BILL NUMBER: SB 1413 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 19, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 30, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leno
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chiu and Ting)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) to Division
31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1413, as amended, Leno. School districts: employee housing.
Existing law establishes various housing and home loan programs
throughout the state to help low-income families and other specified
groups. Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school
district, when leasing a building for housing of school district
employees, to lease the building for any period they deem necessary.
This bill would authorize a school district to establish and
implement programs, as provided, that address the housing needs of
teachers and school district employees who face challenges in
securing affordable housing.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The
Legislature finds and declares that the changes made by this act are
necessary in order to provide affordable housing opportunities to
teachers and other school district employees.
(b) California places a high value on our public education system,
and the stability of housing for school employees is critical to the
overall success and stability of each school in California.
(c) The supply of new preschool through grade 12 teachers in
California has hit a 12-year low, and enrollment in educator
preparation programs has dropped by more than 70 percent over the
last decade, and this shortage most impacts schools serving more
low-income and minority students.
(d) Demand for teachers and staff is projected to grow further as
school districts continue to recover from the recession and seek to
replace previously eliminated programs and positions. Districts are
also coping with attrition, which averages about 8 percent of all
teachers annually. This attrition includes inevitable retirements, as
fully one-third of California teachers are over 50 years of age and
10 percent are over 60 years of age, but most attrition is due to
younger teachers leaving.
(e) A growing trend driving teacher turnover is the steadily
increasing cost of housing in certain markets. In addition to the
negative emotional and developmental impacts teacher turnover has on
students, the costs borne by school districts to recruit, hire, and
train new teachers each summer is immense. In San Francisco alone,
during the summer of 2015, the school district had to recruit, hire,
and train 700 new teachers. Many cited housing costs as the reason
why the teacher was leaving the school district.
(f) Students and the community at large are benefited by teachers
living in the community in which they practice their profession. It
ensures stability, community involvement, and stronger ties between
teachers, their students, and their families.
(g) By creating affordable housing options for teachers near or on
schoolsites, it also reduces vehicle miles traveled and time away
from teachers' homes, thereby reducing or eliminating commute time.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Part 14
(commencing with Section 53570) is added to Division 31 of the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
PART 14. Teacher Housing Act of 2016
53570. This part may be cited as the Teacher Housing Act of 2016.
53571. (a) The purpose of this article is to facilitate the
acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of
affordable rental housing, for teachers, school district
employees, and their families teachers and school
district employees to allow teachers or school district
employees to access and maintain housing stability.
(b) A program established under this part shall be restricted to
"teacher or school district employees" and their families.
employees. "
53572. As used in this part:
(a) "Affordable rental housing" means a rental housing
development, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 50675.2, with
affordable rent, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
50675.2, rents restricted to levels that are
affordable to persons and families of low or moderate income, as
defined in Section 50093, but neither definition is restrictive
to only projects with five or more units.
(b) "Teacher or school district employee" means any person
employed by an elementary school district or unified school
district, maintaining a kindergarten or grades 1 to 8, inclusive, or
a high school district or unified school district, a
unified school district maintaining prekindergarten, transitional
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, an elementary school
district maintaining prekin dergarten, transitional
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, or a high school district
maintaining grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
inclusive, including, but not limited to, certificated and
classified staff.
53573. A school district may establish and implement programs
that address the housing needs of teachers and school district
employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing. To the
extent feasible, the school district may establish and implement
programs that, among other things, do the following:
(a) Leverage federal, state, and local public, private, and
nonprofit programs and fiscal resources.
(b) Promote public and private partnerships.
(c) Foster innovative financing opportunities.
(d) Dedicate school district-owned land to the development of
affordable rental housing and restrict occupancy to teachers and
school district employees.
53574. This part specifically creates a state policy supporting
housing for teachers and school district employees, as described in
Section 42(g)(9)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, and, further,
permits school districts and developers in receipt of local or state
funds designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy
to teachers and school district employees on land owned by school
districts, so long as that housing does not violate any other
applicable laws.