Amended  IN  Assembly  April 20, 2017
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 05, 2017
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 03, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 1182

Introduced by Assembly Member Low

February 17, 2017

An act to add and repeal Part 15 (commencing with Section 53580) to Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1182, as amended, Low. Housing: Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.
Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Agency with a primary purpose of meeting the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency to administer various housing finance assistance programs, including, among others, the Roberti-Greene Home Purchase Assistance Program, which provides first-time home buyers with home purchase assistance in the form of interest rate subsidies and downpayment assistance. Existing law authorizes the agency to create its own home purchase assistance programs, home purchase assistance products, or both, on such terms and conditions as the agency deems prudent. Existing law requires the agency to administer the Extra Credit Teacher Home Purchase Program, as specified, and any other school personnel home ownership assistance program that is set forth by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee.
This bill would establish the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program (pilot program) for the purpose of providing financial downpayment assistance to an eligible applicant who is teaching, or commits to teaching, in a high-cost county. The bill would require the California Housing Finance Agency, upon appropriation of money by the Legislature, to administer the pilot program, and would require the agency to adopt regulations to implement the pilot program. The bill would provide that financial assistance for purposes of the pilot program may include downpayment assistance or annual rental stipends. The bill would require downpayment assistance provided pursuant to the pilot program to comply with specified provisions. The bill would authorize an applicant to submit an application, which must contain certain information, to the agency to receive financial downpayment assistance under the pilot program. The bill would require the agency to review any application submitted to determine whether the applicant is eligible to receive financial downpayment assistance. The bill would require the agency when awarding grants downpayment assistance under the pilot program to give priority to certain types of eligible applicants.
This bill would create in the State Treasury the Teacher Housing Assistance Fund, and would provide that moneys in that fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available to the agency for purposes of the pilot program.
This bill would provide that the pilot program shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023. The bill would require the agency on or before December 31, 2023, to submit a report to specified committees of the Legislature that must contain specified information relating to the demand and effectiveness of the pilot program, as well as a recommendation on whether the pilot program should be continued. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2024.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Part 15 (commencing with Section 53580) is added to Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

PART 15. Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program

53580.
 This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.

53581.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The State of California is currently experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers.
(b) A number of factors, including the high cost of living, affect a school district’s ability to recruit the necessary number of teachers.
(c) A high cost of living particularly affects recruitment in city and suburban districts.
(d) According to a recent study, 89 percent of districts in cities and 69 percent of districts in suburban areas report experiencing a teacher shortage.
(e) San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Los Angeles are among the counties with the highest cost of living in the state.

53582.
 The purpose of this part is to assist new and experienced teachers who are currently teaching or have committed to teach in a high-cost county to obtain housing within the county in which he or she is teaching or has committed to teaching.

53583.
 For purposes of this part, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Agency” means the California Housing Finance Agency.
(b) “Eligible applicant” means a person who satisfies all of the following:
(1) Holds a valid teaching credential.
(2) Currently teaches or has committed to teaching in a school district located in a high-cost county.
(3) Resides within the high-cost county in which that person is teaching or has committed to teaching.
(c) “High-cost county” means a county where the median housing cost exceeds five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or the median rental cost exceeds three thousand dollars ($3,000). For purposes of the pilot program, high-cost county is limited to the City and County of San Francisco, the County of San Diego, the County of Santa Clara, or the County of Los Angeles.
(d) “Pilot program” means the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program established by this part.

53584.
 (a) There is hereby established the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.
(b) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the agency shall administer the pilot program for the purpose of providing financial downpayment assistance to eligible applicants. The agency shall adopt regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code) to implement this part.
(c) Downpayment assistance shall be subject to the following requirements:

(c)Financial assistance shall consist of the following:

(1)A one-time downpayment assistance that is subject to the following requirements:

(A)

(1) The amount of the downpayment assistance shall not exceed 20 10 percent of the home sale price and may not exceed 20 percent of the median home cost for the high-cost county that the eligible applicant resides in.
(2) Downpayment assistance shall be provided as a deferred-payment, low-interest, subordinate mortgage loan.
(3) The amount of the downpayment assistance shall be due and payable at the end of the term or upon sale of or refinancing of the home.

(B)

(4) As a condition of receiving any funds under this paragraph, section, the eligible applicant shall commit to teaching in the high-cost county that the eligible applicant resides in for five years after the purchase of the house.

(2)An annual rental stipend that is subject to the following requirements:

(A)The amount of the stipend shall be provided in a lump sum to an eligible applicant in an amount that is equal to one-half of the eligible applicant’s annual rent, but that amount may not exceed an amount that is equal to one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per month, when divided by 12 months.

(B)As a condition of receiving any funds under this paragraph, the eligible applicant shall commit to teaching continuously in the high-cost county for each fiscal year in which the funds are received.

(5) An eligible applicant who receives downpayment assistance pursuant to this section, shall submit, by January 1 of each year, a form to the agency that certifies that the applicant is employed at a school district that is located within the high-cost county that the applicant committed to teaching in pursuant to paragraph (4).

53585.
 (a) In order to receive financial downpayment assistance pursuant to the pilot program, an applicant must submit an application to the agency, in a form and manner prescribed by the agency, that includes all of the following information:
(1) The school that the applicant is teaching in or has committed to teach in that is located in a high-cost county.

(2)The type of financial assistance requested.

(3)

(2) Any other information that the agency determines is necessary to process the application.
(b) The agency shall review any application submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) to determine whether the applicant is eligible for funding. downpayment assistance.
(c) In awarding grants downpayment assistance to eligible applicants, the agency shall give priority to eligible applicants holding credentials in the following high-need subject matter areas:
(1) Bilingual education.
(2) Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
(3) Special education.

53586.
 There is hereby created in the State Treasury the Teacher Housing Assistance Fund. Moneys in the fund shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available to the agency for purposes of this part.

53587.
 (a) Except for subdivision (b), this part shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023.
(b) (1) On or before December 31, 2023, the agency shall submit a report to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Appropriations that evaluates the demand for the financial downpayment assistance provided by the pilot program, and the effectiveness of the pilot program in addressing the state’s teacher shortage. The agency shall include in that report a recommendation on whether the pilot program should be continued.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) This part shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2024, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2024, deletes or extends that date.