State Policy

As the State of California increasingly turns its focus to housing and homelessness, the Legislative Affairs team aims to advance the work of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care through state-level advocacy for legislation and increased public investment in housing and supportive services. Staff engage with district and Capitol offices, educating decisionmakers on the homelessness landscape in Los Angeles County, and establishing support for policy solutions that strengthen the regional homeless services system.

Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP)

In June 2018, the State of California approved a one-time $500 million budget allocation designed to support large cities and Continuums of Care in their efforts to reduce homelessness in their communities. Under the new Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP), the Los Angeles Continuum of Care is eligible to receive approximately $80 million in new funding in early 2019. As part of the planning process, LAHSA collected feedback from community stakeholders including service and housing providers, residents with lived experience of homelessness, advocates, public agencies, and other system partners to determine the most effective uses of the new one-time allocation. More information on HEAP and the community input process are available here.

For additional information on upcoming funding opportunities resulting from HEAP, please refer to LAHSA's Funding page.

State Legislation Related to Housing and Homelessness

Year	No.	Title	Author	Summary	Status	LAHSA Position
2020	SCA 1	Article 34 Repeal	Sens. Ben Allen (SD-26) and Scott Wiener (SD-11)	Proposes an amendment to repeal Article 34 of the state constitution, which requires municipalities to obtain voter approval prior to developing publicly-funded ‘low-rent’ housing developments.	In Assembly Policy Committee	Support
2020	AB 362	Safe Consumption Sites	Asm. Susan Talamantes Eggman (AD-13)	Authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to approve the operation of safe consumption sites.	In Senate Policy Committee	Support
2020	AB 3277	Parking Citations	Asm. Reginald Jones-Sawyer (AD-59)	Expands eligibility for low-income payment plans and extends period of repayment.	Referred to Senate	Support
2020	AB 2275	State Owned Armories	Asm. Adrin Nazarian (AD-46)	Streamlining security requirements for armories serving as shelters	Referred to Senate	Support
2020	AB 1907	Statewide CEQA Exemptions	Asm. Miguel Santiago (AD-53)	Provides a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption for select interim, supportive, and affordable housing developments.	Held in Committee	Support
2020	AB 1279	Development in High Resource Neighborhoods	Asm. Richard Bloom (AD-50)	Requires select mixed-income and affordable housing projects to be a by-right use in high-resource neighborhoods.	In Senate Policy Committee	Support
2019	SB 575	Financial Aid for Incarcerated Students	Sen. Steven Bradford (SD-35)	Expands Cal Grant eligibility to people who are incarcerated.	Vetoed by Governor	Support
2019	SB 369	Safe Parking Assistance	Sen. Bob Hertzberg (SD-18)	Establishes program exemptions for Safe Parking participants seeking vehicle repair assistance.	Held in Committee	Support
2019	SB 329	Source of Income Discrimination	Sen. Holly Mitchell (SD-30)	Prohibits discrimination by landlords based on a prospective tenant’s source of income.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	SB 282	Supportive Housing for People on Parole	Sen. Jim Beall (SD-15)	Distributes grants to counties to fund supportive housing for individuals on parole with serious mental illness and who are at-risk or currently experiencing homelessness.	Held in Committee	Support
2019	SB 18	Homelessness Prevention	Sen. Nancy Skinner (SD-09)	Require landlords to notify tenant of foreclosure sale of their property and give at least 90 days’ notice before requesting they vacate.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	SB 150	Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program	Sen. Jim Beall (SD-15)	Expedites the distribution of Chafee Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) grants to foster youth pursuing a college degree and provides more flexible standards for meeting eligibility requirements.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	AB 806	Priority Registration for Homeless Students	Asm. Richard Bloom (AD-50)	Extends priority course registration to college students experiencing homelessness. Removes existing sunset provision on the program.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	AB 761	State Owned Armories	Asm. Adrin Nazarian (AD-46)	Allows local jurisdictions to use vacant armories as shelter during hazardous weather.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	AB 58	Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council	Asm. Luz Rivas (AD-39)	Adds the California Department of Education to the state's Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	AB 53	Ban the Box for Rental Applications	Asm. Reginald Jones-Sawyer (AD-59)	Prohibits landlords from inquiring about an applicant's criminal background record during the initial application phase for rental housing.	Held at Request of Author	Support
2019	AB 307	Funding for Homeless Youth	Asm. Eloise Gomez-Reyes (AD-47)	Establishes a $100 million competitive grant program to fund housing programs and wraparound services for youth experiencing homelessness.	Held in Committee	Support
2019	AB 1482	Statewide Rent Cap	Asm. David Chiu (AD-17)	Establishes a statewide cap on annual rent increases of 5%+CPI for apartments and other rental units built at least 15 years ago.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	AB 1481	Just Cause Eviction Protections	Asm. Rob Bonta (AD-18)	Establishes statewide just cause eviction protections.	Inactive File	Support
2019	AB 1197	CEQA Exemptions for Interim and Supportive Housing	Asm. Miguel Santiago (AD-53)	Extends California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemptions to select interim housing and supportive housing developments in the City of Los Angeles.	Signed by Governor	Support
2019	AB 10	State Low Income Housing Tax Credit	Asm. David Chiu (AD-17)	Increases the state's Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to $500 million annually.	Held in Committee	Support