires the Department of Insurance to conduct a study of the property, liability, and builders’ risk insurance coverages available to affordable housing entities that receive funding from the Department of Housing and Community Development.

This includes:
• Collecting information necessary to conduct the study from relevant insurers with the affordable housing entities
• Identifying barriers to keeping the affordable housing entities appropriately insured
• Analyzing and requesting relevant information to analyze availability of property, liability, and builders’ risk insurance coverage
• Analyzing trends impacting market availability of property, liability, and builders’ risk insurance coverage

Following the study, the Department of Insurance will submit a report on the findings, along with recommendations to the Senate Committee on Insurance and the Assembly Committee on Insurance.

Click here for the Fact Sheet