For Immediate Release May 13, 2022 Contact: Will Lowry, wlowry@publicadvocates.org, 415.795.0042
Public Advocates’ Statement on Investments in Affordable Housing in Governor Newsom’s May Revision
Today’s release of the Governor’s May Budget Revision is a reminder that California’s historic $97.5 billion surplus is a unique and essential opportunity to make long-term investments in our communities, especially in the areas of housing affordability and homelessness. Public Advocates is excited to support the Community Anti-Displacement and Preservation Program (CAPP) and will continue to advocate for its inclusion in the final budget even though it does not appear in the May Budget Revision. CAPP is a $500 million budget request that will combat real estate speculation that drives up housing costs and removes housing from the rental market altogether. It will do so by purchasing rental housing, removing it from the speculative market, and holding it as permanently affordable. This is a complement to the successful Home Key initiative that will prevent displacement that too often leads to homelessness. This important investment will provide critically needed resources to local communities to acquire and preserve an estimated 4,500 homes that will serve over 49,500 households over the life of the program.
In addition to a growing number of legislators who support CAPP, we are proud to be joined by a diverse array of over 80 state and local organizations. We urge the Legislature and Governor to support CAPP’s inclusion in the state budget as a critical investment that will invest in an upstream solution to preventing displacement that leads to homelessness, while sheltering thousands of units of rental housing from speculative rent increases for generations to come.
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Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice.
