The state legislature has passed a bill to create an L.A. County agency dedicated exclusively to building affordable housing, clearing a path for a potential major new player in the county’s evolving housing landscape — and funding mechanisms that have earned the legislation the ire of industry groups.
The bill, SB 679, had passed the Assembly, where it faced resistance, last week, sending it back to the state senate. On Wednesday senators voted 21 to 13 to agree to the Assembly’s amendments, sealing the bill’s passage. It still must be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to become law.
The senate’s passage prompted praise from supporters, who argue the new agency, called LACAHSA, would help alleviate the region’s housing affordability crisis. Supporters also urged Newsom to sign the bill.
“A powerful, coordinated response to our housing crisis is within reach,” began a statement by Elise Buik, president of United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
“The current housing system in place hasn’t done enough to support working families across the region,” added Tania Medina, a member of the community group LA Voice. “With LACAHSA we know that we can do so much more.”
A representative for Sen. Sydney Kamlager, the L.A. County Democrat who authored the bill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bill has wide support among pro-housing and community groups, as well as various L.A. County cities, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Long Beach. However, industry groups, including the California Association of Realtors, oppose it because of the potential for new property taxes.
“There certainly is a need for the building of affordable housing,” Oliver John Baptiste, of the Apartment Association of California Southern Cities, another opponent, said previously. “The devil is in the details. … Where is that funding going to come from?”
The Pasadena Foothills Realtors, among others, put it more bluntly: “SAY NO TO SB 679!” the group’s website blasted. “SAY NO TO NEW PROPERTY TAXES.”
The new agency, whose full name is the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency — not to be confused with the beleaguered and controversial homeless services agency LAHSA — would have jurisdiction throughout L.A. County and is modeled after a similar agency in the San Francisco Bay Area.
LACAHSA would be charged with a mission to increase the region’s affordable housing supply, by providing funding for new construction and tenant programs as well as a concentrated location for resources such as legal aid. Critically, it would also have the authority to place funding measures on the ballot that would raise revenue through certain property taxes and bonds.
“Many of the tools provided by this bill, including special taxes and bonds, are tools that Los Angeles County and its cities already have,” notes a comment in a senate analysis. “However, not all of these programs serve the entire county. SB 679 creates another regional body on top of the work that cities, the county and other local agencies are already doing.”
It’s an argument that has done little to placate industry opponents, who see the bill as yet more government intervention amid a political climate they view as already hostile to property owners, developers and landlords.
“This bill more or less adds insult to injury,” added Baptiste, referencing the region’s ongoing eviction moratoriums and other pandemic-era tenant protections. “It’s overkill on local government.”
The senate analysis estimates the agency would initially cost over $1 million annually “until it places a revenue generating proposal on the ballot that is passed by the voters and the agency becomes self-sufficient.”
Kamlager has sought an initial $20 million for the agency from the state budget, the same amount that was granted to the Bay Area agency, although there is no such provision in the current bill language.
LACAHSA’s 22-member board would include five members from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the mayor of the City of L.A. and three city council members and the mayor or vice mayor of Long Beach, among others.
If Newsom signs the bill, the agency could assume powers on April 1.
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