HAC Statewide Policy Priorities
On October 15, HAC members gathered for our State Legislative Package Planning Session, a working discussion to identify the statewide policy priorities HAC will advance in 2026. The session focused on practical, high-impact reforms that directly affect housing feasibility, homeownership, construction efficiency, and long-term affordability.
We came away with four key themes that will shape HAC’s 2026 agenda.
1) Feasibility & Financing Reform
Core theme: Make housing pencil through smarter taxes, flexible fees, and financing innovation.
Key takeaways:
Transfer & property taxes: Broad agreement that current structures discourage multifamily and infill; members flagged legislative/ballot reforms that reduce transaction penalties for RHNA-advancing, climate-aligned housing.
Project-level fee reform: Strong interest in “fee realism”—aligning impact-fee timing with occupancy (not permit issuance) and tying obligations to project viability.
Financing innovation: Members highlighted regional finance tools, targeted tax incentives, and successor-agency reinvestments to close gaps—especially for middle-income and mixed-income housing.
Construction innovation: Incentives and clear statewide standards for modular/off-site delivery; align local permitting with SB 423 timelines to cut friction and cost.
2) Homeownership & Condo Reform
Core theme: Expand attainable ownership and fix blockers.
Key takeaways
Condo feasibility: Outdated liability and presale rules continue to stall condo construction; members want streamlined presales and sensible defect-litigation reforms.
“Fee-out” flexibility: Interest in mutually agreed city–developer fee-out options (for inclusionary or resale restrictions) to create predictable public revenue and unlock ownership projects.
Small-scale ownership: Elevate SB 684 (small-lot subdivisions) implementation to enable gentle-density ownership (e.g., duplexes/4-plexes/THs) with Habitat, SPUR, and local partners contributing expertise.
3) Clean-Up Bills & Legislative Alignment
Core theme: Fix what’s broken in otherwise successful bills.
Bills flagged by members:
AB 130 (environmental/tribal consultation): Inconsistent fire maps and habitat rules are creating unpredictable entitlements; expect a technical clean-up, potentially contentious.
SB 423 streamlining: Maintain/expand ministerial approvals and explore practical coordination with AB 130 provisions.
SB 1123 (vacant-land definition): Clarify “vacant,” minimum lot-size issues, and local consistency.
AB 2011 / HAA: Align timelines, appeal protections, and objective standards across accountability frameworks to reduce delay risk.
4) Dedicated Affordable Housing Funding
Core theme: Build a stable, long-term funding base.
Key takeaways:
Regional/state finance authority: Interest in a vehicle that aggregates bonds, tax increment, and other sources into predictable, ongoing affordable-housing funding.
Bonds/ballot measures: 2026 opportunities (state or regional) noted as potential engines for recurring affordability investment.
EIFDs & “Redevelopment 2.0”: Use EIFDs and related tools to capture local value growth for affordable production and infrastructure—filling the post-redevelopment gap.
Continuing Engagement
We invite all members (whether or not you attended) to share expertise, data, and case studies on any of the items above (especially condo/homeownership reforms, SB 423/AB 130 alignment, feasibility/tax-work, and affordable funding tools).
Please send thoughts or interest to corey@housingactioncoalition.org or ali@housingactioncoalition.org.
