GDAmerican Governments As a state, California is a large contributor to the American economy. Central California provides agriculture while Silicon Valley dominates the technology industry. The state generates wealth through various other means, too, but the cost of living places its residents at risk for homelessness. Continuums of Care reported an estimated 129,972 California residents were homeless as of January 2018 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To serve as a point of reference for comparison, 91,897 New York residents experienced homelessness during this same period. This report revealed the impacted groups as, “Of that Total, 6,702 were family households, 10,836 were Veterans, 12,396 were unaccompanied young adults (aged 18-24), and 34,332 were individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.” Historically, minimum wage was meant to comply with the cost of living but the working class cannot compete with competitive buyers brought in by growing industries.
Measures that can be taken to prevent homelessness is to create affordable housing and prioritize living wages state-wide. Although this post addresses California specifically, affordable housing is a nationwide concern being tackled in Washington, D.C. Congress has been in the process of reintroducing the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act and on February 13th, 2019, the House Financial Services Committee assembled a hearing for the committee to focus on ending homelessness. Many agreed that addressing housing affordability would serve as a “prevention tool” for the crisis—confirming the chain reaction of increased costs of living leading to homelessness with wages remaining idle. Both Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Suzan DelBene demonstrated support for the Housing Credit in connection to affordable rental housing. Housing is a basic human right that puts Americans at risk for homelessness without the support of the institutions meant to support and advocate for them. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act places responsibility at a federal level for states to upkeep with the Federal Housing Administration, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, and Housing Trust Funds established by cities, counties, and state governments that receive public funding for the preservation of affordable housing. California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, promised California he would prioritize the housing crisis by building “3.5 million units over the next seven years (an unprecedented rate), jacking up state subsidies for housing reserved for lower-income Californians, and easing regulations so it would be easier to build all types of new housing” (CALmatters). After his election, Californians awaited the reveal of his governor’s budget where the details of his housing proposals would be shared. It showed great priority for housing and homelessness with the budget breakdown, provided by CALmatters, as follows:
Governor Gavin Newsom’s solution removes a common obstacle for housing plans by adjusting the policy so that homeless shelters have the ability to avoid prolonged environmental reviews. He’s created 500 million dollar award incentives for regions meeting new, short-term housing goals. To punish cities not following longer-term housing goals, Newsom also proposed reducing their transportation funding. State-wide, cities have expressed dissatisfaction with Newsom’s goals and incentives by claiming developments out of their control. Many also criticize Newsom’s original proposal of 3.5 million new homes for the state as unrealistic. This also raises questions of a living wage to pair with developments, and rent-control to protect tenants. Gavin Newsom has expressed that he is not currently committing to any propositions, in particular, so California Residents are still awaiting actions towards securing rent-control. Voters last fall rejected Proposition 10, which would have allowed cities to greatly expand rent control by repealing the state’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. The state’s rental housing law prevents cities from putting a cap on rents for apartments built since 1995. It exempts condos and single-family homes from any rent control. The most recent proposition addressing the issue had the majority of voters opposing it, according to CALmatters: “Voters last fall rejected Proposition 10, which would have allowed cities to greatly expand rent control by repealing the state’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. The state’s rental housing law prevents cities from putting a cap on rents for apartments built since 1995. It exempts condos and single-family homes from any rent control. Apartment associations and real estate groups contributed tens of millions of dollars to defeat the initiative last year, saying it would stymie new construction and make the state’s affordable housing crisis worse. Newsom did not support Prop 10, but said in his State of the State address in January that he wants to find a compromise to stabilize rents without putting small landlords out of business.” This same report from Tuesday, March 26th, 2019, provides a statement from developers on the funding issue left at bay: “Also at Tuesday’s event, Tyrone Roderick Williams, director of development for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, said he’s confident that Newsom will help boost affordable housing in the Capital and beyond. `As an agency, we are well-equipped to take on the challenge," Williams said. As developers in the city, they're well-equipped to build housing. Our most challenging effort is funding.'"
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AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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