The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition (SFHAC) is pleased to announce our official support for Senate Bill 35. SB-35 is housing legislation from the office of Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) (pictured) and lists Senator Allen (D-Santa Monica) and Senator Atkins (D-San Diego) as co-sponsors. Here’s the full bill language.
SB-35 is a response to the state’s Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) guidelines, which indicate how much very low, low, moderate, and above moderate (based on Area Median Income) housing local jurisdictions need to build over a eight year period. Unfortunately, there are currently no enforcement mechanisms that ensure municipalities fulfill their RHNA requirements. This lack of enforcement has resulted in too many communities abdicating their responsibility in home creation. This has resulted in skyrocketing rents and sprawl. SB-35’s intent is to encourage local jurisdictions to hit the goals at all income levels. Cities that fail to meet these targets will have to adopt a streamlining ordinance for approving new housing. You can read Senator Wiener’s comments here.
The legislation made it through the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on Tuesday, March 7th, along with a number of other housing bills that SFHAC continues to evaluate.. SB-35 will next be heard at the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. We will follow SB-35 and other pieces of legislation that have an impact on the Bay Area’s housing shortage.
Read SFHAC’s letter of support
If you want to support SB-35, please sign our online petition and the information will be shared with elected leaders across the State of California. We’ll keep you informed on the bill’s approval process and how you can support it.
