JBC asks staff to draft law clarifying Prop. 123 'supplement, not supplant' language

The Joint Budget Committee directed staff to draft statutory clarifications of Proposition 123’s maintenance/supplanting language after Department of Local Affairs analysts told the panel they could not confidently measure whether the state has met the ballot measure’s funding requirements.

JBC staffer Rebecca Bickel told the committee she and DOLA analysts had compiled a baseline for the 2022–23 fiscal year and concluded the statute’s current wording leaves room for differing interpretations about whether tax credits, one‑time federal funds and other sources should count toward the state’s affordable‑housing effort. “I think fundamentally, when voters adopted Prop. 123, that included some specific language … Money appropriated … shall not supplant the level of general fund and cash fund appropriations for affordable housing programs for the state fiscal year…