Report 2020-108 Recommendation Responses
Report 2020-108: California's Housing Agencies: The State Must Overhaul Its Approach to Affordable Housing Development to Help Relieve Millions of Californians' Burdensome Housing Costs (Release Date: November 2020)
Recommendation for Legislative Action
To ensure that the State can identify the extent to which its financial resources are supporting its mission to provide a home for all Californians, the Legislature should require HCD to prepare an annual addendum to the State's housing plan and report to the Legislature, beginning January 2022. The addendum should include up-to-date information and identify the following:
- All financial resources for each housing agency for the development of affordable housing.
- The number of affordable units those resources are expected to build annually compared to the annual units needed, including units for individuals experiencing homelessness, those with special needs, seniors, and farmworkers.
- The amount of financial resources the State will need to obtain from other sources, such as federal, local, and private sources, to meet the remaining gap in needed units.
- Where the State's financial resources will have the most impact based on geographic distribution, population, and indicators of need.
- Outcomes to measure how well the State is maximizing the impact of its financial resources to meet the annual units needed, including measuring whether it has reduced cost burden and overcrowding, and increased housing availability.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 68 (Chapter 341, Statutes of 2021), starting with any update or revision to the housing plan on or after January 1, 2022, requires the housing plan to include, among other things, the number of affordable units needed to meet the state's affordable housing needs and recommendations for modernizing statutory and regulatory terminology. HCD is required to develop and publish on its website an annual report by December 31 of each year that includes specified information regarding grant programs that are administered by the HCD, including the time between the issuance of award letters and the delivery of the standard agreement to the awardee and a comparison of how the time between the issuance of the award letters, delivery of the standard agreement, and execution of the standard agreement varies across HCD-administered programs. Finally, HCD is required to develop and publish on its website an annual report by December 31 of each year that includes specified information regarding land use oversight actions related to housing, including the number of land use oversight actions related to housing taken against cities and counties, outcomes of those oversight actions, and the median time between the initiation of each oversight action and its resolution.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: November 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Legislation Enacted
Description of Legislative Action
AB 68 (Salas) in part, would, starting with any update or revision to the California Statewide Housing Plan (housing plan) on or after January 1, 2022, require the housing plan to include, among other things, an inventory number of affordable units needed to meet the state's affordable housing needs and an identification of strategies to help individuals experiencing homelessness. The bill would require HCD to publish and make the plan available to the public on its website.
AB 244 (Rubio) would, in part, require HCD to prepare and provide to the Legislature an annual addendum to the housing plan by January 1, 2023, and each January 1, thereafter. The addendum would be required to include identifying all of the financial resources the state possesses for the development of affordable housing, the number of affordable units that State financial resources are expected to help build, the amount of revenue that the State will need to obtain from other sources to fulfill its housing objectives, a determination of where the State's resources will have the most impact, and a summary of the outcomes used to measure the success of the State's investments in housing.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: May 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Legislation Introduced
Description of Legislative Action
AB 244 (Rubio) was introduced on January 13, 2021, and would require HCD to prepare and provide to the Legislature an annual addendum to the housing plan by January 1, 2023, and each January 1, thereafter. The addendum would be required to include identifying all of the financial resources the state possesses for the development of affordable housing, the number of affordable units that State financial resources are expected to help build, the amount of revenue that the State will need to obtain from other sources to fulfill its housing objectives, a determination of where the State's resources will have the most impact, and a summary of the outcomes used to measure the success of the State's investments in housing.
AB 68 (Salas) was introduced on December 7, 2020, and is a spot bill intended to address recommendations in the audit.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: January 2021