AB 197

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law requires the Governor to create the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, renamed the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, and specifies the duties of the coordinating council to include creating partnerships among state agencies and departments, local government agencies, and specified federal agencies and private entities, for the purpose of arriving at specific strategies to end homelessness. Existing law establishes the Encampment Resolution Funding program to assist cities, counties, and continuums of care in ensuring the safety and wellness of people experiencing homelessness in encampments, to provide encampment resolution grants to resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing, and to encourage a data-informed, coordinated approach to address encampment concerns. Existing law authorizes a continuum of care, city, or county to submit a specified application to the council for a program grant, and requires the council to prioritize funding applicants that demonstrate a commitment to cross-systems collaboration and innovative efforts to resolve encampment issues or have 50 or more individuals living in the encampment. Existing law requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to administer the program in accordance with a specified timeline, and requires the council to award initial grants by March 1, 2022. Existing law requires grant recipients to provide specified data elements, including health information, in a manner consistent with state and federal law, to their local Homeless Management Information System for tracking in the statewide Homeless Data Integration System. This bill would specify that the provisions described above apply to funding round 1 moneys, defined to mean moneys appropriated for the program in the 2021–22 fiscal year. The bill would require additional funding round moneys, defined as moneys appropriated for the program in or after the 2021–22 fiscal year, to be used for specified purposes, including to fund projects from prior funding rounds that the council determined satisfied applicable program requirements but were not funded in the prior round, and to fund new program grants on a rolling basis, as specified. The bill would require recipients of additional funding round moneys to obligate and expend funds by certain deadlines, as specified. The bill would also require additional information from grantees in the above-described data elements. The bill would also exempt contracts entered into to implement the program from specified contracting requirements. Existing law requires members of the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to serve without compensation, except as specified. Existing law also requires the council to regularly seek guidance from and meet with an advisory committee, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the council to establish working groups, task forces, or other structures to assist in the council's work, as specified. This bill would require that members of the advisory committee and any council working group receive per diem of $100 for each day spent in attendance at advisory committee meetings, and would require those members to be reimbursed for traveling and other expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of official duties. (2) Existing law requires agencies and departments that administer programs that were in existence prior to July 1, 2017, to collaborate with the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate the core components of Housing First, except that an agency or department that administers programs that fund recovery housing are not required to do so until July 1, 2022. Until July 1, 2022, existing law requires agencies or departments that fund recovery housing to take additional actions, including requiring the program administrator to offer assistance in accessing other housing and services options to an individual who chooses to stop living in a housing setting with an abstinence focus, is discharged from the program, or is evicted from housing. This bill would require specified programs administered by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that fund recovery housing for parolees to identify ways to improve the provision of housing, to comply with the core components of Housing First, except as specified, and offer prescribed services to program participants, including, if a recovery housing program participant chooses to stop living in a housing setting with a recovery focus, is discharged from the program, or is removed from housing, offering assistance in accessing other housing and services options and identifying an alternative housing placement. (3) Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Fund within the State Treasury and continuously appropriates the money in the fund to the California Housing Finance Agency for specified purposes. Existing law establishes the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund and requires the moneys in the fund to be appropriated either through the annual Budget Act or in accordance with a specified formula. Existing law continuously appropriates 15% of the moneys in the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to the California Housing Finance Agency to create mixed income multifamily residential housing for lower to moderate-income households, as specified. This bill would clarify that those moneys continuously appropriated to the California Housing Finance Agency from the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund are to be transferred into the California Housing Finance Fund. (4) Existing law establishes the Local Government Planning Support Grants Program for the purpose of providing regions and jurisdictions with one-time funding for planning activities related to regional housing need assessments. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the program requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to allocate $250,000,000 in grants to regions and jurisdictions for technical assistance, preparation and adoption of planning documents, and process improvements to accelerate housing production and facilitate compliance to implement the 6th cycle of the regional housing need assessment. Existing law requires that $125,000,000 of that amount be available to councils of governments, as defined, and other regional entities, and $125,000,000 be available to cities and counties to assist in planning for other activities related to meeting the 6th cycle regional housing need assessment. Existing law requires each recipient of funds under the program to expend those funds no later than December 31, 2023, and requires each council of governments, other regional entity, or county that receives an allocation of funds to submit a final report on the use of the funds to the department no later than December 31, 2024. Existing