BILL NUMBER: SB 1220 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senators DeSaulnier and Steinberg
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Atkins)
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Section 27388.1 to the Government Code, and to add
Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 50470) to Part 2 of Division 31
of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1220, as introduced, DeSaulnier. Housing Opportunity Trust Fund
Act of 2012.
Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for,
among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing,
farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income
households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified
amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing
law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds are used to
finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to
infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill
development, and housing-related parks.
This bill would enact the Housing Opportunity Trust Fund Act of
2012. The bill would make several legislative findings and
declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing
sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The
bill would impose a fee of $75 to be paid at the time of the
recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required
or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on
counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the
bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would
require revenues from this fee be sent quarterly to the Department of
Housing and Community Development for deposit in the Housing
Opportunity Trust Fund, which the bill would create within the State
Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be
expended for the purpose of supporting affordable housing, as
specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting
requirements.
This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose
of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would
require for passage the approval of 2/3 of the membership of each
house of the Legislature.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known as the Housing Opportunity
Trust Fund Act of 2012.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that having a healthy
housing market that provides an adequate supply of homes affordable
to Californians at all income levels is critical to the economic
prosperity and quality of life in the state. The Legislature further
finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Funding approved by the state's voters in 2002 and 2006, as of
June 2011, has financed the construction, rehabilitation, and
preservation of over 11,600 shelter spaces and 57,220 affordable
apartments, including 2,500 supportive homes for people experiencing
homelessness. In addition, these funds have helped 57,290 families
become or remain homeowners. Nearly all of the voter-approved funding
for affordable housing was awarded by the beginning of 2012.
(b) The requirement in the Community Redevelopment Law that
redevelopment agencies set aside 20 percent of tax increment for
affordable housing generated roughly one billion dollars
($1,000,000,000) per year. With the elimination of redevelopment
agencies, this funding stream has disappeared.
(c) California has 12 percent of the United States' population but
21.4 percent of its homeless population. Seventy-three percent of
people experiencing homelessness in California fell into it because
they could not afford a place to live. Sixty-two percent of homeless
Californians are unsheltered, 14 percent are veterans, and 20 percent
are families.
(d) Furthermore, 4 of the top 10 metropolitan areas in the country
for homeless are in the following metropolitan areas in California:
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana,
Fresno, and Stockton.
(e) California continues to have the second lowest homeownership
rate in the nation, and minimum wage earners have to work 120 hours
per week to afford the average two-bedroom apartment.
(f) Millions of Californians are affected by the state's chronic
housing shortage, including seniors, veterans, people experiencing
chronic homelessness, working families, people with mental, physical,
or developmental disabilities, agricultural workers, people exiting
jails, prisons, and other state institutions, survivors of domestic
violence, and former foster and transition-aged youth.
(g) While the current credit and foreclosure crisis has resulted
in reductions in home prices in some areas, it has increased pressure
on the rental housing market and slowed new housing production of
all types, exacerbating the mismatch between the ever increasing
number of households that need housing they can afford and the
supply.
(h) California's workforce continues to experience longer commute
times as the workforce seeks affordable housing outside the areas in
which they work. If California is unable to support the construction
of affordable housing in these areas, congestion problems will strain
the state's transportation system and exacerbate greenhouse gas
emissions.
(i) Many economists agree that the state's unemployment rate of
over 11 percent is due in large part to massive shrinkage in the
construction industry from 2005 to 2009, including losses of nearly
700,000 construction-related jobs, a 60 percent decline in
construction spending, and an 83 percent reduction in residential
permits. Restoration of a healthy construction sector will
significantly reduce the state's unemployment rate.
(j) The lack of sufficient housing impedes economic growth and
development by making it difficult for California employers to
attract and retain employees.
(k) To keep pace with continuing demand, the state should identify
and establish a permanent, ongoing source, or sources of funding
dedicated to affordable housing development. Without a reliable
source of funding for housing affordable to the state's workforce and
most vulnerable residents, the state and its local and private
housing development partners will not be able to continue increasing
the supply of housing after existing housing bond resources are
depleted.
(l) The investment will leverage billions of dollars in private
investment, lessen demands on law enforcement and dwindling health
care resources as fewer people are forced to live on the streets or
in dangerous substandard buildings, and increase businesses' ability
to attract and retain skilled workers.
SEC. 3. Section 27388.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:
27388.1. (a) In addition to any other recording fees specified in
this code, a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75) shall be paid at the
time of recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice
required or permitted by law to be recorded except those expressly
exempted from payment of recording fees. "Real estate instrument"
includes, but is not limited to, the following documents: deed, grant
deed, trustee's deed, deed or trust, reconveyance, quit claim deed,
fictitious deed of trust, assignment of deed of trust, request for
notice of default, abstract of judgment, subordination agreement,
declaration of homestead, abandonment of homestead, notice of
default, release or discharge, easement, notice of trustee sale,
notice of completion, UCC financing statement, mechanic's lien, maps
easements, and covenants, conditions, and restrictions.
(b) The fees, after deduction of any actual and necessary
administrative costs incurred by the county in carrying out this
section, shall be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and
Community Development for deposit in the Housing Opportunity Trust
Fund established by Section 50471 of the Health and Safety Code to be
expended for the purposes set forth in that section. In addition,
the county shall pay to the Department of Housing and Community
Development interest, at the legal rate, on any funds not paid to the
Controller within 30 days of the end of a quarter.
SEC. 4. Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 50470) is added to
Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 2.5 HOUSING OPPORTUNITY TRUST FUND
Article 1. General Provisions
50470. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Housing Opportunity Trust Fund Act of 2012.
50471. (a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury the
Housing Opportunity Trust Fund. All interest or other increments
resulting from the investment of moneys in the fund shall be
deposited in the fund, notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the
Government Code. Moneys in the Housing Opportunity Trust Fund shall
not be subject to transfer to any other fund pursuant to any
provision of Part 2 (commencing with Section 16300) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code, except to the Surplus Money
Investment Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the
fund may be expended for the purpose of supporting the development,
acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of housing affordable
to low- and moderate-income households, including, but not limited
to, emergency shelters; transitional and permanent rental housing,
including necessary service and operating subsidies; foreclosure
mitigation; and homeownership opportunities.
(b) Both of the following shall be paid and deposited in the fund:
(1) Any moneys appropriated and made available by the Legislature
for purposes of the fund.
(2) Any other moneys that may be made available to the department
for the purposes of the fund from any other source or sources.
Article 2. Audits and Reporting
50475. The Bureau of State Audits shall conduct periodic audits
to ensure that the annual allocation to individual programs is
awarded by the department in a timely fashion consistent with the
requirements of this chapter. The first audit shall be conducted no
later than 24 months from the effective date of this section.
50476. In its annual report to the Legislature pursuant to
Section 50408, the department shall report how funds that were made
available pursuant to this chapter and allocated in the prior year
were expended. The department shall make the report available to the
public on its Internet Web site.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.