Solar Tax Credits are in danger of being removed from the federal Energy Bill.  These tax credits are vital to many affordable housing developers in California using this technology to reduce energy costs for residents and decrease their environmental impact.  Thanks to Tom Scott of the San Diego Housing Federation for alerting us to this.

Learn more and take action here: http://www.seia.org/takeaction.php

Thanks to Matt Schwartz at the California Housing Partnership Corporation for taking the lead on advocating for an improved HUD budget.  Please take action today.  Contact your representative to support this bill.  See attached documents for more details and list of important call targets.

Today CHC submitted a comment letter to Governor Schwarzenegger asking him to sign SB 586 (Dutton) that programs $100 million in funding for innovative housing programs including acquisition funding, matching funds for local housing trust funds, construction defect liability reform and an Innovative Homeownership Program.

To underscore the fact that there’s never a dull moment in California’s policy-making drama, in the wee hours of Wednesday this week, Assembly Speaker Nunez pushed through a ‘gut and amend’ on his AB1053 that would allow private business improvement districts to tap millions of dollars in funding from Proposition 1C's $850 Million Infill Development Set-Aside. Specifically, AB 1053 could result in the diversion of precious PROP 1C housing dollars to non-housing related infrastructure. 

The Director of the California Redevelopment Association (and CHC board member) John Shirey is urging the housing sector to step up and support the eminent domain reform constitutional amendment known as ACA 8 (De La Torre) – it will likely be up for a vote in the Assembly during the first week of September.

CHC today submitted letters to each of the Assembly Republicans urging them to support SB 586, the vehicle for programing $100MM worth Prop 1C money for housing innovation.  Republicans in the Assembly have taken issue with a $5MM teaching housing program contained in the bill on the grounds that funds should not be set aside for such a narrow group of people. 

As a follow-up to our meeting in Sacramento last month with Senator Denise Ducheny of San Diego, CHC testified in support of her bill SB 303 entitled, “The 2007 Housing Affordability Act”. Co-sponsored by the CA Building Industry Association, SB 303 would require communities to plan for housing growth over a 20-year time horizon and a 10-year zoning timeframe. CHC and others will be involved in stakeholder meetings in April in preparation for subsequent hearings by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.