Gov. Newsom Sponsors Legislation to Expand Local Governments’ Responsibility to Plan for the Housing Needs of People Experiencing Homelessness
SACRAMENTO — Building on new measures that will increase oversight of state homelessness funding to ensure accountability by local jurisdictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom May 7 announced his support for new legislation to ensure cities and counties do their part to tackle homelessness. The legislation – Assembly Bill 3093, introduced by Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) – will require that local jurisdictions comprehensively consider the needs of homeless populations as part of the RHNA process and in their housing element planning efforts.
By creating new income categories to more accurately capture the needs of individuals experiencing and at risk of homelessness and requiring local jurisdictions to consider each of those categories in their housing elements, this bill would require communities to more comprehensively plan for the housing needs of individuals currently experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The legislation will also require each region to submit data on the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness to better ensure that they are accounted for in the RHNA process. This is part of a larger effort by the administration to boost access to housing and ensure accountability to address homelessness at the local level.
AB 3093 comes as part of recommendations by the California Department of Housing and Community Development or HCD in their recently released California’s Housing Future 2040: The Next Regional Housing Needs Allocation or RHNA.
The report includes recommended changes to the RHNA and housing element process to more effectively plan for the housing that will be needed across the state by 2040. Among these recommendations was that the RHNA determination process be revised to better account for the housing needs of Californians experiencing and at risk of homelessness.
Currently, RHNA categorizes those earning at or below 50% of Area Median Income or AMI as very low-income. This bill would distribute this category into very low-income (30-50% AMI), extremely low-income (15-30% AMI), and acutely low-income (0-15% AMI), better preparing jurisdictions to plan for housing that meets the needs of the lowest-income households and people experiencing homelessness. In turn, these updates will help HCD hold jurisdictions accountable to meeting their housing goals and addressing homelessness in their communities.
To learn more about this proposed legislation, click here.
National Monument Expansions Bring California Closer to Conservation Milestone
SACRAMENTO — Two national monument expansions announced by President Biden May 7 are supporting California’s work to conserve more lands and coastal waters.
The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument near Napa and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in Los Angeles will both increase in size, protecting more of California’s unique biodiversity and culturally significant Native American tribal lands. The expansions also help provide greater access to the outdoors to underserved communities.
Gov. Gavin Newsom stopped by Berryessa Snow Mountain, to celebrate this significant step forward in preserving California’s natural habitats.
Watch the Governor’s video:
President Biden’s announcement expands protected lands in California by 130,000 acres. Notably, this federal expansion gets California closer to its 30×30 goal – conserving 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. The state now stands at 24.5% of lands conserved.
The national monument expansions – championed by Senator Padilla, California’s Congressional delegation, tribal partners and community organizations – build on California’s ongoing efforts to conserve the state’s biodiversity and natural resources:
California recently unveiled 81 targets for nature-based solutions to help the state achieve its climate goals, including reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
The state is supporting the return of over 38,000 acres of ancestral land to tribal stewardship and advancing nature-based solutions projects on tribal lands.
California announced the opening of the first new state park in nearly a decade: the Dos Rios Park conserves approximately 1,600 acres of land and serves as the largest public-private floodplain restoration project in California.