Calif. Health and Safety Code §54000, 54004, 54006, 54007, 54009, 54010, 54016, 54018, 54026, 54028, 54034, Military and Veterans Code §998.600, 998.601, 998.603, 998.604, 998.608
Added by S. B. 3
Effective date: November 6, 2018
The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 will be voted on in the statewide general election on November 6, 2018. If passed, it will create the Affordable Housing Bond Act Trust Fund of 2018. The Housing Finance Committee (HFC) will authorize $3,000,000,000 of bonds to be issued and sold for these purposes. The bonds will have a maturity date of no more than 35 years from the date the bonds were issued. Allocations are set at:
- $1,500,000,000 to the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, to be used for the Multifamily Housing Program for new construction, rehabilitation and preservation of permanent and transitional rental housing for people with up to 60% of the area median income;
- $150,000,000 to the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund to assist in developing high-density uses close to transit stations to promote use of public transportation;
- $300,000,000 to the Regional Planning, Housing, and Infill Incentive Account, which this act also creates, to assist in developing high-density mixed-income housing in locations designated as infill;
- $150,000,000 to the Self-Help Housing Fund for use in the California Housing Finance Agency’s home purchase assistance program;
- $300,000,000 to the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Fund, for the construction or rehabilitation of housing for agricultural employees or for acquisition of manufactured housing to remedy farmworker displacement from existing housing;
- $300,000,000 to the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund for the creation of local pilot programs which create and preserve affordable housing; and
- $300,000,000 to the Self-Help Housing Fund to assist the CalHome Program in the development of multifamily housing units, at least $30,000,000 of which will be used for the rehabilitation or replacement of mobilehomes.
Any funds not used by the program to which they are allocated will be reallocated to the Multifamily Housing Program. Programs will give preference to public works projects.
The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) may provide engineering assistance and environmental review for the Multifamily Housing Program, the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program and the CalHome Program using the bond proceeds allocated to those programs.
All premiums and accrued interest on sold bonds will be transferred to the General Fund as credit to expenditures for bond interest. Amounts derived from premiums may be reserved to pay the cost of bond issuance before transfer to the General Fund.
The state will collect an annual sum of money in addition to ordinary revenue to pay the principal and interest for the bonds, which may be refunded like any other government bond. Any refund bonds are authorized by the passage of the act.
In addition, the Veterans Finance Committee (VFC) may create a debt of the State of California of no more than $1,000,000,000 to provide farm and home aid for veterans.
When the state collects revenue for these bonds, money will be transferred to the Payment Fund to pay the debt service on all the money in the fund, not including refunding bonds. When the money transferred is less than debt service due, the unpaid balance will be transferred to the General Fund, with interest at the same rate of interest as the bonds, compounded semiannually.
Editor’s note — This is one of several bills passed by the California legislature to address the state’s housing shortage.
