Voters approve housing bond, will likely reject Prop. 43

By Kristine Guerrero, senior director of public affairs

Although the final count is still days away, it seems likely that California voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a multibillion-dollar housing bond and blocked an attempt to limit citizens’ ability to fund essential services. The measures — Proposition 1 and Proposition 43 — were two of Cal Cities’ biggest priorities this year.

Housing bond replenishes funding for successful programs

As of Wednesday morning, Prop. 1 was on track to pass with nearly 60% of the vote in favor. Backed by Cal Cities, Prop. 1 allows the state to sell $11.25 billion in general obligation bonds for the development, preservation, and rehabilitation of affordable and veterans’ housing.

“California voters have once again affirmed their commitment to expanding affordable housing opportunities for residents across the state,” said Carolyn Coleman, Cal Cities executive director and CEO. “California has a housing crisis, and addressing the challenge requires collaboration at every level of government. California cities will continue doing their part, using Proposition 1 resources to support affordable housing opportunities that our residents can call home.”

Cal Cities has long supported investments that increase the supply of affordable housing. Leading up to and during the election, Cal Cities worked with a coalition of veteran groups, affordable housing builders, legislators, and business groups to support Prop. 1 by helping cities pass resolutions and engaging city officials in press conferences and other grassroots events.

For cities, Prop. 1 will provide an infusion of funding for innovative local programs like regional housing trusts and help cities meet their Regional Housing Needs Assessment goals. Cal Cities will continue to work on the measure’s implementation as funding becomes available.

The types of affordable housing programs Prop. 1 funds include: 

• Multifamily housing. Prop. 1 provides $7.2 billion to acquire, build, or renovate rental housing, such as apartment buildings. These programs generally provide local governments and private developers with low-interest loans to help fund part of the project cost. Some of this funding can be used for supportive housing.
• Homeownership. Prop. 1 provides $1.1 billion to support homeownership among low- and moderate-income households. Some of the funds can be used to provide first-time homebuyer loans that generally do not have to be paid back until the home is sold or paid off. The funding can also help nonprofits and other organizations acquire land to build homes and repair existing homes for eligible low-income households. 
• Infrastructure. Prop. 1 provides $500 million for a variety of infrastructure projects that support affordable housing developments, such as water, sewage, parks, and transportation improvements. 
• Farmworker housing. Prop. 1 provides $450 million in loans and grants to build or renovate housing for farmworkers.  
• Higher education student housing. Prop. 1 provides $350 million, split evenly between the University of California and California State University, for affordable student housing. 
• Tribal housing. Prop. 1 provides $200 million in grants to tribes that can be used for various housing-related purposes, including construction and repair. 
• Local pilot programs. Prop. 1 provides $200 million to cities, counties, and other entities for pilot projects that develop housing at reduced costs. 

Cal Cities will work on the measure’s implementation as funding becomes available.

Prop. 43 trending toward defeat

The fate of Prop. 43, a repeated effort by business groups and anti-tax advocates to limit voters’ ability to fund local services, appears to be heading toward defeat. Fifty-five percent of voters rejected the measure on Tuesday night.   

During this election season, Cal Cities joined a broad coalition of public safety, labor, transportation, and other stakeholder groups to aggressively oppose Prop. 43. Cal Cities organized hundreds of city officials throughout the state — including mayors from Long Beach, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and Stockton — held statewide press conferences, and created toolkits for cities.   

Earlier this summer, Cal Cities worked extensively with Prop. 43’s proponents to remove a more destructive version of the measure from the ballot. Nonetheless, Prop. 43 was still a potentially devastating constitutional amendment that would have eliminated a tool many communities rely on to fund essential local services.

Cal Cities will continue to monitor the election results on Prop. 43. County election offices have until Dec. 3 to fully count and verify all eligible votes; the Secretary of State will certify the results on Dec. 11.