SEC. 2.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that having a healthy housing market that provides an adequate supply of homes affordable to Californians at all income levels is critical to the economic prosperity and quality of life in the state.(b) The Legislature further finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Funding approved by the state’s voters in 2002 and 2006, as of June 2014, has financed the construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of over 14,000 shelter spaces and 149,000 affordable homes. These numbers include thousands of supportive homes for people
experiencing homelessness. In addition, these funds have helped tens of thousands of families become or remain homeowners. Nearly all of the voter-approved funding for affordable housing was awarded by the beginning of 2015.
(2) The requirement in the Community Redevelopment Law that redevelopment agencies set aside 20 percent of tax increment for affordable housing generated roughly $1 billion per year. With the elimination of redevelopment agencies, this funding stream has disappeared.
(3) In 2014, the Legislature committed 10 percent of ongoing cap-and-trade funds for affordable housing that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and dedicated $100 million in one-time funding for affordable multifamily and permanent supportive housing. In addition, the people of California
thoughtfully approved the repurposing of $600 million in already committed bond funds for the creation of affordable rental and permanent supportive housing for veterans through the passage of Proposition 41.
(4) Despite these investments, the need in the state of California greatly exceeds the available resources, considering 36.2 percent of mortgaged homeowners and 47.7 percent of all renters are spending more than 35 percent of their household incomes on housing.
(5) California has 12 percent of the United States population, but 20 percent of its homeless population. California has the highest percentage of unsheltered homeless in the nation, with 63 percent of homeless Californians not having shelter. California has 24 percent of the nation’s homeless veterans
population and one-third of the nations’ chronically homeless population. California also has the largest populations of unaccompanied homeless children and youth, with 30 percent of the national total.
(6) Furthermore, four of the top 10 metropolitan areas in the country with the highest rate of homelessness are in the following metropolitan areas in California: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Fresno, and Stockton.
(7) California continues to have the second lowest homeownership rate in the nation, and the Los Angeles metropolitan area is now a majority renter area. In fact, five of the eight lowest homeownership rates are in metropolitan areas in California.
(8) Los Angeles and Orange
Counties have been identified as the epicenter of overcrowded housing, and numerous studies have shown that children in crowded homes have poorer health, worse scores on mathematics and reading tests, and higher rates of depression and behavioral problems—even when poverty is taken into account.
(9) Millions of Californians are affected by the state’s chronic housing shortage, including seniors, veterans, people experiencing chronic homelessness, working families, people with mental, physical, or developmental disabilities, agricultural workers, people exiting jails, prisons, and other state institutions, survivors of domestic violence, and former foster and transition-aged youth.
(10) Eight of the top 10 hardest hit cities by the foreclosure crisis in the nation were in
California. They include the Cities of Stockton, Modesto, Vallejo, Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced, Bakersfield, and Sacramento.
(11) California’s workforce continues to experience longer commute times as persons in the workforce seek affordable housing outside the areas in which they work. If California is unable to support the construction of affordable housing in these areas, congestion problems will strain the state’s transportation system and exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions.
(12) Many economists agree that the state’s higher than average unemployment rate is due in large part to massive shrinkage in the construction industry from 2005 to 2009, including losses of nearly 700,000 construction-related jobs, a 60-percent decline in construction spending, and an 83-percent
reduction in residential permits. Restoration of a healthy construction sector will significantly reduce the state’s unemployment rate.
(13) The lack of sufficient housing impedes economic growth and development by making it difficult for California employers to attract and retain employees.
(14) To keep pace with continuing demand, the state should identify and establish a permanent, ongoing source or sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. Without a reliable source of funding for housing affordable to the state’s workforce and most vulnerable residents, the state and its local and private housing development partners will not be able to continue increasing the supply of housing after existing housing bond resources are depleted.
(15) The investment will leverage billions of dollars in private investment, lessen demands on law enforcement and dwindling health care resources as fewer people are forced to live on the streets or in dangerous substandard buildings, and increase businesses’ ability to attract and retain skilled workers.
(16) In order to promote housing and homeownership
opportunities, the recording fee imposed by this act shall not be applied to any recording made in connection with a sale of real property. Purchasing a home is likely the largest purchase made by Californians, and it is the intent of this act to not increase transaction costs associated with these transfers.