Assemblymember Alex Lee Introduces 2024 Housing Legislative Package

Assemblymember Alex Lee has introduced a series of bills to address the housing crisis by protecting California’s homeownership opportunities and tenants’ rights, creating social housing for all, and much more. 

“The housing crisis is undermining the social fabric of our communities, and housing remains out of reach for far too many Californians,” said Assemblymember Lee. “We have to take a comprehensive approach to ensure housing security for all Californians. That includes protecting tenants’ rights, preserving the existing supply of affordable homes, and producing more housing for residents of all income levels. Tackling the housing crisis has been one of my top priorities ever since I took office, and I’m committed to providing housing as a human right for all Californians.”

AB 2881 - The Social Housing Act 

The Social Housing Act will create social housing for Californians. It will establish the California Housing Authority to produce housing that is publicly backed, mixed-income, affordable and financially self-sustaining. 

California has to build at least 2.5 million more housing units by 2030, including 1 million homes that are affordable to lower-income households. But current strategies to address the lack of housing have not produced enough to meet demand. With the goal of following international best practices of developing mixed-income, self-sustaining housing like Singapore and Vienna, AB 2881 will complement the state’s ongoing efforts to tackle the housing crisis. 

AB 2665 - Revolving Loan Fund 

In order to finance the construction of affordable housing for Californians of mixed incomes, AB 2665 will establish a revolving loan program in the California Housing Finance Agency. The program will provide zero-interest construction loans to qualified developers for constructing mixed-income affordable housing. 

AB 2584 - Ban Corporate-Owned Single-Family Homes 

AB 2584 aims to protect California’s limited supply of single-family homes, and ensure that residents have the opportunity to become homeowners. The legislation proposes to prevent institutional investors that own more than 1,000 single-family homes from purchasing additional properties and converting them into rentals.  

Corporations are exacerbating California’s scarcity of single-family homes available for sale. For instance, Invitation Homes, a real estate investment trust spun off from private equity firm Blackstone, owns and manages roughly 12,000 rental homes in California, most of which are located in areas prone to higher rent growth. AB 2584 will protect homeownership opportunities for hardworking families and first-time homebuyers. 

AB 2616 - Repeal Tax Break on Second Homes 

This bill repeals California’s Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) on second homes. By eliminating tax breaks for vacation homes, AB 2616 will direct desperately needed funding to state programs. According to the Franchise Tax Board’s analysis of data from tax year 2016, roughly 175,000 taxpayers benefitted from MID on second homes, costing the state $250 million annually.

For 2024-25, the Governor’s proposed budget raises just $400 million by closing tax breaks, which is less than 1% of his proposed budget solutions. In the face of California’s serious budget deficit, AB 2616 will help prevent cuts to state programs addressing poverty, the housing shortage and homelessness crisis. 

AB 2530 - Housing For Educators 

This bill ensures that public school districts have the expertise to establish housing for their staff, so that educators can live in the communities they serve. Providing housing is key to recruiting and retaining staff. But the high cost of living including housing costs poses a major challenge for school districts to fill staff vacancies. California had more than 10,000 teacher vacancies in the 2021-2022 school year. 

AB 2530 will create a program within the Division of the State Architect to provide technical assistance for school districts to build housing for employees. 

AB 2304 - Tenant Protection 

AB 2304 closes a loophole related to disclosure when tenants are party to a civil eviction process. The bill ensures that tenants are not unfairly penalized on rental applications if they have won their civil eviction cases. 

AB 2314 - Tribal Housing Security

This bill aims to remove barriers to housing development for tribal communities. Tribal communities are facing a chronic shortage of housing and high levels of poverty. Roughly one third of tribal residents have been reported to live below the federal poverty line, with 35.5% of households living in overcrowded conditions. AB 2314 seeks to address the issue by enabling Tribes to build denser residential housing beyond what’s permitted by local law.