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California has a housing problem. There are just not enough affordable homes for low income families. That’s why the California State Senate just passed major legislation that will add billions of dollars to fund more low income housing projects.
More money to build more affordable housing: Sure, California has tons of luxury homes, but as prices skyrocket, what is critically absent is affordable housing. Many are counting on the new legislation to help provide it.
Senate Bills 2, 3 and 35 will collectively raise billions of dollars to build affordable housing. Bill 2 will raise $250 million a year to help finance low-income developments by simply adding a $75 fee on mortgage refinances and other real estate transactions.
Bill 3 will add to the November 2018 ballot a proposal to pass a $4-billion bond with $3 billion to subsidize the construction of low-income housing. The remaining $1 billion will be used for home loans for veterans. SB 35 is designed to spur the construction of affordable housing by relaxing local regulations for home building.
Will this really solve the housing problem?: Not everyone was happy about the legislation. Some even calling it “an ill-founded concept that government provides all the answers and is the best arbiter of providing low-income housing.” But other say if the government doesn’t help, who will?
According to a recent article in Los Angeles Times, “more than 400,000 households in the city of Los Angeles, and a total of 900,000 in L.A. County, have what the U.S. Census Bureau calls precarious housing situations.” LA also has 58,000 homeless people.
Even though some oppose the legislation, it is welcomed by the State Senate, California Governor Jerry Brown, and millions of other low-income residents of California who desperately need affordable housing.
