BILL NUMBER: SB 781 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 12, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Speier
FEBRUARY 25, 1999
An act to add Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 50898) to Part 2
of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 781, as amended, Speier. Housing subsidies: counties.
Existing law sets forth the duties of the Department of Housing
and Community Development in administering various housing programs
in the state.
This bill would require the department to implement
oversee a rental housing subsidy
program to be administered by counties, at their option, pursuant to
which families who are successfully meeting participation
requirements under the welfare-to-work component of the CalWORKs
program, or who are certain former CalWORKs recipients whose income
is less than 150% of the federal poverty level, would receive
subsidies for rent for up to 3 years, at specified levels. It would
require a county applying to provide
receiving subsidies to provide a 15% match, and would authorize
the county to develop criteria for eligibility for the program in
addition to that set forth in the bill, and to designate a local
agency or community-based organization to implement the program.
The bill would require participating counties to provide a status
report to the department by March 1, 2003, and would require the
department to report to the Legislature by September 1, 2003, on the
program.
The bill would provide that funding for the rental housing subsidy
program shall be provided through reserve Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program funds only during fiscal years in which
the Legislature has appropriated funds to the department for the
rental housing subsidy program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) According to nationwide research, California has the greatest
number of low-income renters facing unaffordable rents, substandard
conditions, or both.
(b) The average monthly rents in high-cost areas of the state are
as much as 60 percent or more above the statewide median.
(c) The average rents in high-cost counties are almost double the
maximum aid payment for CalWORKs families.
(d) Families in high-cost areas are increasingly at risk of
homelessness as they struggle month to month to meet their basic
needs.
(e) Research studies have proven that subsidized housing
stabilizes families at risk of homelessness and helps families move
toward self-sufficiency.
(f) Thousands of low-income California families will be required
to participate in work activities for a minimum of 32 hours per week
beginning July 1999 and must find self-sustaining employment within
five years or face losing their CalWORKs benefits.
(g) Counties are finding that families who face housing crises
have more difficulty meeting the CalWORKs participation requirements
and progressing toward self-sufficiency.
(h) High housing costs and long waiting lists are rendering
current federal housing programs ineffective. Section 8 waiting
lists in high-cost counties are either closed or are so long that it
takes a family more than five years to move to the top of the list to
receive a subsidy. Low-income families in high-cost counties have
extreme difficulty using Section 8 certificates because the
HUD United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development fair market rents (FMRs) on which federal Section 8
certificates are based do not accurately reflect the extremely high
rents.
(i) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to establish a
transitional and time-limited housing subsidy program for CalWORKs
families living in high-cost counties that encourages work and
provides CalWORKs families with a cash rental subsidy to help them
meet their basic needs and progress toward self-sufficiency.
SEC. 2. Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 50898) is added to
Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 18. HOUSING SUBSIDIES FOR COUNTIES
50898. (a) The Department of Housing and Community
Development shall implement a department shall oversee
a rental housing subsidy program to be administered by
counties, at their option.
(b) (1) The subsidy provided under this section shall be applied
for the benefit of families who are successfully meeting
participation requirements under the welfare-to-work component of the
CalWORKs program pursuant to Article 3.2 (commencing with Section
11320) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or former CalWORKs recipients who are receiving
retention services within one year of receipt of aid and whose income
level is less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
(2) To be eligible for a subsidy under this section, a family must
be paying 50 percent or more of their its
grant and income for rent. Counties may establish
additional eligibility criteria, at their option.
(c) Individual subsidies under this section shall be limited to
the fair market rents in the local area, as defined by an acceptable
market study, and shall be applied for no longer than a total of
three years, as follows:
(1) In the first year, 50 percent of the family's rent shall be
subsidized.
(2) In the second year, 40 percent of the family's rent shall be
subsidized.
(3) In the third year, 30 percent of the family's rent shall be
subsidized.
(d) Rental units subsidized under this program shall meet
acceptable housing quality standards.
(e) A county applying to provide subsidies pursuant to this
section shall provide a 15-percent match, which may include funds
from the county's CalWORKs single allocation or county
maintenance-of-effort funds under the CalWORKs program, or other
county funds to the extent not in conflict with federal law. County
funds expended on housing case management linked to this program
shall count toward the required match. County funds currently being
expended on housing assistance programs for needy adults may also be
counted toward the 15-percent match requirement.
(f)
(e) In order to receive funds under this section, a county shall
demonstrate an urgent need for housing assistance for its families
receiving CalWORKs assistance. Counties shall submit to the
department documentation that includes the number and percentage of
CalWORKs families paying more than 50 percent of their grant and
income in rent, the number and percentage of CalWORKs families living
in shared housing, the average rents by unit size broken down by
subcounty region, the vacancy rate among units whose rental cost is
at or below 100 percent of the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) fair market rent levels for the county,
and the incidence of homelessness among CalWORKs families in the
county. Only counties that provide sufficient documentation
demonstrating a need for housing assistance for its CalWORKs families
shall receive funding under this section.
(f) A county that receives funds pursuant to this section shall
provide a 15 percent match, which may include funds from the county's
CalWORKs single allocation, county maintenance-of-effort funds under
the CalWORKs program, county CalWORKs incentive funds, or other
county funds to the extent not in conflict with federal law. County
funds expended on housing case management linked to this program
shall count toward the required match.
(g) Eligible counties shall be allocated a dollar amount
based on a formula that takes into account the size of the county
CalWORKs population, the number of CalWORKs families paying more than
50 percent of their grant and income in rent, and the HUD
Fair Market Rent fair market rent levels. The
formula shall be determined by a work group comprised of
representatives from the county welfare department and the Department
of Housing and Community Development.
(g) A county providing subsidies pursuant to this section may
develop criteria for eligibility for the program in addition to that
set forth in this section, and
(h) A county may designate a local agency, including the
county welfare department , or or the local
public housing agency, or a community-based organization to
implement the program. All counties that choose to participate in
the program shall develop a county CalWORKs housing stabilization
plan that outlines the program design and includes details
about the population to be served the criteria for
family selection , the amount and source of the local matching
funds, a description of how housing quality standards will be met,
and evidence of consultation with local stakeholders. If the local
agency designated to implement the program is not the county welfare
department, the county welfare department shall participate in the
development of the plan. The County CalWORKs Housing Stabilization
Plan shall be approved by the board of supervisors in each county
and shall be submitted to the department for certification. In
overseeing the county operated programs, the department shall ensure
that each county fulfills its responsibilities as outlined in its
housing stabilization plan .
(h)
(i) Each participating county shall provide to the
department by March 1, 2003, a status report on its specific subsidy
program to enable the department to complete its report to the
Legislature required by subdivision (i).
(i) (j).
(j) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code,
the department by September 1, 2003, shall submit to the Legislature
a report on the status of the subsidy program.
SEC. 3. Funding for the rental housing subsidy program in Chapter
18 (commencing with Section 50898) of Part 2 of Division 31 of the
Health and Safety Code added by this act shall be provided through
reserve Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program funds
only during fiscal years in which the Legislature has appropriated
funds to the department for the purpose of that rental housing
subsidy program.