Photo: California State Assembly in Session. (Max Whittaker/KQED)

With only weeks left to finalize this year’s budget and put funding measures on the November ballot, some of the state’s most successful housing programs are facing steep cuts. State leaders have not yet identified a stable source of funding to keep building the affordable homes Californians need. Legislators need to act quickly, before the end of June, to maintain progress on affordable housing. Your quick letter supports supporting three critical funding proposals:

• Maintain tax credits for affordable housing and restore funding for flagship housing and homelessness programs, as proposed in the Joint Legislative Budget Plan. This would restore California’s successful $500 million housing tax credit, a financing tool that has helped build more than 500,000 affordable homes over the last four decades. It would also restore funding for the Multifamily Housing Program and Homeless Housing, Assistance, & Prevention Program. If these funds aren’t restored, annual construction of new affordable homes is expected to drop by one-third, stalling the development of an estimated 6,400 affordable homes.
• Place a statewide affordable housing bond on the November ballot (this is in addition to regional efforts toward a $20 billion affordable housing bond for the 9-county Bay Area). AB 1657 (Wicks) would help fund the construction of more than 35,000 homes affordable to low-income families, preserve more than 93,000 existing affordable homes, and create homeownership opportunities for 13,000 families. 
• Approve an updated constitutional amendment setting vote thresholds for local housing and infrastructure bonds at 55 percent, the same level currently required for school funding measures. Today, just 34 percent of voters can stop an affordable housing bond from passing. This amendment will give communities greater ability to move forward with the affordable housing they need while still requiring strong voter support.

Click here to send a message to Governor Newsom and your state legislators– and ask your family, friends, and colleagues to do the same!