BILL NUMBER: SB 1413	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 10, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 27, 2016
	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.
  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 part is to facilitate the
acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of
affordable rental housing, for 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."
   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
 a majority of its  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 a unified school district maintaining prekindergarten,
transitional kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, an
elementary school district maintaining prekindergarten, transitional
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, or a high school district
maintaining grades 9 to 12, 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.  
resources available to housing developers. 
   (b) Promote public and private partnerships.
   (c) Foster innovative financing opportunities.
   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  or tax credits  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.