California Housing Justice Act of 2025.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact details of how local entities will be funded for their additional duties are not specified.

California Housing Justice Act of 2025

This act establishes a fund and requires annual investments by the Legislature into this fund to address homelessness and housing affordability through various housing programs.

What This Bill Does

• Creates the California Housing Justice Fund in the state's budget.
• Requires the Legislature to invest an ongoing annual allocation into that fund to solve homelessness and housing unaffordability.
• Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to use the fund’s money for developing, acquiring, rehabilitating, and preserving affordable and supportive housing for low-income households.
• Asks the department to work with local entities to create finance plans by January 1, 2028, that address homelessness and housing unaffordability.
• Requires yearly reports on progress towards these goals starting in October 2028.

Who It Names or Affects

• People experiencing homelessness or struggling with housing affordability
• Local governments involved in addressing housing issues

Terms To Know

Affordable Housing

Housing that costs less than what low-income families can afford.

State-Mandated Local Program

A program where the state tells local governments they must do something, and pays for some or all of it.

Limits and Unknowns

• The exact amount of money that will go into the fund each year is not set.
• Local entities may face additional duties without clear details on how these will be funded.
• It's unclear if local governments will receive full reimbursement for costs mandated by this bill.

Official Summary Text

AB 1165, as amended, Gipson.
California Housing Justice Act of 2025.
Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program administered by the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency for the purpose of providing jurisdictions, as defined, with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law also establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program, the Housing for a Healthy California Program, and the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program.
This bill would enact the California Housing Justice Act of 2025, which would
create the California Housing Justice Fund in the General Fund and
would require the Legislature to invest an ongoing annual allocation into that fund in an amount needed to solve homelessness and housing unaffordability, as specified. The bill would require moneys in the fund to be appropriated by the Legislature annually to the department and to be expended by the agency to fund, among other things, the development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable and supportive housing that is affordable to acutely low, extremely low, very low, and lower income households, as provided. The bill would also
require the department to create, by
no later than
January 1,
2027,
2028,
and in collaboration with specified entities, including local entities, finance plans to solve
homelessness and to solve the housing unaffordability crisis, and related statewide
annual
performance metrics. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would require the agency, on or before October
1 of each year, beginning in 2027,
1, 2028,
to report to the Legislature on
its progress in meeting the performance measures and benchmarks contained in
the finance plans and
annual
performance metrics described above, and to publish goals on its internet website and update
any
progress toward the
goals at least annually.
goals.
The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF