Housing: the California Housing Security Act.

(1) Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program and the homeless youth emergency service pilot projects to provide assistance to homeless persons. This bill would, upon appropriation of the Legislature, establish the California Housing Security Program to provide counties with funding to administer a housing subsidy to eligible persons, as specified, to reduce housing insecurity and help Californians meet their basic housing needs. To create the program, the bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development, by January 1, 2026, to establish a 2-year pilot program, as specified, and to issue suggested guidelines to establish the program that include, among other things, criteria for program eligibility. The bill would specify that the subsidy would not be considered income for purposes of determining eligibility or benefits for any other public assistance program, nor would participation in other benefits exclude a person from eligibility for the subsidy. Under the bill, an undocumented person, as specified, who otherwise qualifies for the subsidy would be eligible for the subsidy. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2026, to also provide each county selected to participate in the pilot program with a specified amount of funding for purposes of administering the housing subsidies. The bill would require, by July 1, 2026, a county participating in the pilot program, in consultation with specified entities, to perform prescribed duties, including reviewing the department's suggested guidelines and developing final guidelines to administer the housing subsidies based on the needs of the county. The bill would require participating counties, by January 1, 2027, to administer housing subsidies through the county and 2 or more grantees that are selected by the county to eligible persons, subject to specified requirements, including that the county is required to consider the final guidelines described above in selecting the grantees. The bill would provide that any resident of a county participating in the pilot program who meets specified eligibility requirements is eligible to apply for housing subsidies from the county or at least one of the selected grantees. Among other things, the bill would require a participating county to enter into a written agreement with the department to use program funds in a manner consistent with the bill's provisions, as specified, and would prohibit the department from providing program funds to a county that refuses or otherwise does not agree to use the funds in that manner. The bill would specify that a county is solely responsible for complying with the bill's provisions. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. (2) Existing law requires the department, on or before December 31 of each year, to submit an annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature on the operations and accomplishments during the previous fiscal year of the housing programs administered by the department, as described, that includes specified information, including the number of individuals and households served and their income levels. The bill would additionally require the department, beginning January 1, 2028, and for the duration of the California Housing Security Program, to include specified programmatic performance metrics for the California Housing Security Program funds within that annual report. (3) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange.