AB 1654 (Rivas) would require that a specified percentage of any annual augmentation of State Low-Income Housing Tax Credits be earmarked for the Farmworker Housing Assistance Tax Credit Program administered by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. Currently, the Program accrues at the rate of $500,000 million annually, far too little to finance the production of farmworker housing. Over the last two years, farmworkers, who are overwhelmingly Latinx, poor, and ill-housed, have been located at the intersection of COVID-19 and the housing crisis. It is unacceptable that the people who labor in the fields during a pandemic to put food on our dinner tables in the comfort of our homes do not enjoy the same safety and comfort in their homes.
Fact sheet Sample support letter Bill languageCalifornia Tribes, assisted by CCRH, are seeking $109 million in the FY 2022/23 State Budget for the creation of a new California Tribal Housing Grant Program (THGP) designed specifically for and by Tribes. It will provide a pathway for Tribes to reconstitute communities that have been systematically displaced and disenfranchised since California became a state. Tribes will be able to build new housing for rent or ownership, while also addressing their community’s infrastructure needs, such as plumbing and electrical power. Funds may also be used to assist tribal members to buy a new home or repair or replace substandard homes. Assistance will be provided in the form of a grant or low-interest, forgivable loan, much like California’s Joe Serna Farmworker Housing Grant Program. To ensure the new THGP is truly culturally appropriate, a Tribal Equity Advisory Committee will be created to help build the program together with California Tribes and the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
The Case for a California Tribal Housing Grant Program Sample support letter - Assembly Sample support letter - Senate