Existing law provides for the establishment of district agricultural associations and authorizes a district agricultural association to engage in various activities, including to purchase, acquire, hold, sell, exchange, or convey any interest in real property with the approval of the Department of General Services. This bill would specify that the above-described authorization includes the construction and maintenance of affordable housing, as defined, and the construction and maintenance of housing affordable for persons and families of low or moderate income, as defined. Existing law authorizes a district agricultural association, with the approval of the Department of General Services, to lease for the use of its real property, or any portion of that property, to any person or public body for whatever purpose approved by the board of directors of the association, including the construction and maintenance of housing affordable to persons and families of low or moderate income, as defined, and limits a lease to not more than 55 years. This bill would specify that the above-described authorization includes the construction and maintenance of affordable housing, as defined, and would increase the maximum duration of a lease to not more than 99 years. This bill would require an affordable housing development constructed or maintained on real property purchased, acquired, held, sold, exchanged, conveyed, or leased by a district to have a recorded deed restriction that ensures, for a period of at least 55 years, that 100% of the units, except as specified, are dedicated to persons and families of low or moderate income, as defined, at an affordable rent, as defined. Existing law prohibits the Department of Housing and Community Development from making grants or loans pursuant to the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program on or after January 1, 2020, for the purpose of funding predevelopment of developing or operating any housing that is rented, sold, or subleased to certain entities who employ at least one H-2A worker until the expiration of a regulatory agreement or affordability covenant, as applicable. Existing law requires a person or entity who receives a grant or loan under that grant program on or after January 1, 2020, and expends any of those funds for housing that is rented, sold, or subleased to those certain entities until the expiration of the regulatory agreement or affordability covenant, as applicable, to reimburse the department, as specified. Existing law also prohibits state funding from being provided to an employer or its agent who employs at least one H-2A worker for the purposes of funding predevelopment of, developing, or operating any housing, and requires an employer or other recipient of state funding who uses state funding for those purposes to reimburse the state or state agency, as provided. This bill would expressly specify that those prohibitions and requirements apply to the authorized district agricultural association transactions and construction and maintenance actions described above and to funds, state subsidies allocated, and real property purchased, acquired, held, sold, exchanged, or conveyed by a district agricultural association, as specified. Existing law provides that any violation of the Food and Agricultural Code is a misdemeanor, except as otherwise specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law provides for the allocation of funding under the program among continuums of care, cities, counties, and tribes in 6 rounds, with rounds 1 to 5, inclusive, administered by the Interagency Council on Homelessness and round 6 administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, as provided. Existing law establishes round 7 of the program and states the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that specifies the parameters, as specified. To be eligible for round 5 or round 6 base program allocation, existing law requires a jurisdiction that is not a tribe to apply as part of a region and be signatory to a regionally coordinated homelessness action plan that meets specified requirements. This bill would apply to the allocation of funding available under round 8 of the program and require a round 8 regionally coordinated homelessness action plan to include certain components, including a description of programs and interventions provided by smaller jurisdictions, as defined, that serve the objects and goals of the program, as specified. The bill would authorize a region receiving funding under round 8 to allocate a portion of that funding to smaller jurisdictions to support those programs. The bill would prescribe requirements for a smaller jurisdiction to be eligible to receive funding pursuant to these provisions.
Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of federal, state, and county funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law makes a family eligible for homeless assistance under the CalWORKs program if the homelessness is a direct result of domestic violence by a spouse, partner, or roommate, and authorizes that domestic violence to be verified by a sworn statement by the victim. Existing law limits homeless assistant payments, if the domestic violence is verified by a sworn statement by the victim, to two periods of not more than 16 cumulative calendar days of temporary shelter assistance and two payments of permanent housing assistance. Existing law also makes a CalWORKs applicant who provides a sworn statement of past or present domestic abuse and who is fleeing their abuser deemed as homeless and eligible for temporary shelter assistance, as specified. Existing law limits the homeless assistance payments to the CalWORKs applicant to 2 periods of not more than 16 cumulative calendar days each of temporary shelter assistance within the applicant's lifetime, and provides that these homeless assistance payments are in addition to other homeless assistance payments for which the CalWORKs applicant, if the applicant becomes a CalWORKs recipient, may later qualify. This bill would require that the above-described applicant or recipient receiving homeless assistance due to domestic violence who does not use all of the temporary shelter assistance for which they are eligible due to finding permanent housing receive the value of the remaining days of eligible temporary shelter assistance as permanent housing assistance. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the State Department of Social Services to establish a one-stop reentry program that collaborates with local registrars of birth, death, and marriage and county recorders, credit bureaus, and financial institutions to assist survivors of domestic violence in, among other things, obtaining copies of their and their dependents' vital records, credit reports and credit scores from all of the major credit bureaus, and a listing of all bank, checking, investment, and other financial accounts in their name. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of the bill. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law prescribes the general responsibilities and roles of the Department of Housing and Community Development and the California Housing Finance Agency in carrying out state housing policies and programs. Existing law establishes various programs to promote development of affordable housing for tenants and homeowners, including the Multifamily Housing Program, low-income housing tax credits, and the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program. This bill would, by January 1, 2028, require the department and the agency to develop and implement strategies, as specified, to promote the movement of tenants of deed-restricted affordable housing into home ownership through existing home ownership programs implemented by the department or the agency.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (department) and, pursuant to the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 2025, which became effective on July 5, 2025, transfers the department to the California Housing and Homelessness Agency, effective July 1, 2026, for purposes of carrying out state housing policies and programs. Existing law, commonly referred to as the Surplus Land Act, prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency, as defined, and requires, except as provided, a local agency disposing of surplus land to comply with certain notice requirements before disposing of the land or participating in negotiations to dispose of the land with a prospective transferee. As part of these procedures, existing law requires that the local agency send a notice of availability to housing sponsors, as defined, that have notified the department of their interest in surplus land, as specified. This bill would require the department to establish a dedicated social housing coordinator to lead social housing strategy and implementation. In leading social housing strategy and implementation, the bill would require the dedicated social housing coordinator to, among other things, inventory and prioritize surplus public land suitable for social housing development. The bill would define "social housing development" as housing developed pursuant to the bill's provisions that is owned by a public entity, provides housing affordable to a mix of household income levels, and preserves long-term affordability. The bill would require the dedicated social housing coordinator to compile findings for social housing strategy and implementation, as specified, and post the findings on the department's internet website. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature with actionable recommendations based on the social housing strategy and implementation program findings, as described above.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. If a lead agency determines that a project will have a significant transportation impact, existing law authorizes the lead agency to mitigate the transportation impact to a less than significant level by helping to fund or otherwise facilitating housing or related infrastructure projects, including by contributing an amount, to be determined pursuant to guidance issued by the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, to the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund for purposes of the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program. Existing law makes those moneys available to the Department of Housing and Community Development, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of awarding funding for affordable housing or related infrastructure projects under the program in accordance with specified priorities. On or before July 1, 2026, and at least once every 3 years thereafter, existing law requires the office, in consultation with other state agencies, to issue guidance related to the implementation of these provisions, as provided. This bill would authorize a lead agency for a land use project to require an applicant to contribute to the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund if certain cost conditions are met and the department and the office have validated the reductions in vehicle miles traveled that are attributable to the project, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law requires the housing element to include, among other things, an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development. Existing law requires a city or county, based on that inventory of land, to determine whether each site in the inventory can accommodate the development of some portion of its share of the regional housing need by income level during the planning period, as provided. Existing law requires local governments to rezone sites according to a specified program if the inventory of sites suitable and available for residential development does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels. Existing law requires that program to accommodate 100% of the need for housing for specified lower income households on sites required to be zoned to permit owner-occupied and rental multifamily residential use, as provided, and requires these sites to be zoned with specified minimum density and development standards, as provided. This bill would provide that these zoning requirements would be met by applying a zoning classification, including, but not limited to, an overlay zone, mixed-use zone, combining district, or similar zone that permits owner-occupied and rental multifamily residential use with the above-described minimum density and development standards, as specified. The bill would require a program that includes application of this zoning classification to include a written explanation of the housing and affordability incentives of the zoning classification. The bill would permit this zoning classification to allow a mix of uses if it meets prescribed requirements. The bill would define key terms for these purposes. The bill would apply these provisions only to the 6th housing element revision cycle and retroactively to January 1, 2019. Existing law, commonly referred to as the Housing Element Law, prescribes requirements for a city's or county's preparation of, and compliance with, its housing element, and requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to review and determine whether the housing element substantially complies with the Housing Element Law, as specified. Existing law provides that a housing element or amendment is considered substantially compliant with the Housing Element Law when the local agency has adopted a housing element or amendment, the department or a court of competent jurisdiction determines the adopted housing element or amendment to be in substantial compliance with the Housing Element Law, and the department's compliance findings have not been superseded by subsequent contrary findings by the department or by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction or the court's decision has not been overturned or superseded by a subsequent court decision or by statute. Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving, or conditioning approval in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households unless the local agency makes written findings as to one of certain sets of conditions, as specified. One set of conditions is that (1) the jurisdiction has adopted a housing element that is in substantial compliance with the Housing Element Law, and (2) the jurisdiction has met or exceeded its share of the regional housing need allocation for the planning period for the income category proposed for the housing development project. Existing law requires a housing element or amendment to be considered in substantial compliance with the Housing Element Law only if the element or amendment was determined to be in substantial compliance when a preliminary application or complete application was submitted, as specified. This bill would require, if a court of competent jurisdiction finds an adopted housing element or amendment to be to be out of compliance despite the department's findings of substantial compliance, that the housing element or amendment be considered in substantial compliance until either the date the department finds that a newly adopted housing element or amendment is in substantial compliance, or 275 days after a court order, writ, or judgment is issued requiring the local agency to bring its housing element into substantial compliance, whichever is earlier.
