🏡💚 Where are the million homes?
September 6, 2024
At our August coalition call, Rae from Housing Now and Zach from ACCE joined to share about the launch of the 1 Million Homes campaign. As the name implies, the demand is in one sense quite simple: 1 Million new affordable homes by 2030.
But where did that demand come from — is that just a nice sounding number?
Actually, that number comes directly from the state Housing and Community Development Agency and Governor Newsom’s Statewide Housing Plan developed in 2022 (does that make Governor Newsom Dr. Evil in this metaphor? 🤔). In that plan, the state set a goal of adding 2.5 million homes by 2030, with no less than 1 million being affordable to low-income households.
The problem is — there was no actual plan on how to get there. Meanwhile, the state’s budget has spent roughly 1% of total expenditures on housing and homelessness since 2018.
The funding outlook became even more grim this year as the statewide housing bond was shelved, and the Bay Area regional housing bond was pulled from the ballot a few weeks ago, all amidst the backdrop of ongoing predicted budget deficits.
Ultimately, this campaign is about making good on a promise. It’s an awareness and narrative campaign, drawing attention to the severe underinvestment in housing solutions in the face of a dire housing crisis. It’s also a pressure campaign, holding Governor Newsom and elected officials accountable to the goal that they themselves created. And it’s (eventually) a policy campaign — if they’re not going to come up with a real plan, we will.
Because really, we don’t just want more of the current broken housing system. Rae and Zach’s presentation made clear that this is about setting ourselves up for the housing future we want. That means creating homes that are truly and permanently affordable, community-controlled, and sustainable. In short, we want green social housing.
In my mind, the potential risk of the demand for 1 million homes is that it spurs Governor Newsom into action, but not the kind of action that we want. We don’t want this to be used as leverage to undercut environmental and labor standards, or to incentivize building in places that are polluted or prone to climate-fueled disasters, or to give a huge handout to the corporate real estate industry.
That’s why it’s so important that we have clear principles about the kinds of housing solutions we want, and a plan in place for how we can get there. It’s also why I think it’s crucial that climate, environmental justice, and worker organizations engage in this campaign — to support the cause, but also to inform our housing justice allies and help to shape the campaign.
The 1 Million Homes campaign is just kicking off, with a virtual town hall tomorrow (Sat 9/6). If you can’t make that one, there will be events across the state throughout September and October (check out this graphic listing the public events).
And speaking of campaign kickoffs, the Prop 5 campaign is launching today at 10am — register here for that virtual kickoff event.
The Legislature finished their 2024 session last weekend (or did they?), passing along this year’s set of bills to the Governor’s desk. In a wild flurry of last ditch efforts that we’ve come to expect at the end of session, the dust has settled to reveal the bills that made it, and those that didn’t. Here’s a look at the status of the bills in our GND Slate that made it this far:
AB 846 (Bonta) Rent Cap for Affordable Housing — PASSED in the Senate (29-10), and amendments concurred in by the Assembly (57-10)
AB 1866 (Hart) Idle wells — PASSED in the Senate (29-8), and amendments concurred in by the Assembly (48-17)
AB 2086 (Schiavo) Transportation Accountability Act — PASSED in the Senate (40-0), and amendments concurred in by the Assembly (77-0)
AB 2716 (Bryan) Idle wells — PASSED in the Senate (29-9), and amendments concurred in by the Assembly (48-13)
AB 3233 (Addis) Gas Code updates: local control — PASSED in the Senate (21-12), and amendments concurred in by the Assembly (46-15)
Huge congratulations to everyone who worked on these bills this year! With Big Oil going hard on attacking the Polluter Pays package of bills (especially AB 3233), it’s fantastic to see all those bills get through.
Of course, Governor Newsom still has to sign these into law, and he hasn’t been shy about using the veto pen in the past. But this it’s a major feat, and one that should be celebrated even as we move to the next fight.
Make Polluters Pay rally in the week leading up to floor votes. Source: Politico
WHAT WE’RE READING
California city’s $550m deal with Chevron could be a national model for environmentalists (Politico)
California settles lawsuit with Sacramento suburb over affordable housing project (Associated Press)
Permanently Affordable Housing Has Support from Both Republican and Democratic Voters. Presidential Candidates Should Take Note. (Urban Institute)
More extreme heat + more people = danger in these California cities. ‘Will it get as hot as Death Valley?’ (CalMatters)
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