Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Brian W. Jones (R-Santee), and several other legislators held a bill signing ceremony in San Francisco on the morning of September 28th to announce the enactment of several housing and homelessness-related measures.
Senate Bill 1421, authored by Senator Jones, adds a person with developmental disabilities who has experienced homelessness to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CAL ICH) advisory committee. The CAL ICH mission is to identify resources, benefits, and services to prevent and work toward ending homelessness in California. Senator Jones stated that under this bill “the person appointed to fill this new seat on the advisory committee will help bring an added and valuable perspective to the table as the Council works on innovative and thoughtful solutions to tackle homelessness.”
Senate Bill 6 extends affordable housing construction to office, retail, and parking zones so long as they are not adjacent to zones dedicated for industrial use. Assembly Bill 2011 creates a streamline approval process for 100% affordable housing projects in commercial zones. It also implements enhanced labor standards to ensure fair wages and benefits for laborers of these projects.
Together, SB 6 and AB 2011 remove regulations that had previously held up affordable housing legislation in the State Senate, preventing Californians from accessing housing they could afford. Senator Jones stated that “the bipartisanship, and teamwork from both developers and labor, demonstrated here today shows the urgency and commitment necessary to tackle the housing crisis and build more housing, faster. Developers, labor, and the state working together, this is how your legislature is supposed to work.”