law also requires, by December 31, 2022, the department, in collaboration with the Office of Planning and Research and after engaging in stakeholder participation, to develop a recommended improved regional housing need allocation process and methodology that promotes and streamlines housing development and substantially addresses California's housing shortage, and submit a report to the Legislature upon completion of that process, as specified. This bill would instead require each recipient of funds under the program to expend those funds no later than December 31, 2024, and would require each council of governments, other regional entity, or county that receives an allocation of funds to submit a final report on the use of the funds to the department no later than December 31, 2025. By extending the length of time a recipient has to expend funds under the program, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would also extend the deadline for the department to develop the recommended improved regional housing need allocation process and methodology from December 31, 2022, to December 31, 2023, and require the department to additionally provide an update to the Legislature on the progress made on the process by July 1, 2023. (5) Existing law creates the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in that fund for, among other purposes, making deferred-payment rehabilitation loans for financing all or a portion of the cost of rehabilitating existing housing to meet rehabilitation standards, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department, upon appropriation, to make loans or grants, or both loans and grants, to rehabilitate, capitalize operating subsidy reserves for, and extend the long-term affordability of department-funded housing projects that have an affordability restriction that has expired, that have an affordability restriction with a remaining term of less than 5 years, or are otherwise at risk of conversion to market-rate housing. Existing law authorizes the department to establish processing or transaction fees for these loans or grants, in an amount necessary to generate sufficient revenue to cover the cost of processing loan transactions. Existing law makes the principal and accumulated interest due and payable upon completion of the term of the loan. Existing law limits the loan interest rate to 3% per annum on the unpaid principal balance. Existing law further requires that loan payments not exceed 0.42% per annum for the first 30 years of the loan's term. Existing law authorizes the department to utilize a portion of funds appropriated pursuant to these provisions as a default reserve, to be used for specified purposes, including curing or averting a default on the terms of any loan or other obligation by a financial assistance recipient. This bill would, instead, authorize the department to make loans or grants, or both loans and grants, to rehabilitate, capitalize operating subsidy or replacement reserves for, and extend the long-term affordability of department-funded housing projects that have an affordability restriction with a remaining term of less than 10 years. The bill would authorize the department to charge a monitoring fee in lieu of required loan payments for a portion of the loan's term or the entire term. The bill would authorize the department to use the fees to ensure the financial feasibility and long-term affordability of a project and for the purposes of the default reserve. The bill would require moneys set aside for this purpose to be deposited in the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation. (6) Existing law establishes the Multifamily Housing Program administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. Existing law requires assistance for projects under the program to be provided in the form of deferred payment loans to pay for eligible costs of specified types of development, as provided. Existing law requires that specified funds appropriated to provide housing for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness and who are inherently impacted by or at increased risk for medical diseases or conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other communicable diseases be disbursed in accordance with the Multifamily Housing Program for specified uses. Existing law authorizes the department to adopt guidelines for the expenditure of funds appropriated to the department under these provisions, and, subject to any modifications set forth by those guidelines, requires the department to issue a notice of funding availability for the appropriated funding within 3 months of an appropriation. This bill would remove the requirement on the department to issue a notice of funding availability for the appropriated funding within 3 months of an appropriation. (7) Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development, upon appropriation, to award a forgivable loan or grant to a qualified rental housing development to replace federal and state low-income housing credit equity, as specified, including by requiring $50,000,000 of moneys appropriated for these purposes to be awarded to projects with an award letter from a specified program. Existing law defines "qualified rental housing development" for these purposes to mean a qualified low-income housing project that received an award letter from specified multifamily housing programs administered by the department. Existing law authorizes the department, in its sole discretion, to adjust the grant or loan amount to account for reduction of fees associated with, among other things, reasonable cost increases. This bill would change the definition of "qualified rental housing development" to mean a rental housing development that received an award letter from any multifamily housing direct loan program administered by the department prior to July 1, 2022. The bill would also remove the requirement that $50,000,000 of moneys appropriated for the purposes described above be awarded to projects with an award letter from the specified program. The bill would also authorize the department to adjust the grant or loan amount to account for reasonable cost increases, including unforeseeable cost overruns or gaps in financing due to changed market conditions. (8) Existing law establishes the Excess Sites Local Government Matching Grants Program for purposes of providing selected developers with one-time grants for development activities to enable development on excess state-owned property. