HOUSING POLICY &
LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
While building more homes is vital, so is reforming old and outdated laws that have long made it too difficult and too expensive to build enough housing for everyone who needs it.
That’s why HAC is working hard to enact new laws to make it easier, faster, and less expensive to build more housing at all affordability levels and reform antiquated laws that are only exacerbating our housing crisis.
OUR POLICY AREAS
HAC works along the full policy cycle — from policy debates to implementation — to deliver effective policy solutions. Our policy approach focuses on four key areas:
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We work to reform the entitlement and permitting processes to significantly reduce bureaucratic delays. Our goal is to pave the way for faster and more efficient housing development that can ideally see a project entitled and permitted within one year.
HAC has consistently led efforts to make California’s housing approval process faster, simpler, and more predictable.
Recent History: From early CEQA streamlining (AB 3279, SB 995) and project flexibility (AB 831) to comprehensive post-entitlement timelines (AB 2234), HAC’s advocacy has steadily dismantled bureaucratic bottlenecks.The 2023 session built on this foundation with AB 281 and AB 1114, ensuring timely, ministerial permitting and accountability from local agencies.
In 2025, HAC advanced SB 607 (Wiener) and AB 1026 (Wilson) to further curb CEQA misuse and accelerate utility permitting — two major obstacles that still delay homes from breaking ground. Ultimately, we were able to pass AB 130 and SB 131 two major CEQA reform bills through the budget, as well as AB 610 (Alvarez) bill that prevents new constraints in the housing element process.
Policy Spaces: Entitlement legal/process reform, Administrative/permitting reform
Policy Topics: CEQA reform, Builders remedy, Housing Element reform, Housing Element enforcement, Construction defect, Ministerial review/by-right, Megaprojects
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HAC advocates for modern zoning and building requirements to enable communities to adapt to evolving housing needs with more flexible and innovative designs.
Recent History: Beginning with the ADU reform package (AB 68, SB 13) and zoning modernization bills (SB 50, SB 1085, AB 1485)in 2019–2020, HAC helped open the door for infill, small-lot, and gentle-density housing.
This momentum grew through SB 9 and SB 10 (2021), which legalized duplexes and upzoning without CEQA, and SB 478, which stopped local FAR restrictions from blocking apartments.
Recent wins like SB 4 (2023) and AB 1287 (2023) are reshaping land use to support innovation — allowing churches, nonprofits, and mixed-income developers to build homes by right.
Policy Spaces: Zoning and land use reform, Building code reform
Policy Topics: Density bonus, Coastal commission, Historic districts. Student Housing, ADUs, Single stair/fire code, Modular housing, FAR
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HAC is focused on increasing funding for affordable housing and refining financial tools to ensure projects are not only feasible but also serve people at every income level.
Recent History: Beginning with AB 1483–1487 (2019), which improved fee transparency and created regional financing capacity, HAC built momentum for reforms like AB 602 (Grayson) (standardized nexus studies) and AB 2063 (Berman) (enhanced Density Bonus incentives).
In 2023, ACA 1 sought to lower the voter threshold for local housing bonds, while SB 410 (Becker) modernized utility cost structures to reduce construction delays.
New 2025 priorities strengthen this foundation: SB 937 (Wiener) would reform local impact fee practices to ensure fairness and predictability, and SB 336 (Wiener) would expand the state’s middle-income housing tax credit up to 120% of AMI — a crucial step toward financing workforce housing.
Together, these measures make it less costly and more financially viable to build the homes Californians need.
Policy Spaces: Fee reform, Subsidies, Infrastructure finance
Policy Topics: Fee timing, Fee caps, Fee feasibility, State housing bonds,
Local housing bonds, Social Housing (financing), Budget allocations
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HAC strives to preserve existing homes and protect residents to foster stability, community, and a sense of belonging – after all, people are the most important parts of the equation.
Recent History: SB 330 (2019) and SB 8 (2021) safeguarded existing housing from demolition and down-zoning; SB 290 (Skinner) and SB 649 (Cortese) advanced affordability and tenant preference.
Constitutional reforms — SCA 1 (2019) and SCA 2 (2022) — moved to repeal Article 34, removing a barrier to public housing.
AB 345 (2021) and related ADU bills expanded small-scale homeownership, while SB 593 (Wiener, 2023) addressed historic displacement by replacing lost redevelopment housing.
As we move forward, HAC will continue to advocate for stronger tenant protections, increased homeownership access, and preservation funding to maintain vibrant, mixed-income communities.
Policy Spaces: Homeowner support, Tenant support
Policy Topics: Social housing, Tenant preference legislation, Building housing
