03/29/2024

State lawmakers want to restore an urban renewal and affordable housing program. But it’s complicated

Still, the loss of redevelopment has left funding holes that haven’t been filled, particularly for low-income housing. Since redevelopment’s dissolution, the state has approved spending from its cap-and-trade environmental program and implemented a new real estate transaction fee to subsidize the development of low-income housing. Those efforts, however, are generating less money than the $1-billion-a-year redevelopment for housing when it was eliminated.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that providing subsidized homes just for the 1.7 million low-income California renters who spend more than half their income on housing would cost at least $15 billion a year. The state needs to find new sources of revenue, said Chiu, who is the chairman of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.

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