North OC Times

California State Assembly District 65 issued the following announcement on Feb. 25.

Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) introduced a package of housing bills that seek to provide protection, stabilization, treatment, evaluation, and state funding to address a range of our state's housing crisis issues from homelessness to home ownership.

“California has been grappling with a housing shortage, a growing homeless population and a poverty rate that is one of the highest in the nation,” said Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. “Rent increases have increased at unprecedented rates and homeownership has become unattainable to millions of Californians.  Statistics show that 40 percent of Americans are one paycheck away from poverty and/or homelessness."

Legislation Introduced:

Assembly Bill 2265/2266: Mental Health Services: Authorize counties to treat patients with mental health issues and co-occurring substance use disorders, state-wide and through a county pilot program under the Mental Health Services Act.

Assembly Bill 2534: California Master Plan on Home Ownership: Creates a California Task Force to consider and evaluate the current impediments to homeownership in the state.

Assembly Bill 2837: UNITY Act: Establishes a universal application system to make it easier for developers to get affordable housing projects online.

Assembly Bill 2895: Mobile Home Rent Stabilization: Provides rent stabilization and protections for mobile home owners who rent the land their home sits on as well as for anyone who rents a mobile home.

Assembly Bill 3218: Homeless Children and Youth:  Requires training on identifying children who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless for teachers, paraprofessionals and other school staff who have daily interactions with students.

Legislation Joint Authoring:

Assembly Bill 1907 (Santiago/Quirk-Silva, Et al.): California Environmental Quality Act: emergency shelters: supportive and affordable housing:  Exempts, until January 1, 2019, environmental review under CEQA, certain activities approved by or carried out by a public agency in furtherance of providing emergency shelters, supportive housing, or affordable housing.

Assembly Bill 3300 (Santiago/Quirk- Silva, Et al.): Homelessness Grant Fund: Allocates an ongoing investment of $2 billion to address California's homeless crisis.

“Housing and Homelessness is a central focus for legislation and budget matters in the 2020  legislative year as California struggles with unattainable home ownership, high rents, keeping up with the demand of new housing development, and the increasing rise in homelessness,” said Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva.  “That is why it is important to explore the spectrum of issues surrounding housing and homelessness, including affordable housing development, mental health, rent stabilization, identifying children and youth along with their families that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, eviction protections for low-income and seniors and providing additional state funding.”

Original source can be found here.