California inched closer to a getting a new funding source for affordable housing after a key bill passed two Assembly committees.
The California Homes and Jobs Act (SB 391) passed the Assembly Housing and Community Development and the Assembly Labor and Employment committees last week.
The bill moves to the Appropriations Committee.
Authored by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), the bill passed the Senate in May.
Affordable housing advocates say SB 391 will help produce more than 10,000 homes and 29,000 jobs every year.
The bill seeks to create an ongoing source of funds for affordable housing by setting a $75 recording fee on real estate-related documents, excluding all home and commercial property sales. The bill would generate an estimated $500 million in state investment and leverage $2.78 billion in federal and local funding and bank loans.
The money would help make up a large gap left by the elimination of the state’s 400 local redevelopment agencies (RDAs). The demise of the RDAs, a move to balance the state budget, wiped out California’s largest single source of funding for affordable homes. The agencies used to generate about $1 billion per year for affordable housing.
