Existing law, the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Housing Finance Act, establishes the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority to raise, administer, and allocate funding for affordable housing in the San Francisco Bay area, as defined, and provide technical assistance at a regional level for tenant protection, affordable housing preservation, and new affordable housing production. The act vests the authority with various powers, including authorizing it to place a measure on the ballot to raise revenue and allocate funds throughout the San Francisco Bay area, apply for and receive grants or loans from public and private entities, incur and issue bonds and other indebtedness, and otherwise incur liabilities or obligations, as specified. The act authorizes the authority to allocate and deploy financing to cities, counties, other public agencies within the San Francisco Bay area, and private affordable housing developers to finance affordable housing development, as specified. The act requires revenue generated pursuant to the act be used for the construction of new affordable housing, affordable housing preservation, tenant protection programs, planning and technical assistance related to affordable housing, and for infrastructure to support housing and other purposes, as specified.

Existing law defines “public works,” for the purposes of regulating public works contracts, as, among other things, construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds. Existing law further requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement.

Under this bill, a construction or rehabilitation project receiving funding or financing from revenue under the act, as specified, would constitute a public work for which prevailing wages are required to be paid pursuant to existing law. The bill would require that certain projects with 40 units or more be eligible to receive funding or financing from revenue generated under the act only if all construction and rehabilitation will be subject to a project labor agreement, as defined, with the same terms as the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District Major Projects Project Stabilization Agreement, as specified and defined, except that if a regional or countywide project labor agreement, as defined, that meets certain requirements is negotiated, then the bill would provide that those projects are eligible for funding or financing from the agency only if all construction and rehabilitation is subject to that project labor agreement. The bill would authorize the authority to negotiate and enter into project labor agreements for projects receiving funding or financing from revenue generated under the act.

Because the willful violation of prevailing wage requirements when engaged in these public works projects would result in the imposition of misdemeanor penalties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.