AB 816: Homelessness: Housing Trust Fund: housing projects.

Existing federal law requires the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a Housing Trust Fund to provide grants to states to increase the supply of rental housing for extremely low and very low income families, including homeless families, and home ownership for extremely low and very low income families. Existing federal law establishes regulations for the implementation of these grants.

Existing state law designates the Department of Housing and Community Development as the state agency responsible for administering funds received by the state from the federal Housing Trust Fund. The department is required to administer the funds through existing or newly created programs that produce, preserve, rehabilitate, or support the operation of rental housing for extremely low income and very low income households, except that up to 10% of funding may be used to support home ownership for extremely low income and very low income households.

Existing law requires the department to collaborate with the California Housing Finance Agency to develop an allocation plan to demonstrate how the funds will be distributed, based on the priority housing needs identified in the states consolidated plan, and to convene a stakeholder process to inform the development of the plan. Existing law requires the allocation plan and program guidelines to prioritize projects based on enumerated factors such as the extent to which project rents are affordable. The department is required to submit this plan to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development and the Senate Transportation and Housing Committees 30 days after receipt of the federal funds.

This bill would require the department to prioritize funding for projects that serve people experiencing homelessness, to the extent that a sufficient number of projects exist. The bill would authorize the department to alter priority for funding to align eligibility for possible benefits, including Medi-Cal benefits that are intended to assist people experiencing homelessness.