SECOND UNANIMOUS VOTE FOR THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY ACT

Contact: John Ferrera

Office of Senator Ducheny

(916) 651-4040

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 26, 2007

SECOND UNANIMOUS VOTE FOR THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY ACT 

            SACRAMENTO – The Housing Affordability Act, SB 303-Ducheny (D-San Diego) gained momentum today as the Senate Environmental Quality Committee – in a specially called meeting -- voted 7-0 to give it the stamp of approval and move it along.

            The vote was taken after the scheduled Senate floor session today, because a Monday committee hearing took four-plus hours reviewing the measure.  The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee gave SB 303 a 10-0 vote on April 9.  The measure is now expected to be headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

            With the state annually failing to meet the ever-growing demand for housing, the resulting shortage has driven the cost of home ownership beyond the reach of many Californians and forced others to live so far from their jobs that they face hour-plus commutes to and from work.

            SB 303 will require cities to put zoning in place in their General Plan to meet the local demand for housing for the next five years.

Jeff Loustau, executive director of the California Housing Consortium, testified in favor of SB 303 telling the committee California must make changes if it is going to draw people to jobs as teachers, firefighters and other critical parts of the state workforce.

            “Under the current process, comprehensive planning and zoning for housing are being neglected in favor of incremental project-specific entitlements that engender opposition to any new development.” said Loustau.  “This keeps both non-profit and for-profit housing developers from being able to provide the homes and rental units California crucially needs.”

“When you do your Housing Element, you ought to zone for it,” Sen. Ducheny told the committee Monday.  “Commit to it for real.  Don’t just tell us we’ll get to it some day. Because, five years down the road we find we don’t have enough housing.

            “It would provide certainty to those who are trying to provide financing and particularly to those working to provide affordable housing.”

            Sen. Ducheny explained that SB 303 will also help cut costs by requiring an environmental review on the entire housing element of a general plan once the zoning is completed.  That would end delay tactics focused on environmental review.

            Sen. Ducheny agreed to have an amended bill ready for today for the special off-the-floor meeting.

            A broad-based coalition of more than 50 organizations supports SB 303. They include the California State Firefighters Association, Peace Officers Research Ass’n of California (PORAC), California Federation of Teachers, California Business Roundtable, California Housing Consortium, Congress of California Seniors, California Black Chamber Foundation, Cal-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers, California Council of Churches Impact, California Major Builders Council, AFSCME (Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees), California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance.