(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) The high cost of housing in this state makes it impossible for most households to become homeowners and impedes the ability of California employers to compete in the national marketplace for employees.
(2) Approximately 1,100,000 lower income renters pay more than 35 percent of their income for housing and over 1,600,000 lower income renters pay more than 25 percent of their income for housing.
(3) Approximately 875,000 housing units need to be rehabilitated and over 385,000 units need to be replaced in the state.
(4) Sufficient safe, sanitary, and affordable housing is not available for households with special needs, particularly elderly and disabled households.
(5) The Department of Housing and Community Development estimates that there are between 50,000 and 75,000 homeless individuals in California and other data discloses that the fastest growing segment of the homeless population are families with children.
(6) There are nearly 2,000 rental projects built in this state prior to 1980 under the Section 236, Section 221(d)(3)B.M.I.R., and Section 8 programs of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Section 515 Program of the federal Farmers Home Administration, containing approximately 123,000 units subject to potential conversion to higher rent housing or condominium units.
(7) The federal budget for assisted housing has declined sharply leaving state and local government the burden of developing affordable housing.
(8) The annual budget of the Department of Housing and Community Development, which includes forty-five million dollars ($45,000,000) in General Fund and special fund revenues, comprises less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the proposed 1988–89 state budget of forty-two billion three hundred million dollars ($42,300,000,000).
(9) The basic housing goal for state government pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 50003 of the Health and Safety Code is to provide a decent home and suitable living environment for every California family.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares the following:
(1) There is an urgent and continuing need to provide affordable housing to meet the increasingly unfulfilled housing needs of this state.
(2) There is an immediate need to reaffirm commitment to the official housing policy of the state and provide sufficient financial resources to meet this commitment over a reasonable period of time.
(3) There is a need to maximize the amount of federal, state, local, and private resources available for affordable housing and to minimize the administrative costs and simplify the financing systems for producing affordable housing.
(4) There is a critical need to provide financial assistance to (A) purchase, construct, and rehabilitate emergency shelters and transitional housing for homeless families and individuals, (B) construct rental housing for families and individuals, including the special housing needs of the elderly, disabled, and farmworkers, (C) preserve and rehabilitate homes and rental housing, and (D) provide home purchase assistance for first-time homebuyers.
(Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 30, Sec. 1. Effective March 14, 1988.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018