OUR FUTURE L.A. COALITION RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF SENATE BILL 679 AND URGES STATE LEGISLATURE TO ACT NOW AND BRING AMBITIOUS NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOLUTIONS TO CITIES ACROSS L.A. COUNTY TO SUPPORT RENTERS AND REDUCE HOMELESSNESS

Senate Bill 679, authored by Senator Sydney Kamlager, and supported by nearly 100 organizations including local cities, community organizations, and housing experts, would create a first-ever Independent countywide housing and homelessness prevention agency that unites 88 cities to create affordable housing, prevent homelessness and support thousands of working families burdened by the recent spike in rent costs

BALDWIN PARK , CA — Members of the Our Future Los Angeles (OFLA) coalition gathered at Baldwin Park City Hall on Tuesday morning with Mayor Emmanuel Estrada to highlight the benefits of the proposed Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA), which would bring new strategies, unprecedented coordination, transparency and increased funding for the creation of affordable housing and renters support.

 

Elected officials, clergy members and community activists rallied in support of SB 679 as it waits for a vote on the Assembly floor. Its passage would allow the establishment of LACAHSA, an independent countywide housing solutions agency with the ability to raise its own public and private revenue to fund systemic solutions to Los Angeles’s current affordable housing crisis.

 

“The new independent housing agency created by SB679 would bring real resources and support to residents in Baldwin Park who are struggling to hold on to their homes— it’s critical that we pass this legislation now,” said Emmanuel Estrada, Mayor of Baldwin Park.

 

Under the current system, 88 cities across the county are left to deal with affordability problems on their own, creating a patchwork of housing affordability solutions and in many cases, none at all. LACAHSA would coordinate a countywide strategy for all 88 cities to join forces to address homelessness in an innovative way.

 

“The current housing system in place hasn’t done enough to support working families across this region. It hasn’t worked to create housing for low income people, end homelessness, or increase homeownership, said Tania Medina, a Baldwin Park resident and Member of LA Voice, a multi-racial, multi-faith community organization. “With LACAHSA we know that we can do so much more.”

 

Zeke Sandoval, Public Policy Manager at People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) said PATH is a supporter of SB 679 because it creates a powerful new tool to produce affordable housing at the necessary scale. “Homes end homelessness. The affordable homes LACAHSA will build will be a refuge for county residents journeying out of homelessness, and for the millions of housed county residents on the brink of losing their homes,” Sandoval said.

 

Anne Miskey, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services, which serves more than 3,800 clients across the San Gabriel Valley, said LACAHSA would help create more housing opportunities for their clients, as well as deliver much needed additional funding streams to the SGV regional housing trust. “Both are needed resources to help us end homelessness,” she said.

 

A recent analysis of housing burden in L.A. County by the Gender Equity Policy Institute found these striking statistics, underscoring the need for more to be done to support low income people across L.A. County:

-36% of elderly Latinas living alone have income below the federal poverty line, which is $12,880 for a single adult

-1 in 3 Black women renters spend more than half their income on housing

-Women-led households are 4 times as likely as households headed by a married couple to have extremely low-income

 

SB679 (Kamlager) has cleared the State Senate and been approved by all State Assembly committees. The legislation, which would authorize a new countywide independent agency, similar to the transportation agency Metro, is an ambitious solution to bring all 88 cities and L.A. County together to significantly increase efforts to create affordable housing for low income people– and help people at risk of homelessness keep their homes. The legislature has until August 31 to approve the legislation, after which the Governor must sign the bill. The new agency would begin operations in the spring of 2023.