BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2200
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2200 (Thurmond) - As Amended April 14, 2016
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|Policy |Housing and Community |Vote:|5 - 1 |
|Committee: |Development | | |
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|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Education | |5 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) to
administer a program to provide financing assistance to
qualified school districts and qualified developers for the
creation of affordable rental housing for school districts
employees, including teachers. Only school districts with a high
average cost for recruiting teachers, a low retention rate, and
with 60% of their students participating in the National School
Lunch Program would be eligible. This bill appropriates $100
AB 2200
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million from the General Fund to fund the program and allows for
reimbursements to affected agencies and departments.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)This bill appropriates $100 million (GF) to the newly created
School Employee Housing Assistance Fund.
2)This bill requires money in the Fund to be continuously
appropriated to CalHFA for the following purposes:
a) to reimburse the agency for administrative costs, not to
exceed 5% of the total appropriation ($5 million);
b) to reimburse the State Department of Education for the
costs of certifying qualified school districts, not to
exceed and unspecified percent of the total appropriation;
and
c) to make predevelopment grants to qualified school
districts, not to exceed 5% of the total appropriation ($5
million). Because the original source of the grants would
be the General Fund, any predevelopment grants awarded to
qualified school districts likely would count toward the
Proposition 98 minimum school funding guarantee.
Accordingly, funding for ongoing Proposition 98 programs
would be reduced by an amount equal to predevelopment
grants awarded to school districts.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. According to the author, "There is no existing
program that allows financially-strained school districts to
receive funding for the development of school employee
housing. Some school districts in California have begun to
increase teacher retention by providing housing to teachers.
School districts in Los Angeles and Santa Clara, with San
Francisco considering such a plan, have teachers in
district-sponsored housing. However, for financially-strapped
districts in high-cost areas, such a proven solution is not an
option for attracting new teachers into the district. And
while the Extra Credit Teacher Home Purchase Program does
incentivize homeownership for school employees, for many new
teachers beginning their career, rental housing is the first
step prior to homeownership-a step that those in high-cost
areas cannot take. AB 2200 seeks to close the achievement gap
by allowing school employees, including teachers, to remain in
the cities where they work."
2)Background. California has seen a drastic decline in funding
to support the construction of affordable housing for very
low-, low- and moderate-income families. Historically, the
state has invested in low- and moderate-income housing
primarily by providing funding for construction. Because of
the high cost of land and construction and the subsidy needed
to keep housing affordable to residents, affordable housing is
expensive to build. Developers typically use multiple sources
of financing, including voter-approved housing bonds, state
and federal low-income housing tax credits, private bank
financing, and local matching dollars.
CalHFA, the state's affordable housing bank, provides down
payment assistance to qualified low- and moderate-income
buyers through a loan secured on the property that is repaid
when a home sells. In addition, CalHFA provides loans to
multifamily housing developers to construct housing affordable
housing. CalHFA does not receive funding from the General
Fund and pays for its programs by issuing bonds which are then
repaid from loan proceeds. Developments financed using
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CalHFA's multi-family loans agree to provide the housing for a
term of 55 years.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081