Existing law establishes various advisory boards and commissions in state government with specified duties and responsibilities. This bill would create the California Latino Commission to address the inequities faced by the Latino community in housing, education, economic mobility, labor, and health care. The commission would consist of 9 members who have demonstrated expertise in specified areas, including housing policy and advocacy and economic development. The bill would task the commission with, among other things, collecting and analyzing data, developing recommendations, and monitoring the implementation of state programs and policies affecting the Latino community, as specified. The bill would require the commission to work with other state agencies and to submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill would establish that the commission and its activities would be supported by appropriations by the Legislature from the General Fund and grants from federal and private sources. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2036.
(1) Existing law prohibits the owner of a residential real property from terminating a tenancy without just cause, as defined, after a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a residential real property for 12 months. Among other residential real properties or residential circumstances, existing law exempts from these provisions a residential real property, including a mobilehome, that is alienable separate from the title to any other dwelling unit if the owner meets specified criteria and the tenants have been provided a specified written notice of the exemption. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would revise these provisions by removing the exemption for separately alienable residential real property and, instead, only exempting a mobilehome if the above-described criteria are met. The bill would delete the January 1, 2030, repeal date, thereby extending these provisions indefinitely. (2) Existing law prohibits an owner of residential real property, except as specified, from increasing over the course of any 12-month period the gross rental rate for a dwelling or a unit more than 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for that dwelling or unit at any time during the 12 months prior to the effective date of the increase, as specified. This bill would reduce the permissible gross rental rate increase under these provisions to the lesser of 2% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 5%. Among other residential real properties, existing law exempts from these provisions a residential real property that is alienable separate from the title to any other dwelling unit, including a mobilehome, if the owner meets specified criteria and the tenants have been provided a specified written notice of the exemption. This bill would revise these provisions by removing the exemption for separately alienable residential real property and, instead, only exempting a mobilehome if the above-described criteria are met. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would delete the January 1, 2030, repeal date, thereby extending these provisions indefinitely. (3) Notwithstanding the above-described gross rental rate increase prohibition, existing law, upon the expiration of rental restrictions, as defined, authorizes the owner of affordable housing units that meet certain requirements to establish the initial rental rate for the unit, and also authorizes the owner of an assisted housing development who demonstrates compliance with certain requirements under penalty of perjury to establish the initial unassisted rental rate for units in the assisted housing development. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, repeal date, thereby extending the initial rental rate authorizations indefinitely. By extending provisions that require the owner of an assisted housing development to demonstrate compliance with specified requirements under penalty of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated program. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the Governor to create the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, renamed the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, to, among other things, identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California and to serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California. Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program, administered by the Interagency Council on Homelessness, with respect to rounds 1 through 5, inclusive, of the program, and Department of Housing and Community Development (department) , with respect to round 6 of the program, for the purpose of providing jurisdictions, as defined, with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation, to distribute certain amounts, as specified, for purposes of round 6 of the program. Existing law requires an applicant to submit an application containing specified information in order to apply for a program allocation. Existing law requires an applicant to use at least 10% of specified funds allocated for services for homeless youth populations. This bill would require a continuum of care, upon appropriation and beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, to annually certify that they create or maintain a youth-specific process with their respective coordinated entry system, as specified, implement a youth-specific assessment tool, create a body or identify an existing body composed of youth with lived experience of homelessness that the continuum of care and other Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program grantees must consult with regularly, and identify an array of youth-specific housing inventory. The bill would require the continuum of care to document in their application how the housing assessment is youth-specific and their prioritization policy if the continuum of care states they already maintain a youth-specific coordinated entry system. The bill would also make findings and declarations related to youth-specific programs and the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program.