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the program and, among other things, to match local government contributions for predevelopment and development costs for selected developers. Existing law, for purposes of the program, defines local government to mean a city, county, city and county, or public housing authority. Existing law requires a selected developer receiving an allocation of funds under this program to use the moneys to accelerate housing production on excess state-owned property as described, including for predevelopment and development costs of housing and infrastructure, as described. Existing law also limits the maximum program contribution that a selected developer may receive to $10,000,000 depending on the department's evaluation of the developer's application. Under existing law, moneys for the program are available upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would expand the definition of local government to include a joint powers authority, among other authorities. The bill would permit predevelopment costs to include environmental remediation and mitigation, geotechnical assessment, and activities related to the seismic retrofitting of existing improvements and would permit development costs to include improvements associated with an adaptive reuse project. The bill would authorize the department to award a program contribution to a selected developer in excess of $10,000,000 when taking into consideration specified factors. (9) Existing law creates the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program, administered by the department. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide eligible borrowers loans and grants to pay the acquisition costs and associated transaction costs of certain real property purchased through a trustee's sale, as specified, subject to a preforeclosure intervention sale, as defined, or subject to a foreclosure risk intervention sale. Existing law requires that funds be expended only for specified purposes, including authorizing up to 5 percent of the funds appropriated for the program to be expended for the costs to administer the program, as specified. Existing law requires the department to contract with one or more fund managers to manage the program until at least June 30, 2026, as specified. Existing law requires funds not committed to fund managers as of December 31, 2025, or any funds returned from fund managers after December 31, 2025, to be made available for other types of loans, as specified. This bill would recast the provisions requiring the department to contract with one or more fund managers to manage the program to instead require the department to grant funds to one or more fund managers to implement the program. The bill would require those funds to be used for capitalized operating subsidy reserves, as defined, loans or grants awarded pursuant to the provisions described above, and administrative costs, as specified. The bill would raise the cap on funds for administering the program from 5% to 20%, and would specify that costs to administer the program include administrative costs of fund managers to implement the program pursuant to these provisions. The bill would authorize borrowers or grantees that receive funds from a loan pursuant to the program to pay operating expenses from any capitalized operating subsidy reserve. (10) Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development, pursuant to the Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation and Resident Ownership Program, to make loans or grants, as applicable, from the Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation and Purchase Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, to certain entities, including, but not limited to, resident organizations, individual-low income residents of mobilehome parks that have converted to resident ownership, qualified nonprofit housing sponsors, and local public entities. Existing law authorizes these grants and loans for various purposes, including the financing of mobilehome park conversion costs, as defined; reduction of housing costs for low-income residents; acquisition or rehabilitation of a mobilehome park, as provided; acquisition and construction of a new mobilehome park to replace a mobilehome park that was destroyed by a natural disaster, as defined; and assistance for lower income homeowners to make certain repairs, upgrades, or replacements. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to rename the program the Manufactured Housing Opportunity and Revitalization (MORE) Program, and authorize the department to make loans or grants, as applicable, for the additional purposes of reconstruction and replacement of a mobilehome park, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to make loans from the fund to mobilehome parks to correct health and safety deficiencies and to mobilehome parks that have received a notice of suspension or revocation of their permit to operate, or do not currently have a permit to operate, in order to make necessary repairs, as provided. The bill would specify additional terms and conditions for these loans and grants. By expanding the purposes of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations for the administration and implementation of the program. This bill would instead authorize the department to adopt, amend, or repeal guidelines for the administration and implementation of the program, and would exempt the adoption of the guidelines from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. (11) Existing law establishes the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program of 2019, which requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature, to establish and administer a grant program to allocate those funds to eligible applicants, as defined, to fund capital improvement projects that are an integral part of, or necessary to facilitate the development of, a qualifying infill project or qualifying infill area, as those terms are defined, pursuant to specified requirements. This bill would specify that certain provisions of the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program of 2019 only apply with respect to appropriations made in the Budget Act of 2019. The bill would further recast the provisions of the grant program to allow future appropriations in the annual Budget Act or other bill providing for appropriation for the purposes of the program. The bill would also expand the definition of eligible applicant to include specified governing bodies of Indian reservations or rancherias and tribally designated housing entities, as defined. (12) Existing federal law establishes the HOME Investment Partnership Act, which allocates funds to states and local governments to, among other things, expand the supply of affordable housing. Existing law designates the Department of Housing and Community Development as the state agency responsible for the administration of the state's allocation of HOME Investment Partnership Act (HOME) funds, the provision of technical assistance, and coordination of HOME activities. This bill would authorize the department to adopt guidelines, rules, policies, or standards of general application to implement its allocation of HOME funds, the provision of technical assistance, and coordination of HOME activities. The bill would require the department to convene a stakeholder process to inform the development of the guidelines, rules, policies, or standards of general application no later than September 1, 2023. This bill would require the department to administer HOME funds pursuant to state regulations adopted as of January 1, 2022, until the department adopts guidelines, rules, policies, or standards of general application. The bill would require repeal of preexisting state regulations upon the adoption of the above. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs, among other things, the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. The bill would exempt the adoption and repeal of the guidelines, rules, policies, or standards of general application from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. (13) Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program. Existing law requires the department to make grants under the program to qualifying subrecipients to implement activities that address the needs of homeless individuals and families and assist them to regain stability in permanent housing as quickly as possible, as specified. Existing law, to the extent funds are made available by the Legislature, authorizes moneys in the Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund to be used for the purposes of the program. Existing law authorizes the department to review, adopt, amend, and repeal guidelines to implement the program and exempts adopted guidelines from the requirements of the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill would, among other things, rename the program as the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program and the Federal Emergency Solutions Grants Program. The bill would authorize the department to adopt guidelines to replace existing regulations, and would provide that any guideline, rule, policy, or standard of general application employed by the department in implementing the program, as well as the repeal of the previously adopted guidelines, are not subject to the requirements of the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, as specified. The bill would require the department to convene a stakeholder process to inform the development of guidelines for the implementation of the program no later than September 1, 2023. (14) Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Agency in the Department of Housing and Community Development administered by a board of directors consisting of 13 voting members, including the Treasurer. Existing law authorizes the agency to, among other things, make loans to finance affordable housing, including residential structures, housing developments, multifamily rental housing, special needs housing, and other forms of housing, as specified. This bill would establish the California Dream for All Program to provide shared appreciation loans, as defined, to qualified first-time homebuyers. The bill would limit the program to providing assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers in the purchase of owner-occupied homes. The bill would require, among other things, assistance under the program to be made available only in conjunction with first mortgage loan financing provided by the agency, as specified. This bill would establish the California Dream for All Fund and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the fund for the purposes of the program, as prescribed. The bill would require any interest earned or other increment derived from investments made from moneys in the fund to be deposited in the fund. By creating a continuously appropriated fund and creating a mechanism for money to be deposited in the fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would prohibit the state from being liable beyond the assets of the fund for any obligation in connection therewith. This bill would also require the agency to develop a borrower education program and disclosure statement designed to provide a borrower with sufficient information to understand the terms of a shared appreciation loan provided pursuant to the program, as prescribed, and would require a participating lender to provide a borrower with information to access the borrower education program and disclosure statement before making a shared appreciation loan. (15) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law requires that the housing element include an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development. If the inventory of sites does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels, as provided, existing law requires that the local government rezone sites within specified time periods. Under existing law, if the local government fails to adopt a housing element that the Department of Housing and Community Development has found to be in substantial compliance with specified law within 120 days of the statutory deadline for adoption of the housing element, the local government is required to complete this rezoning no later than one year from the statutory deadline for adoption of the housing element. This bill would, instead, grant a local government 3 years and 120 days from the statutory deadline for the adoption of its housing element to complete the above-described rezoning of sites if (A) the statutory deadline for adoption of the 6th revision of the housing element was in the 2021 calendar year, (B) the local government failed to adopt a housing element that the Department of Housing and Community Development found to be in substantial compliance with specified requirements, and (C) the local government adopts its 6th revision of the housing element that the department finds to be in substantial compliance within one year of the applicable statutory deadline. The bill would extend the deadline for completing the required rezoning by one year if the local government has completed the rezoning at densities sufficient to accommodate at least 75% of the units for low- and very low income households and if the legislative body at the conclusion of a public hearing determines, based upon substantial evidence, that one of 3 specified circumstances exist. The Planning and Zoning law requires the department to designate jurisdictions as prohousing pursuant to emergency regulations adopted by the department, as prescribed. The law, for award cycles commenced after July 1, 2021, requires a jurisdiction that has adopted a housing element found by the department to be in substantial compliance with specified housing element provisions and that have been designated, pursuant to those emergency regulations, by the department as prohousing based on their adoption of prohousing local policies, as defined, to be awarded with additional points or preference in the scoring of applications for certain housing and infrastructure programs. This bill would require that the emergency regulations described above remain in effect until the date that permanent regulations become effective. (16) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.