Proposition 41, the Veterans’ Housing and Homelessness Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (VHHPA) is set to appear on the June 3 statewide ballot. CSAC worked closely with Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez’s office to support the passage of legislation that would place the Act on the ballot (Assembly Bill 639, Chapter No. 727, Statutes of 2013).
The Veterans’ Bond Act was approved by voters in 2008 to provide a $900 million general obligation bond intended to aid veterans in purchasing single family homes, farms and mobile homes through the CalVet Farm and Home Loan Program. Since its passage, most of the bond funds remain unspent and the need of veterans for multifamily housing and supportive housing has substantially increased. AB 639 amended the Veterans’ Bond Act of 2008 to reduce the amount of bonds that are authorized to be issued under that Act from $900 million to $300 million and enacted the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 to authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600 million for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide multifamily housing to veterans pursuant to VHHPA.
CSAC supported AB 639 and, accordingly, will recommend at its February 20 meeting that the CSAC Board of Directors support Proposition 41. California is home to more veterans than any other state; counties, through county veteran service officers, public health departments and housing departments are dedicated to identifying the various needs of veterans in our communities. Proposition 41, in restructuring $600 million of the existing Bond Act funding to provide veterans with multifamily and supportive housing, could assist counties in better responding to the habitation and health needs of California’s veterans.
ANALYSIS: Since 1921, CalVet has administered the California Veteran Farm and Home Purchase Program, often referred to as the CalVet Home Loan Program. The Program provides loans to veterans for the purchase of single-family residences, farms, units in cooperative developments, and mobilehomes.
The Program receives funding from the issuance of GO bonds that voters have approved, including Proposition 32 of 2000 which authorized $500 million in bonds and Proposition 12 in 2008 which authorized $900 million in bonds. While these are GO bonds, the state's General Fund has never contributed to repaying the bonds as CalVet repays the bonds with the mortgage payments its borrowers make. In practice, therefore, these bonds are like revenue bonds. To date, CalVet has about $230 million in bonding authority left under Proposition 32 and has not issued any of the bonds approved under Proposition 12.
AB 639, subject to voter approval on the June 3, 2014 ballot, reduces the Proposition 12 bonding authority for the Program from $900 million to $300 million and authorizes issuance of $600 million in GO bonds for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable multifamily supportive housing, affordable multifamily transitional housing, affordable rental housing, or related facilities for veterans and their families to allow veterans to access and maintain housing stability.
SUPPORT:
California Association of Veteran Services Agencies (co-source)
Corporation for Supportive Housing (co-source)
Attorney General Kamala Harris
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
Administrators Association of California
Affirmed Housing Group
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Association of California Health Care Districts
Burbank Housing Development Corporation
Butte County Board of Supervisors
California Association of Counties
California Association of Food Banks
California Building Industry Association
California Conference of Carpenters
California Housing Consortium
California Judges Association
California Labor Federation
California Medical Association
California Nurses Association
California Professional Firefighters
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California Special Districts Association
California Special Districts Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Council of Service Employees
California State Sheriff's Association
Century Housing
Cities of Azusa, Burbank, Los Angeles, Rancho Murrieta, Oakland, Sacramento,
San Jose and Whittier
City and County of San Francisco
Counties of Butte, Del Norte, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Santa Clara
County Alcohol and Drug Program
Housing California
JP Morgan Chase
League of California Cities
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Probation Officers Union
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
New Directions, Inc.
Riverside Sheriff's Association
Salvation Army Haven
San Diego Gas and Electric
San Diego Housing Commission
San Diego Housing Federation
Southern California Gas Company
St. Anthony Foundation
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
Swords to Plowshares
U.S. VETS
United Native Housing Development Corporation
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Urban Counties Caucus
Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of California
Veterans Village of San Diego
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
Western Center on Law and Poverty
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, CalVet has roughly $1.1 billion in remaining bond authority for its Program and is doing little new business while a growing body of research indicates an overwhelming and unmet need for affordable, supportive, multifamily housing for veterans. California leads the nation in the number of homeless veterans and is home to one quarter of all the nation's homeless veterans. This bill will restructure Proposition 12, the CalVet bond of 2008, to allow for the development of multifamily housing for veterans, with a priority for projects that align housing with services. At the same time, the bill preserves over $500 million in Proposition 32 and Proposition 12 bonding authority for the Program to meet future needs. Ultimately, the bill will reduce the number or homeless veterans and contribute to a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective approach to respond to the full spectrum of housing and service needs of our veterans.
|