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SB 2 \u2014 the Building Homes and Jobs Act \u2014 has been a labor of love of mine for seven years; with the help of many of my colleagues and countless housing, business, labor and environmental advocates, as well as my tenacious staff, we got it across the finish line.<\/p>\n
SB 2 will create a permanent source of funding for affordable housing, generating an estimated $250 million each year.<\/p>\n
In the first year, half of the revenue will fund programs throughout the state that reduce homelessness, and half will go directly to local governments to fund updates of community plans, which will help neighborhoods improve quality of life and spur new housing growth where it makes the most sense.<\/p>\n
After the first year, 70 percent of the money will go straight to communities to help create new affordable housing for struggling families and people who are homeless; the remaining 30 percent will expand funding for existing state housing programs.<\/p>\n
SB 2 is part of a landmark package of Senate bills aimed at increasing accountability, affordability and accessibility of housing throughout California. SB 3<\/a>\u00a0by Sen. Jim Beall asks voters to approve a $4-billion bond to fund affordable housing.\u00a0SB 35<\/a>\u00a0by Sen. Scott Wiener speeds up housing approvals in cities that aren\u2019t meeting their housing goals.\u00a0SB 540<\/a>\u00a0by Sen. Richard Roth expands opportunities for housing construction.\u00a0SB 166<\/a>\u00a0y\u00a0SB 167<\/a>\u00a0by Sen. Nancy Skinner reduce obstacles to building new housing.<\/p>\n Additional bills that came out of the Assembly further attack the housing crisis. It was a true team effort to create new housing for our lowest-income earners up through the middle class.<\/p>\n This package of bills won\u2019t solve the crisis overnight \u2014 state leaders, local governments and community representatives up and down California have a lot more work to do \u2014 but this package is the most comprehensive effort the state has ever accomplished, and it\u2019s a good start.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, my other priority bill, SB 179 \u2014 the Gender Recognition Act \u2014 is also on the governor\u2019s desk. It\u2019s the next step in a long line of legislative achievements in advancing civil rights for California\u2019s LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n If signed by the governor, SB 179 will create a third gender marker on state-issued identity documents for nonbinary and intersex residents who identify as neither strictly female nor male. It will also make the process a little easier for transgender, nonbinary and intersex Californians who wish to obtain new identification documents that accurately reflect their gender.<\/p>\n People who are transgender, nonbinary or intersex often have a difficult time when they show their ID and it doesn\u2019t match their gender presentation. It produces unnecessary anxiety and can lead to harassment and a delay or refusal in completing a transaction. It doesn\u2019t need to be this way.<\/p>\n This issue has become personal for me. I\u2019ve heard from many people across the state who are eagerly looking forward to this opportunity. I also have friends in San Diego with children who will benefit, and I am forever changed by the emotion with which they\u2019ve spoken about the good that SB 179 will do.<\/p>\n In addition to these two bills, 10 other pieces of legislation were sent to the governor, and as of this writing, several of them have been signed. Meanwhile, the legislature as a whole moved California forward with major policy or budget achievements in transportation, climate change, health care, poverty reduction, local and regional parks, childcare, education, immigrant rights and more.<\/p>\n I am extremely proud of what we accomplished and already looking forward to seeing what we can do for San Diego and all of California next year.<\/p>\n