BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2634|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2634
Author: Lieber (D)
Amended: 8/28/06 in Senate
Vote: 21
SEN. TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-4, 6/27/06
AYES: Lowenthal, Cedillo, Ducheny, Kehoe, Machado,
Simitian, Soto, Torlakson
NOES: Ashburn, Dutton, Margett, Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: McClintock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-33, 5/30/06 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Housing element law: extremely low-income
housing needs
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires cities and counties, within
their housing elements, to analyze the need and develop
quantified objectives for the production of extremely
low-income housing.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/28/06 (1) cite the bill as the
Supportive Housing Development Act of 2006, (2) require an
analysis of governmental constraints to the development of
multifamily rental housing, factory-built housing,
mobilehomes, housing for agricultural employees, supportive
CONTINUED
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housing, emergency shelters, single-room occupancy units,
and transitional housing, (3) clarify that cities and
counties must make a diligent effort to achieve the public
participation of all economic segments of the community in
the development of the housing element, and (4) clarify
that changes to housing element law take effect when the
next housing element cycle begins, or when a city or county
submits its first draft to the department for review if
that is more than 90 days after the effective date of the
bill, and (5) add chaptering amendments to resolve
conflicts with SB 1322 (Cedillo).
ANALYSIS : The Planning and Zoning Law requires cities
and counties to prepare and adopt a general plan to guide
the future growth of a community. Every general plan must
contain seven elements: land use, circulation, housing,
conservation, open-space, noise, and safety. Cities and
counties must revise their housing elements every five
years, following a staggered statutory schedule. The
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
review both draft and adopted housing elements to determine
whether or not they are in substantial compliance with the
law.
Before each revision, each community is assigned its fair
share of the regional housing need for the very low-, low-,
moderate- and above-moderate income categories through the
regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) process. A
housing element must identify and analyze existing and
projected housing needs for these income categories,
identify adequate sites with appropriate zoning to meet the
housing needs of these income segments of the community,
and ensure that regulatory systems provide opportunities
for, and do not unduly constrain, housing development. To
the extent that a city or county does not have adequate
sites within its existing inventory of residentially zoned
land, then the jurisdiction must adopt a program to rezone
land at appropriate densities to accommodate the
jurisdiction's housing need for all income groups. The
city or country must also establish "quantified objectives"
of how much housing it estimates will be constructed,
rehabilitated, or preserved in each income category during
the planning period with available resources. The
quantified objectives (production goals) may be less than
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the total housing need (RHNA number), which the city or
county must then accommodate through its zoning.
Existing law defines the relevant income categories as
follows:
1.Extremely low-income households are those earning less
than 30 percent of the area (county) median income.
2.Very low-income households are those earning less than 50
percent of the area median income.
3.Low-income households are those earning less than 80
percent of the area median income.
4.Moderate-income households are those earning less than
120 percent of the area median income.
5.Above moderate-income households are those earning more
than 120 percent of the area median income.
This bill:
1.Requires cities and counties, within their housing
elements, to analyze the need and identify adequate sites
for extremely low-income housing and requires they
calculate the subset of very low income households that
qualify as extremely low-income households. The bill
allows local agencies to use either census track data to
calculate the percentage or presume that 50 percent of
the very low-income households qualify as extremely
low-income, and requires that the total number of
extremely low-income households and very low-income
households shall equal the jurisdictions allocation of
very low-income households.
2.Requires cities and counties to develop a quantified
objective for and assist in the production,
rehabilitation, or preservation of extremely low-income
housing
3.Adds supportive housing (housing with services for
persons who are disabled, homeless, or at risk of
becoming homeless) and single-room occupancy units to the
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list of housing types for which a city or county shall
identify sites as needed.
4.Specifies that the housing elements analysis of
governmental constraints to the development of housing
for all income groups include multifamily rental housing,
factory-built housing, mobilehomes, housing for
agricultural employees, supportive housing, emergency
shelters, single-room occupancy units, and transitional
housing.
5.Clarifies that changes to housing element law take effect
when the next housing element cycle begins, or when a
city or county submits its first draft to the department
for review if that is more than 90 days after the
effective date of the bill.
6.Deletes obsolete provisions.
7.Includes double-jointing language with SB 1322 (Cedillo).
Comments
Who are extremely low-income families ? A family that earns
30 percent of the statewide median income in California is
one that brings in $19,234 or les per year, or roughly
$9.25 an hour for a full-time worker. These workers
include entry-level health-care aides, childcare workers,
and office clerks. The extremely low-income category also
includes people with disabilities, seniors, and those
transitioning out of homelessness. To be affordable, these
households need rents that are roughly $480 per month.
Yet, under current law, most housing plans consider only
those families at 50 percent of the area median income and
above, who can afford rents in the $800 range.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/10/06) (Unable to reverify)
Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Alliance of Retired Americans
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California Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
California Council of the Blind
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Californians for Disability Rights
City of San Jose
County of San Mateo
Developmental Disabilities Board Area 10
Federation of Retired Union Members of Santa Clara County
Gray Panthers of California
Housing California
Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco
JERICO
Older Women's League of California
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
Resources for Independent Living
Regional Center of the East Bay
San Diego Housing Federation
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing
Western Center on Law and Poverty
OPPOSITION : (Unable to verify at time of writing)
American Planning Association - California Chapter (prior
version
California State Association of Counties (prior version)
City of Lakewood (prior version)
San Diego County Board of Supervisors (prior version)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the current income categories used in housing element law
are inadequate and result in most cities failing to plan
adequately for a large segment of their workers, seniors,
and others with the lowest incomes. Most jurisdictions
focus their analysis and affordable housing programs on
very low-income households and ignore the unique housing
needs of extremely low-income households. This bill seeks
to ensure that cities and counties consider the housing
needs of families earning less than 30 percent of the area
median income.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : In its letter of opposition,
the American Planning Association states that "it makes
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little sense to impose a new requirement that is for all
practical purposes unattainable." They point out that
there are insufficient funds at present to allow local
governments to meet their current low- and very low-income
housing requirements, and that adding a new extremely
low-income category would make an already difficult
situation considerably worse.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Blakeslee,
Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Coto, De
La Torre, Dymally, Evans, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock,
Jerome Horton, Jones, Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird,
Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Liu, Montanez, Mullin,
Nation, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Pavley, Ridley-Thomas,
Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Torrico, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk,
Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Benoit, Bogh, Cogdill, Daucher, DeVore,
Emmerson, Garcia, Harman, Haynes, Shirley Horton,
Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie,
Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello,
Parra, Plescia, Richman, Sharon Runner, Spitzer,
Strickland, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nava
JJA:cm 8/27/06 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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